Effect of Comorbidities and Choice of Fixation on the Onset of Bone Healing Time on Surgically Treated Intertrochanteric Femoral Fractures

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether comorbidities affect the onset of bone healing time (BHT) in surgically treated intertrochanteric femoral fractures (IFFs). Methods: The study comprised 55 patients (12 male and 43 female) who underwent surgical treatment of IFFs. The mean age of patients was 79.29 +/- 81.13 years. The fractures were classified according to the AO Classification. Twenty-one patients were treated with dynamic hip screw, 15 with an external fixator, and 19 with proximal femoral nail. Thirty-one patients had comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. Results: Patients were divided into three groups according to the BHT. Group 1 had BHT<30 days (G1), group 2 had BHT 30-60 days (G2), and group 3 had BHT >60 days (G3). There were no statistically significant differences among the groups in terms of age, sex, additional disease, and the fixation method. There were statistically significant differences among the groups in terms of receiving intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. The rates of ICU referral in G3 were significantly higher than those in G1, statistically close to being meaningfully higher than those in G2. Discharge duration was close to being meaningful in patients with more than one comorbidity. Conclusion: Fixation type, age, and comorbidities did not affect BHT. Patients with more than one comorbidities had long hospitalization time owing to their prolonged preoperative surgical preparation time and postoperative evaluation of comorbidities.