Mortality of patients following hip fractures in Barbados.

A retrospective study of all patients admitted with hip fractures to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados from January 1996 to December 1998 was conducted. There were 110 patients who had sustained either a femoral neck or peri-trochanteric fracture. The mean age was 80.7 years and 71.8% of the patients were women. Mortality at six months in 110 patients was 32.7% and 41.2% at 12 months in 102 patients. Forty-nine patients had open reduction and internal fixation of their fractures, forty-five patients were treated with Austin Moore prostheses and one patient had excisional arthroplasty. Patients with pre-operative cardiac abnormalities had a significantly higher mortality (60%) at 12 months (p = 0.028). There was a linear correlation between age and mortality with mortality increasing with age. The length of time from admission to surgical procedure had no significant influence on mortality. Hip-fracture patients with cardiac abnormalities should be carefully evaluated and stabilized pre-operatively.