Treatment of proximal femoral fractures in older patients could improve with the incorporation of clinical pathways, according to a recent study in Orthopaedics & Traumatology: Surgery & Research (2020;106[1]:141-147. doi:10.1016/j.otsr.2019.07.029).
The effects of clinical pathways using a pre-during-post design were analyzed in a prospective non-randomized cohort study in which 605 proximal femoral fractures were prospectively included into a hospital database. Procedural and patient outcome parameters were evaluated.
The researchers identified a significant reduction of time to surgery, improvement of discharge management, and reduction of internal complications during the 3-year period. No significant changes to mortality or revision rate were found.
“We could show a relevant improvement with the implementation of clinical pathways for the treatment of proximal femoral fractures in elderly patients,” concluded Sandra Tittel, Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus (Stuttgart, Germany) and colleagues.—Lisa Kuhns
