Orthopaedic residents' autonomy in hip fracture surgery: what is the effect on patient outcomes?

Background: In the context of growing prevalence of hip fractures and hip fracture surgery in the elderly, it is unknown if surgical trainee autonomy in the operating room conflicts with optimal health care provision and safety of patients. We hypothesized that surgery performed solely by residents, without supervision or participation of an attending surgeon, can provide similar outcomes to surgery performed by trauma or joint reconstruction fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons.

Methods: A single-center cohort was retrospectively reviewed for all hip fracture cases, surgically treated with hemiarthroplasty or internal fixation during 2016.