Does Time to Surgery Affect Outcomes for Periprosthetic Femur Fractures?

Periprosthetic femur fractures around total hip (THA) and total knee (TKA) arthroplasties are difficult complications to manage. With native hip fractures, delay to fixation has been correlated with an increase in postoperative mortality. The effect of time to definitive fixation of periprosthetic femur fractures around THA and TKA is not well established. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effect of time to definitive fixation on postoperative length of stay and mortality for patients with periprosthetic femur fractures around THA and TKA.

A review of 2537 arthroplasty patient charts yielded 235 patients who were diagnosed with a periprosthetic femur fracture at our institution from 2005 to 2014. Time to surgical management, length of stay, demographics, referral status, fracture classification, and fixation modality along with mortality was recorded for all patients.

One hundred eighty patients met study inclusion (111 THAs, 69 TKAs). Average age was 79.2 years and 72.2% were female. The average time from admission to definitive fixation was 96.5 hours with 31.1% of patients having surgery within 48 hours after presenting to hospital. Postoperative length of stay and mortality were not affected by time to definitive fixation greater than 48 hours for either of the periprosthetic TKA or THA patient cohorts. Postoperative mortality within 1 year was 5.5% for all patients (6.3% THA, 4.3% TKA).

The timing of fixation of periprosthetic femur fractures does not appear to affect postoperative length of stay or mortality within 1 year.