Surgical complications associated with congestive heart failure in elderly patients following primary hip hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fractures

Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol. 2019 Aug;29(6):1253-1261. doi: 10.1007/s00590-019-02438-y. Epub 2019 Apr 30.

Abstract

Introduction: Although there are reports of the impact of congestive heart failure (CHF) on total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty, there is a lack of literature analyzing CHF in hip hemiarthroplasty (HHA) procedures. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of CHF on risks for complications following HHA for the treatment of FNF.

Methods: The ACS-NSQIP database was queried for all patients who had undergone HHA from 2005 to 2016. Patients were propensity-matched without replacement in a 1:1 manner based on age and gender. Pearson's Chi squared tests and Fischer's exact tests were utilized to compare differences in demographics, comorbidities, and complication rates. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the impact of CHF as an independent risk factor for postoperative complications.

Results: A propensity-matched cohort of 537 (4.24%) non-CHF patients was generated in order to analyze differences between the two cohorts. CHF was found to be a significant independent risk factor for pneumonia (p = 0.003), progressive renal insufficiency (p = 0.040), myocardial infarctions (p = 0.050), extended length of stay (≥ 5 days) (p < 0.001), and mortality (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: This study has established CHF as an independent risk factor for various postoperative complications following HHA for the treatment of FNF. Although orthopedic surgeons may decline to perform elective procedures on CHF patients, FNFs require urgent surgical intervention. Therefore, it is important to be aware of various increased risks of certain complications in this subset patient population.

Keywords: Complications; Congestive heart failure; Hip hemiarthroplasty; Mortality; Pneumonia.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* / adverse effects
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* / methods
  • Databases, Factual / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Femoral Neck Fractures* / complications
  • Femoral Neck Fractures* / diagnosis
  • Femoral Neck Fractures* / surgery
  • Heart Failure / complications*
  • Heart Failure / epidemiology
  • Hemiarthroplasty / adverse effects*
  • Hemiarthroplasty / methods
  • Humans
  • Length of Stay / statistics & numerical data
  • Male
  • Mortality
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Postoperative Complications* / diagnosis
  • Postoperative Complications* / etiology
  • Postoperative Complications* / mortality
  • Risk Assessment / methods
  • Risk Factors