Mortality after femoral neck fractures: a two-year follow-up

Abstract

Background and objective: To identify the survival and standardized mortality ratio with respect to gender, age, and treatment method of patients treated for femoral neck fractures.

Material and methods: A retrospective review of medical records of 736 patients treated for femoral neck fractures at Vilnius University Emergency Hospital during 2004-2006 was carried out.

Results: The overall 1- and 2-year survival rates were 77.4% and 67.1%, respectively. Lower survival rates were observed in the internal fixation group than in the primary and secondary total hip arthroplasty groups (63.2% vs. 72.0% and 75.1%). Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed patient age to be a significant risk factor for survival (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.04-1.07; P<0.001). The overall standardized mortality ratio was 2.50. The standardized mortality ratios for men and women were 3.07 and 2.27, respectively, but the difference between these groups was not significant.

Conclusions: Standardized mortality and survival rates decreased with increasing patients' age. Significantly lower survival rates were documented in the internal fixation group as compared with primary and secondary total hip arthroplasty groups. There was a trend toward a higher standardized mortality ratio in men than women, but the difference was not significant.