Two surgical pathways for isolated hip fractures: A comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Hip fractures (HF) are common among the aging population, and surgery within 48 h is recommended. Patients can be hospitalized for surgery through different pathways, either trauma or medicine admitting services. AIM: To compare management and outcomes among patients admitted through the trauma pathway (TP) vs medical pathway (MP). METHODS: This Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective study included 2094 patients with proximal femur fractures (AO/Orthopedic Trauma Association Type 31) who underwent surgery at a level 1 trauma center between 2016-2021. There were 69 patients admitted through the TP and 2025 admitted through the MP. To ensure comparability between groups, 66 of the 2025 MP patients were propensity matched to 66 TP patients by age, sex, HF type, HF surgery, and American Society of Anesthesiology score. The statistical analyses included multivariable analysis, group characteristics, and bivariate correlation comparisons with the χ² test and t-test. RESULTS: After propensity matching, the mean age in both groups was 75-years-old, 62% of both groups were females, the main HF type was intertrochanteric (TP 52% vs MP 62%), open reduction internal fixation was the most common surgery (TP 68% vs MP 71%), and the mean American Society of Anesthesiology score was 2.8 for TP and 2.7 for MP. The majority of patients in TP and MP (71% vs 74%) were geriatric (≥ 65-years-old). Falls were the main mechanism of injury in both groups (77% vs 97%, P = 0.001). There were no significant differences in pre-surgery anticoagulation use (49% vs 41%), admission day of the week, or insurance status. The incidence of comorbidities was equal (94% for both) with cardiac comorbidities being dominant in both groups (71% vs 73%). The number of preoperative consultations was similar for TP and MP, with the most common consultation being cardiology in both (44% and 36%). HF displacement occurred more among TP patients (76% vs 39%, P = 0.000). Time to surgery was not statistically different (23 h in both), but length of surgery was significantly longer for TP (59 min vs 41 min, P = 0.000). Intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were not statistically different (5 d vs 8 d and 6 d for both). There were no statistical differences in discharge disposition and mortality (3% vs 0%). CONCLUSION: There were no differences in outcomes of surgeries between admission through TP vs MP. The focus should be on the patient's health condition and on prompt surgical intervention.

Should Surgical Services Admit Small Bowel Obstructions Managed Non-operatively?

INTRODUCTION: Over the past decade, small bowel obstructions (SBO) have been increasingly managed non-operatively. Prior studies have looked at outcomes based on admission to surgical services (SS) or medicine services (MS), but most are restricted to operative patients. This study evaluates the outcomes of non-operative patients specifically. METHODS: A 12-year retrospective cohort study of patients ≥18-years-old admitted with SBO within one healthcare system was performed. Only non-operative patients were included. Clinicodemographic characteristics and admission details were extracted from the electronic medical record. Statistical analysis was performed using the student's t-test, chi-square, and multivariable regression. RESULTS: A total of 3278 patients were included, of which 933(28.4%) patients were admitted to a SS. MS patients were older (57.7 vs 54.7 years, P < .001) and more likely to have diabetes (24.1 vs 20.2%, P = .015), CHF (5.7 vs 3.1%, P = .002), and AKI (29.8 vs 16.7%, P < .001). SS patients were more likely to have cancer (19.3 vs 13.7%, P < .001). Univariate analysis showed admission to SS decreased length of stay (3.4 vs 4.1 days, P < .001) and index admission mortality (0.1 vs 2.2%, P < .001). On multivariable analysis, admission to a SS decreased admission mortality (OR 0.056), 30-day mortality (OR 0.15), and 180-day mortality (OR 0.307). Similarly, 30-day readmissions (OR 0.683) and 180-day readmission (OR 0.54) were also significantly decreased. Length of stay was decreased by .6 days (P < .001). DISCUSSION: In patients with non-operative SBO, admission to a surgical service decreased length of stay, mortality, and readmission. Further work should be completed evaluating how increased comorbidities affect long term outcomes. However, significantly decreased length of stay and mortality continue to support surgical services admitting SBO patients.

Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection: Time is Crucial, and the Admitting Service Matters.

Background: Early diagnosis and prompt debridement of necrotizing soft tissue infection (NSTI) improves the outcome. We sought to determine whether failure to admit NSTI patients to acute care surgery (ACS) departments delays treatment and increases the mortality rate. Methods: Patients with NSTI were identified using the 2007-2018 institutional emergency surgery database at a tertiary care hospital. The diagnosis was confirmed by the operative/pathology reports. Patients who developed NSTI during hospitalization or underwent initial debridement at an outside hospital were excluded. Patients admitted to a non-ACS service (e.g., medicine, gynecology) were compared with those admitted to the ACS service with respect to co-morbidities, clinical presentation, time to surgery, and mortality rate. Multi-variable linear and logistic analyses were performed to determine whether admission to a non-ACS service predicts a delay in surgery or an increase in the mortality rate. Results: Of 132 patients, 91 met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 53 years; 56% were male. Twenty patients (22%) were admitted to a non-ACS service, two thirds of them with an initial misdiagnosis (e.g., cellulitis). The demographics, co-morbidities, and clinical presentation were similar in the two groups except that the non-ACS group more often had human immunodeficiency virus infection (15.0% versus 2.8%; p = 0.04) and less often presented with erythema (70% versus 94.4%; p = 0.01). The median time to incision in non-ACS patients was significantly longer (24.8 versus 3.9 hours; p < 0.001). The mortality rates were 20.0% for the non-ACS group and 7.0% for the ACS group (p = 0.086). Multi-variable analyses revealed that absence of erythema is independently associated with a non-ACS admission (odds ratio [OR] 5.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-25.6; p = 0.02), and non-ACS admissions correlated independently with delayed surgery (OR 35.20; 95% CI 3.86-321.20; p = 0.002). Conclusions: Admission of patients with NSTI to a non-ACS service often occurs because of initial misdiagnosis, especially in the absence of skin erythema; correlates with significantly delayed surgery; and might lead to more deaths.

Admitting Service Affects Cost and Length of Stay of Hip Fracture Patients.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the admitting service on cost of care for hip fracture patients by comparing the cost difference between patients admitted to the medicine service versus those admitted to a surgical service. METHODS: A 2-year cohort of patients 55 years or older who were admitted to a single level 1 trauma center with an operative hip fracture were included. Patient demographics, comorbidities, admitting service, complications, and hospital length of stay were recorded for each patient. Cost of hospitalization, discharge disposition, and 30-day readmissions were collected. Patients who were admitted to the medicine service (medicine cohort) were compared to those admitted to a surgery service (surgery cohort). Multivariate regression models controlling for age, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) scores were used to evaluate hospitalization costs with a P value of <.05 as significant. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-five hip fracture patients were included; 143 (63.6%) patients were admitted to a surgical service, while 82 (36.4%) were admitted to the medicine service. Patients admitted to medicine service had greater CCI and ASA scores, longer lengths of stay, and more complications than those patients admitted to surgery service. Linear regression model controlling for age, CCI, ASA score, and time to surgery demonstrates that patients admitted to a surgical service will have 2.0-day (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.561-3.503; P = .007) shorter admissions with a US$4215 reduction in cost (95% CI: US$314-US$8116; P = .034) compared to patients admitted to the medicine service. DISCUSSIONS: In our urban safety net hospital, hip fracture patients admitted to medicine service had longer lengths of stay and higher total hospitalization costs than patients who were admitted to surgery service. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that the admitting service should be an area of focus for hospitals when developing programs to provide effective and cost-conscious care to hip fracture patients.

Factors associated with emergency department length of stay for patients with hip fracture.

Time to surgery, which includes time in the emergency department (ED), is important for all patients with hip fracture. We hypothesized that patients with hip fracture spend significantly more time in the ED than do patients with the top 5 most common conditions. In addition, we hypothesized that there are patient, physician, and hospital factors that affect the length of time spent in the ED. We retrospectively reviewed our institution's hip fracture database and identified 147 elderly patients with hip fractures who presented to our ED from December 18, 2005, through April 30, 2009. We reviewed their records for patient, practitioner, and hospital factors of interest associated with ED time and for 6 specified time intervals. Average working, boarding (waiting for an inpatient room), and total times were calculated and compared with respective averages for admitted ED patients with the top 5 most common conditions. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed before and after adjusting for confounders (significance, P = .05). The mean total ED time (7 hours and 25 minutes) and working time (4 hours and 31 minutes) for patients with hip fracture were similar to the respective overall averages for admitted ED patients. However, the average boarding time for patients with hip fracture was 2 hours 44 minutes, longer than that for other patients admitted through the ED. Factors significantly associated with longer ED times were a history of hypertension, history of atrial fibrillation, the number of computed tomography scans ordered, and the occupancy rate. Admission to the hip fracture service decreased working time but not overall time. Substantial multidisciplinary work among the ED, hospital admission services, and physicians is needed to dramatically decrease the boarding time and thus the overall time to surgery.