The social consequences of surgical complications for patients with proximal femoral fractures.

A case-matched study was performed to assess the social effects of surgical complications of operative fixation of fractures of the proximal femur. Fifty-two patients aged over sixty-five, half with deep wound infection, the remainder with serious early mechanical problems requiring revision surgery to correct these, had their hospital fatality, length of stay, mobility and social dependency at admission and on discharge compared with patients free from such complications. Deep wound infection was associated with a high fatality and in the survivors a prolonged period in hospital, a marked decline in mobility and without exception a great increase in social dependency; patients having revision surgery had a longer hospital admission, considerable alteration in social circumstances but a little decline in mobility and no significant increase in fatality when compared with matched cases.