Is Intensive Care Unit Necessary for Geriatric Hip Fractures?

Date of acceptance / Kabul tarihi: June 13, 2017 / 13 Haziran 2017 ABSTRACT: Is intensive care unit necessary for geriatric hip fractures? Objective: As life expectancy increases, so does the prevalence of diseases observed in the elderly. Hip fractures that usually occur with simple falls are profoundly more common in the elderly population. In the present study, we aimed to examine the outcomes of patients with proximal femoral fractures aged >65 years who were admitted to intensive care units and orthopaedic clinics during postoperative period. Materials and Method: The study included 118 elderly patients (aged >65 years) with proximal femoral fractures who were surgically treated between 2010 and 2015 in our orthopaedic and traumatology clinics. Patients who had ASA 3 score and, were available from medical records of hospital archives. Our aim was to evaluate the mortality rate during the early postoperative period (30 days). Patients were categorised into two groups based on where they were admitted to during the postoperative period. Results: The intensive care unit group or the orthopaedic and traumatology care group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of mortality rate during the early postoperative period. Conclusion: For patients with proximal femoral fractures aged >65 years with an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 3 and who are thoroughly evaluated preoperatively, complications that may develop as a result of delays in the time-to-surgery caused by postoperative intensive care requirements may be reduced by performing the surgery without delay.