Palliative care is a viable option for frail elderly patients with neurocognitive disorders admitted for hip fractures.

importanceMost patients presenting with a hip fracture regardless of their comorbidities are surgically treated. A growing body of research states that a certain type of elderly patient could benefit more from a palliative approach.

objectiveIdentify the patient who would benefit most from a palliative care approach instead of a surgery.

designExploratory-matched retrospective cohort study between 2015 and 2021.

settingSingle Level 1 Trauma Center.

participantsThere were 2240 hip fracture patients admitted to our institution between 2015 and 2021. Patients over 65 years old with intertrochanteric or femoral neck fractures could be included. A total of 129 patients opted for palliative care (Palliative Group = PG). This cohort was compared to a matched cohort (for age, sex and fracture type) who underwent surgery but died within three months of the procedure (Surgery Deceased Group = SDG) and another matched cohort who survived more than three months (Surgery Alive Group = SAG) following surgery. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Medical charts were reviewed for patient demographics, autonomy level, level of care, neurocognitive disorders (NCD), fracture type, in-hospital data and outpatient death within three months of admission. Analysis was performed through univariate and multivariate models with SAS OnDemand for Academics (alpha 0.05).

resultsPatients in the PG (n = 129) were 88.2 ± 7.2 years old, 71.3% were females, and 61.2% had a femoral neck fracture. Patients in the SDG (n = 95) and SAG (n = 107) were well matched. The PG differed from the SDG (n = 95) and SAG (n = 107) regarding NCD (85.3% vs. 57.9% vs. 36.4%, p < 0.01) and the presence of Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) (19.4% vs. 5.3% vs. 3.7%, p < 0.01). There were more known heart failure (24.2% vs. 16.3%, p < 0.01) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the SDG group than in the PG group (26.6 vs. 14.7%, p = 0.02). Patients in the SAG have a significant lower rate of NCD (OR 2,7 (95%CI 1,5-5,0)), heart failure (OR 5,7 (95%CI 1,9-16,4)) and COPD (OR 2,8 (95%CI 1,2-6,3)) than other groups. Prefracture mobility, autonomy and living situation significantly differed between the groups. Median survival was six days in PG and 17 days in SDG. All groups lost autonomy and mobility. There were more complications in the SDG group than in the PG group. The end-of-care trajectory was death or hospice for most patients in the PG and SDG groups. More than 30% of the SAG group could not return home at discharge.

conclusionThe presence of an NCD and diminished prefracture autonomy strongly support counseling for palliative care. The high rate of complications when surgery is proposed for frail patients with multiple comorbidities suggests that the concept of palliative surgery needs to be revisited.