Falls have become one of the important causes of disability and even death among the elderly. One of the most common causes is the "hip axis" injury caused by the elderly falling. Hip fractures in the elderly are often called "the last fracture in life" by doctors due to the seriousness of its complications. Should an old man with a broken hip have to resign himself to bed for the rest of his life? In fact, surgery as soon as possible within 24 hours after fracture can break the "bed curse" and reduce complications.
Falling down hip bone may kill 20% of the elderly
It is not alarmist to say that the elderly hip fracture is "the last fracture in life". According to statistics, the mortality rate for elderly people who suffer a hip fracture may exceed 20% within one year, and can even reach 50%.
Why does hip fracture in the elderly have such a high mortality rate? Because in the past, after hip fractures in the elderly, most people thought that "at such an old age, I can do without surgery", so they would first choose conservative treatment, that is, rest. As the old saying goes: "It takes a hundred days to break a bone." Once the fracture has healed, you can walk.
However, the fact is that during these "100 days", the elderly have to go through one huge test after another, which are the three major complications of hip fracture in the elderly, any one of which may be life-threatening!
Three "fatal" complications during bed rest
Accumulating pneumonia This is different from an ordinary cold. Due to long-term bed rest, lung drainage is not smooth, resulting in lung infection, which cannot be cured by cold medicine. It is necessary to apply antibiotics and anti-infection treatment, and to drain the sputum from the bronchus as much as possible to ensure the smoothness of the respiratory tract. However, due to long-term bed rest, sputum is often not easily discharged smoothly when lying down, resulting in a vicious cycle. The lung infection becomes more and more serious, eventually causing respiratory failure , which is life-threatening.
Venous thrombosis of the lower limbs. Some people may ask, if the veins of the lower limbs are blocked, wouldn’t it mean that the legs will swell, and how can it be fatal? The newly formed thrombus is very unstable and can easily fall off. Once it falls off, it will get stuck in the blood vessels of important organs along with the blood flow. The most common one is pulmonary artery embolism, which directly affects the normal gas exchange process of the lungs. Although the patient is breathing, the inhaled oxygen cannot enter the blood and be used by various organs, causing hypoxia in multiple organs throughout the body. Serious Sudden death may even occur.
Decubitus ulcers are ulcers that occur after long-term pressure on the skin.
Decubitus ulcers are caused by long-term pressure and ischemia of local skin. Even if treated actively, there is a high probability that they will not recover, resulting in local skin ulceration that will not heal. Human skin itself is a natural barrier to bacteria and external stimuli. But now that this barrier is destroyed, local infections are prone to occur, which in turn causes the damage to worsen, and the barrier continues to be destroyed, forming a vicious cycle.
Eventually, patients are often consumed by long-term infection, causing other organ failure.
Surgery is possible, don’t refuse. 24 hours is the golden period.
Studies have pointed out that compared with hip fracture patients who undergo surgery, the mortality rate of elderly people who choose conservative treatment will increase by 6 to 15 times. Therefore, if an orthopedic surgeon evaluates an elderly person and believes that there is an indication for surgery and the risk of surgery is controllable, he will definitely arrange surgery for the elderly person as soon as possible.
Whether internal fixation or joint replacement is used, it can solve the problem of long-term bed rest for the elderly and avoid subsequent serious complications of hip fractures in the elderly.
At present, more and more hospitals have opened green channels for elderly patients with hip fractures, striving to arrange surgeries for patients within 24 hours of injury, restore patients' limb functions as soon as possible, reduce the occurrence of the above complications, and protect patients life safety. Text/Zhao Xiaoxiong (Beijing Chaoyang Hospital)
