Delayed surgery is associated with adverse outcomes in patients with hip fracture undergoing hip arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Hip arthroplasty (HA) is one of the most effective procedures for patients with hip fractures. The timing of surgery played a significant role in the short-term outcome for these patients, but conflicting evidence has been found. METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was investigated from 2002 to 2014 and identified 247,377 patients with hip fractures undergoing HA. The sample was stratified into ultra-early (0 day), early (1–2 days) and delayed (3–14 days) groups based on time to surgery. Yearly trends, postoperative surgical and medical complications, postoperative length of hospital stay (POS) and total costs were compared after propensity scores were matched between groups by demographics and comorbidity. RESULTS: From 2002 to 2014, the percentage of hip fracture patients who underwent HA increased from 30.61 to 31.98%. Early surgery groups showed fewer medical complications but higher surgical complications. However, specific complication evaluation showed both ultra-early and early groups decreased most of the surgery and medical complications with increasing post hemorrhagic anemia and fever. Medical complications were also reduced in the ultra-early group, but surgical complications increased. Early surgery groups reduced the POS by 0.90 to 1.05 days and total hospital charges by 32.6 to 44.9 percent than delayed surgery groups. Ultra-early surgery showed no benefit from POS than early group, but reduced total hospital charges by 12.2 percent. CONCLUSION: HA surgery performed within 2 days showed more beneficial effects on adverse events than delayed surgery. But surgeons should be cognizant of the potential increased risks of mechanical complications and post-hemorrhagic anemia. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-023-06396-9.