Why do hip fracture patients die?

The mortality rate after a hip fracture is very high. It doubles those of people of the same age without fracture and the excess of mortality remains for years. There are several patient-dependent factors known to be related to the higher mortality and they allow identifying the patients with a higher risk of death, but the intrinsic mechanisms of the association between fracture and mortality are not well known. The causes of death are the same as the usual in the elderly. Males have a higher risk. The more fragile patients and those with more comorbidities die more frequently during the early postoperative period, but in the following months and years the mortality affects to healthier people too. Some strategies that can reduce the mortality include the reduction of hip fracture incidence, the multidisciplinary management of the process and osteoporosis treatment. (C) 2010 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.