Comparing the 30-Day Mortality for Hip Fractures in Patients with and without COVID-19: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Association between anesthesia technique and death after hip fracture repair for patients with COVID-19

PURPOSE

Patients with COVID-19 undergoing hip fracture surgeries have a 30-day mortality of up to 34%. We aimed to evaluate the association between anesthesia technique and 30-day mortality after hip fracture surgery in patients with COVID-19.

METHODS

After ethics approval, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data set from January to December 2021. Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 19 yr, laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 14 days preoperatively, and hip fracture surgery under general anesthesia (GA) or spinal anesthesia (SA). Exclusion criteria were American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status V, ventilator dependence, international normalized ratio ≥ 1.5, partial thromboplastin time > 35 sec, and platelet count < 80 × 109 L-1. The primary outcome was all-cause 30-day mortality. The adjusted association between anesthetic technique and 30-day mortality was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

Of 23,045 patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, 331 patients met the study criteria. The median [interquartile range] age was 82 [74-88] yr, and 32.3% were male. The 30-day mortality rate was 10.0% (33/331) for the cohort (10.7%, 29/272 for GA vs 6.8%, 4/59 for SA; P = 0.51; standardized mean difference, 0.138). The use of SA, compared with GA, was not associated with decreased mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.21 to 1.8; E-value, 2.49).

CONCLUSION

Anesthesia technique was not associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 undergoing hip fracture surgery. The findings were limited by a small sample size.

STUDY REGISTRATION

www.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov (NCT05133648); registered 24 November 2021.

Mortality Rate and Outcomes of Omicron Variant Positive Patients with Osteoporotic Fractures: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

During the lockdown period associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, increased mortality rates among patients with COVID-19 have been reported. This study aimed to analyze the mortality rate of osteoporotic hip fractures in patients who were COVID-19-positive after the lockdown during the Omicron period.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed with 194 patients who were aged 70 years or more and diagnosed with osteoporotic hip fracture. The patients were divided into two groups according to their COVID-19 diagnoses. Surgery was performed within 10 days of diagnosis. Age, sex, past medical history, time until surgery, postoperative complications, and the primary outcome of mortality rate at 30 and 90 days were analyzed.

RESULTS

Among the 194 patients, 13 and 181 were in the COVID-19-positive and negative group, respectively. The total, 30-day, and 90-day mortality rates in the control and COVID-positive group were 11% and 0% (P=0.368), 1.7% and 0% (P=1.000), and 5.0% and 0% (P=1.000), respectively. No significant differences were observed in age, sex, history, time to surgery, postoperative complications, or postoperative mortality. In 1:1 propensity score matching, the time to surgery was 5.34 days in patients who were COVID-19-positive, and 3.00 days in patients who were COVID-19 negative, with no statistical significance (P=0.09). Age, sex, medical history, postoperative complications, and postoperative mortality were not significantly different between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Regardless of the COVID-19 diagnosis, surgical treatment without delay is believed to result in positive outcomes in older patients with osteoporotic hip fractures, as no significant differences in mortality rate and respiratory complications were observed between patients who were COVID-19-positive and those who were COVID-19 negative.