Hip Fracture With Elevated Troponin: Harbinger of Mortality or Need for Accelerated Surgery?

Objective: To determine the association of elevated troponin levels with time to surgery and the risk of mortality and other key clinical outcomes among elderly patients with hip fracture who had measured troponin levels at hospital admission.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single academic trauma center.

Patients: We included 299 consecutive patients 60 years of age or older with a hip fracture and cardiac troponin levels measured at the time of hospital admission.

Intervention: Patients with elevated cardiac troponin levels at hospital admission (n = 43) compared with patients with normal troponin levels at admission (n = 256).

Main Outcome Measures: Time to surgery, 90-day mortality, and major complications within 90 days of injury.

Results: The median age of the cohort was 80 years (interquartile range, 70-87 years), 59% were female, and 86% were living independently before their injury. Elevated troponin levels were associated with a 21-hour [95% confidence interval (CI), 12 to 32, P < 0.001] increase in the median time from admission to surgery (43 vs. 22 hours). Elevated troponin levels were also associated with a 14% (95% CI, 0% to 29%, P = 0.01) absolute increase in 90-day mortality (28% vs. 14%). Patients with elevated troponins were 15% (95% CI, -1% to 30%, P = 0.06) more likely to have a major complication (37% vs. 23%); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions: Among patients with a hip fracture and measured troponin levels, elevated troponin levels were associated with significant delays in surgery and increased 90-day mortality.

Level Of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.