The Impact of Frailty in the Outcomes of Hip Fracture Surgery in the Elderly Patients

Osteoporotic hip fracture is as common health issue in an elderly population. With ageing, frailty comes into play as a complex geriatric syndrome. Studies have shown that frailty has negative consequences in the outcomes of health related interventions. Studies have indicated that the outcomes of any form of medical or surgical interventions are relatively poorer for the frail individuals in comparison to their pre-frail counterparts. 100 older patients of age 60 or more were with hip fracture undergoing hip fracture surgery were included in the study. FRAIL scale was used for the diagnosis of frailty in those patients. Preoperative complications like delirium were not significantly different among the frail and the pre-frail patients. Pre-frail patients could be ambulated early in comparison to their frail counterparts. The incidence of bedsores, postural hypotension and hospital acquired pneumonia was not significantly different among the frail and the pre-frail patients. But complications like urinary tract infection, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism were significantly higher among the frail patients. Similarly, hospital stay was longer in the frail group in comparison to the pre-frail ones. A significantly higher number of frail patients died within their hospital stay. In addition to that, mortality at 30th day was significantly higher in the frail group. The overall outcomes of hip fracture surgery were significantly poorer in the frail group in comparison to the pre-frail ones