Survival at 30 days in elderly patients with hip fracture surgery who were exposed to hypothermia: Survival study

The effect of hypothermia as a mortality risk factor at 30 days in the elderly who had hip fracture (HF) surgery is still controversial because it may be due to a set of poorly identified factors. In this study, we aim to determine if exposure to intra and immediate postoperative hypothermia increases the incidence of mortality at 30 days in elderly patients who had HF surgery. Survival study in the elderly who had HF surgery with and without exposure to hypothermia. Sociodemographic, anesthetic and surgical factors were collected. The temperature of the rectum was measured at the end of the surgery and in the recovery room. The effect of hypothermia was analyzed by the incidence of mortality at 30 days. Other results were considered, such as, surgical site infection (SSI), blood transfusions, and influence of implants used in the 30-day mortality. Three hundred eighty five subjects were eligible, to include 300. Inadvertent hypothermia was 12%, the 30-day overall mortality was 9% and in subjects with hypothermia it was 25% (P = .002). Subjects with hypothermia had a higher risk of SSI (relative risk 4.2, 95% confidence interval 1.3–13.6, P = .03) and receive more transfusions (relative risk 3.6, 95% confidence interval 2.0–6.5, P < .001). Elderly subjects with HF exposed to hypothermia who undergo hip hemiarthroplasty and who receive 2 or more blood transfusions during their treatment, are at greater risk of dying after 30 days of the surgery. Hypothermia, as a possible causative factor of mortality, should continue to be studied.