Femoral Neck Fractures: Factors Influencing Mortality

The purpose of this literature review is to concisely assess the external elements that increase and decrease the risk of mortality after a femoral fracture in the geriatric population. The mortality rate in elderly patients with a femoral neck fracture has been reported as high as 9.6% in the first thirty days. Orthopedic surgical intervention includes Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF), Hemiarthroplasty (HA), and Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA); of which is dependent on the patient’s level of activity and fracture type. Method: PubMed and OneSearch were used as literature search engines to obtain data. Key words included: femur/hip fracture, skilled nursing rehabilitation, mortality, pre-surgical laboratories, medical clearance surgery, open reduction internal fixation, post-operative complications, and physical therapy. Conclusion: Pre-surgical management of abnormal laboratory studies can reduce the risk of mortality post-operatively. Ensuring that protocols are in place to minimize delay in proceeding with surgical intervention as well as a protocol for a physical therapy program improves the risks of complications associated with surgical intervention