Hip-Fracture Surgery Risk Not Just Due to Age
A potential way to address those issues, Devereaux said, is through quicker surgery.
In Canada and the United States, he said, hip-fracture surgery is typically done 24 to 48 hours after the injury. Doing surgery sooner, and getting patients on their feet within eight hours of the procedure, might be a better tactic, according to Devereaux.
A clinical trial to test that theory is already under way, he noted.
In the United States, at least 258,000 people aged 65 and older are hospitalized for a hip fracture each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all of those injuries are caused by falls.
After surgery, many patients need nursing home care, and about 20 percent of all hip-fracture patients die within a year, according to the CDC.
Fracture surgery typically involves fixing the injury with screws -- and it's actually less complicated than hip replacement, Devereaux said.
On the other hand, hip replacement is planned in advance, said Dr. Douglas Lundy, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, who was not involved in the study.
So people undergoing a hip replacement have time to get chronic health conditions -- such as high blood pressure and heart disease -- under the best control possible ahead of surgery.
That's not the case for fracture patients, Lundy pointed out.
He said he thinks that the basic difference between the two procedures -- one is elective, one is an emergency -- helps explain the disparities in patients' outcomes.
For the general public, Lundy said the findings underscore the importance of prevention.
"A lot of these fractures are preventable," he said. "It's important for adults, and especially women, to protect their bone health with regular exercise, a healthy diet, and calcium and vitamin D."
People who already have the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis can still curb their risk of fractures, Lundy said -- though they may need the added help of a prescription medication.
Preventing falls is also key, he stressed.
To curb the risk of falls, the CDC recommends that older adults remove tripping hazards and improve lighting in the home, install grab bars in the bathroom, and have their vision checked regularly.