Association of surgery time and early curative effect for elderly patients with femoral neck fracture in China

Introduction: This research is aimed to explore the effect of surgery time on early curative effect in elderly patients with femoral neck fracture. Materials and method: 105 elderly patients with femoral neck fracture were divided into early surgery group (hospitalized for 6-18 days) and late surgery group (hospitalized for 8-26 days). Patients' general condition and postoperative situation were recorded in detail. The morbidity rate of complications was evaluated on patients during postoperative hospitalization. Harris hip scores and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scores were assessed in order to observe the postoperative functional recovery of patients. The mortality rate of patients was also evaluated before surgery and at 3 month, 6 month and 12 month after surgery. Results: The early surgery group had a shorter time of hospitalization and a lower morbidity rate of respiratory system disease than the late surgery group (t=-5.829, P=0.000). The Harris hip score and ADL score of the early surgery group were significantly higher than the late one in the six months after surgery (P<0.05). However, there was no obvious difference for Harris hip score and ADL score between the two groups after 12 months of surgery (P>0.05). The mortality rate had no significant difference between the two groups during hospitalization (chi(2)=0.002, P=0.964). Conclusion: The early surgery group had a better function recovery compared with the late surgery group, which indicates early surgery has a positive curative effect on patients with femoral neck fracture.