The effect of COVID-19 positivity on inflammatory parameters and thirty day mortality rates in patients over sixty five years of age with surgically treated intertrochanteric fractures.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of COVID-19 positivity on inflammatory parameters and 30-day mortality rates in patients over 65 years of age who were operated on for intertrochanteric femur fractures (IFF).

Methods: Eighty-seven patients (31 males, 56 females) who had a dynamic hip screw (DHS) or proximal femur nail (PFN) for the IFF between March 2020 and November 2020 were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups as COVID-19 confirmed and probable positive (Group 1) and COVID-19 negative (Group 2). Time to surgery, operation duration, length of hospital stay, 30-day mortality, rates of the intensive care unit (ICU) referral, and inflammatory parameters such as haemoglobin, CRP, sedimentation, PCT, D-Dimer, and ferritin were evaluated.

Results: No significant difference was observed in terms of demographic data such as age, gender, comorbidity, and fracture type between the groups. Thirty-day mortality, ICU referral rate, blood transfusion rate, and hospitalization period were higher in Group 1 (p = 0.016, p = 0.012, p = 0.031, and p = 0.011, respectively). The inflammatory parameters were higher in Group 1 compared to Group 2 in the preoperative and postoperative periods (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: COVID-19 positivity increases inflammatory parameters (as expected) and increases the 30-day mortality and ICU requirement in patients with surgically treated IFF.