The effects of preoperative oral carbohydrate drinks on energy intake and postoperative complications after hip fracture surgery : A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Hip fractures represent a major clinical burden for patients. Studies on the effect of preoperative carbohydrate loading before different surgical interventions have shown promising results but have not been tested in patients with hip fracture. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of preoperative oral carbohydrate drinks on the postoperative energy intake and incidence of complications after hip fracture surgery. METHOD: This was a pilot study using a quasi-experimental design with a control group and an intervention group. RESULT: The number of patients affected by more than one complication was higher in the control group than in the intervention group. According to the logistic regression analysis, the risk of any postoperative complication was reduced by approximately 50% OR (95% CI) 0.508 (0.23-1.10) in patients in the IG compared to those in the CG (p = 0.085). CONCLUSION: The result of this pilot study indicated that using preoperative carbohydrate drinks can decrease the number of postoperative complications in patients with a hip fracture. Furthermore, the number of patients who meet their energy needs during the first three days postoperatively might increase. More research is needed to confirm the effect of preoperative carbohydrate drinks