Does Presence of Femoral Arterial Calcification Have an Effect on Postoperative Complication and Mortality in Patients With Hip Fracture?

Introduction In this study, we investigated the relationship between femoral arterial calcification on preoperative hip radiography and post-operative complications and all-time mortality rates in patients with hip fracture >65 years old. Methods This retrospective study was conducted by evaluating the records of patients who were operated for hip fractures. All patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of lower extremity arterial calcification (LEAC) at the femoral artery which was diagnosed using the hip radiograph. The patients with and without the presence of LEAC were assigned as groups 1 and 2, respectively. A multivariate Cox algorithm was applied to recognize whether this radiological factor is independently associated with survival. Results The study included 530 patients (540 hips; 191 males and 339 females) with an average age of 80.8 ± 7.6 years. In the study after 24.8±19.9 months (range:0-65 months) follow-up period, 336 (63.3%) patients had expired. Conversely, 194 (36.7%) patients are surviving. Survival rates at one month and one year after surgery were 89.5% and 65.7%, respectively. 234 of 540 hips (230 patients) have LEAC on the femoral artery. The survival rate at one month, one year, and overall survival were significantly higher in patients with LEAC. The postoperative infection rate was also two times higher in patients with LEAC than without LEAC (p = 0.021). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age, treatment modality (hemiarthroplasty), and the presence of femoral arterial calcification were independently associated with poor overall survival. Conclusions In our study, we found that the presence of femoral arterial calcification on the affected side of the hip identified on hip radiograph was independently associated with poor one month, one year, and overall survival as the patients had 1.5 times higher mortality rate. Additionally, a significant correlation was found between age and survival of patients with hip fracture, especially patients >80 years old.