INFLUENCE OF AGE ON DELAYED SURGICAL TREATMENT OF PROXIMAL FEMORAL FRACTURES

Objective: To investigate the influence of patients' age on the delay between diagnosis and surgical treatment of proximal femoral fractures. Methods: This is a retrospective study, conducted at a tertiary university hospital, including all patients admitted with proximal femoral fractures between March 2013 and March 2014. The participants were categorized into four groups according to age levels. The groups were compared according to demographics, comorbidities, fracture type, trauma circumstances, and time between diagnosis and surgical procedure. Results: One hundred and sixty one patients were included, 37 adults and 124 elderly. Among adults, the mean delay between diagnosis and surgical procedure was 6.4 +/- 5.3 days; among elderly the delay was 9.5 +/- 7.6 days. There was a progressive increase in the delay from the young-adults group through the elderly individuals (Kruskal-Wallis: 13.7; p=0.003). Conclusion: In spite of being the patients most susceptible to complications due to surgical delay, the elderly individuals presented the longest delays from admission to surgical treatment.