Hip Fractures Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparative Demographics and Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, hip fractures requiring operative management continued to present to Stony Brook University Hospital. Given the novelty of SARS-CoV-2, there is recent interest in the pandemic and its relationship to orthopedic operative outcomes. This retrospective cohort study compared outcomes for operative hip fractures in patients prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic at a level 1 academic center. Data was collected on patients age 18 years or older who underwent operative management for hip fractures performed from January 21, 2019 to July 1, 2019 (pre-pandemic) or from January 21, 2020 to July 1, 2020 (pandemic). COVID-19 status, demographics and outcomes were analyzed.

RESULTS

Overall, 159 patients with hip fractures were included in this study, 103 in the 2019 group and 56 in the 2020 group. Within the 2019 group, there was a significantly greater proportion of female patients compared to 2020 (p = 0.0128). The length of hospital stay was shorter for the 2020 group by 1.84 days (p = 0.0138). COVID-19 testing was positive in 4 (7.1%) patients in the 2020 group, negative for 22 patients (39.3%), and the remaining 30 patients in the 2020 group (53.7%) were not tested during their admission. There were no other significant differences in demographics or outcomes between the 2019 and 2020 groups.

DISCUSSION

The COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly alter most aspects of care for hip fracture patients at our institution. Interestingly, postoperative pulmonary outcomes were not affected by the pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, a significantly higher proportion of males presented with hip fractures in the pandemic group. In addition, the average length of hospital stay was shorter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is needed to understand the nuances that may lead to improved care for patients with hip fractures during a pandemic.