Breaking Down Orthopedics (MDNews)
Increasing numbers of older patients are safely undergoing major elective orthopedic procedures, even as hip fracture remains a serious threat to the mobility and lives of the elderly. Here is a snapshot of orthopedic-related statistics.
Hip Fractures and Mortality
About a third of people age 65 and older will fall, with hundreds of thousands suffering potentially devastating hip fractures each year.
Recent research published in JAMA Internal Medicine investigated the effect of hip fractures on a particularly vulnerable population: those living in nursing homes. The findings? More than a third died within six months after a fracture; half either died or experienced complete loss of independent locomotion. The mortality rate for hip fracture patients tracked for one year was nearly 50 percent.
Worth the Cost
Over a lifetime, the per-patient societal benefit of surgery for displaced hip fractures exceeds the direct medical costs by an estimated $65,000–$68,000.
Go-go Octogenarians
The rates of major elective orthopedic procedures performed on U.S. patients above age 80 significantly increased between 2000 and 2009, according to a study in The Jour...
