Background: Osteoporosis and subsequent fractures are common in the chronic hepatitis B (CHB) population, especially in the elderly. This study investigated the effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on postoperative outcomes following hip fracture surgery.
Methods: The study identified elderly patients who underwent hip fracture surgery at three academic tertiary care centres between January 2014 and December 2020. Propensity score matching was performed to compare the outcomes of 1,046 patients with HBV infection to 1,046 controls.
Results: The seroprevalence of HBV among elderly patients undergoing hip surgery was 4.94%. The HBV cohort had significantly higher rates of medical complications (28.1 vs. 22.7%, p = 0.005), surgical complications (14.0 vs. 9.7%, p = 0.003), and unplanned readmissions (18.9 vs. 14.5%, p = 0.03) within 90 days of surgery. Patients with HBV infection were more likely to have increased length of stay (6.2 vs. 5.9 days, p = 0.009) and in-hospital charges (¥52,231 vs. ¥49,832, p < 0.00001). Multivariate logistic regression suggested that liver fibrosis and thrombocytopenia were independent risk factors for major complications and extended LOS.
Conclusion: Patients with HBV infection were at greater risk of adverse postoperative outcomes. We should pay more attention to the considerable burden of perioperative management of CHB patients. Due to the high proportion of undiagnosed patients in the Chinese elderly population, universal HBV screening should be considered preoperatively.
Keywords: Chronic liver disease; Hepatitis B virus; Hip fracture; Liver cirrhosis; Postoperative complication; Thrombocytopenia.
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