Background: hip fractures are defined as any fracture of the femur between the articular cartilage of the hip joint to 5 cm below the distal point of the lesser trochanter; they can occur at any age, they but are most common in the older persons. A worldwide incidence hip fractures are 1.6 million osteoporotic fractures of the hip in people aged 50 years and older in 2000, of which about 70% (1.14 million) were in women.
Objectives: this study aimed to evaluate various postoperative complications and their risk factors in hip fracture patients in King Fahad Hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Method: this prospective study enrolled patients with hip fractures who were subjected to hip fracture surgeries in the king Fahad Hospital in the period from 1/5/2010 to 31/1/2016. Detailed medical history,perioperative characteristics and post-operative characteristicswere collected from the patient's files.
Results: the higher prevalence of hip fractures was founded among elderly patients with age range of 65 – 74 years. There was no significant correlations between age, gender, comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, anemia and walking of physical assistance), time of operation and post-operative complications (neurovascular, infection in joints, dislocation of the joint, loosing of the joint and post-operative disabilities) regarding readmission of hip fractures patients for the same reason within one year.While, there was a significant correlation between osteoporosis and readmission of hip fractures patients for the same reason within one year (P=0.049).
Conclusion: medical complications such as neurovascular and infection in joints are encountered more frequently than surgical complications such as dislocation of the joint, loosing of the joint and post-operative disabilities. So, postoperative care is necessary to prevent medical complications.