Subsequent hip fracture in osteoporotic hip fracture patients

A significant number of patients who have experienced previous surgical treatment for an osteoporotic hip fracture experience a subsequent hip fracture (SHF) on the opposite side. This study aims to analyze the risk factors and the correlation between osteoporosis and SHF on the opposite side in order to assess the usefulness of bisphosphonate treatment for the prevention of SHFs. We included 517 patients treated from March 1997 to April 2009 in this study. The inclusion criteria included previous unilateral hip fracture, without osteoporotic treatment, and a T-score less than -3.0 at the time of the fracture. We studied these patients in terms of death, SHF, alcoholism, living alone, dementia, dizziness, health status, osteoporotic treatment after fracture and bone mineral density (BMD). In total, 34 patients experienced a SHF. We selected another 34 patients without a SHF who had similar age, sex, body mass index, BMD, diagnosis, treatment and a follow up period for a matched pair study. We compared these two groups. The average follow up was 8.3 years and 8.1 years, respectively. The mortality rate of the 517 patients was 138 (27%). The BMD at the time of fracture demonstrated no statistical difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Nine patients (26%) within the SHF group were prescribed Risedronate and 18 patients (53%) received the same treatment in the non-SHF group. There was a statistical relationship with the treatment of osteoporosis (p=0.026). The average BMD of patients with SHF was -5.13 and -5.02 in patients without SHF was (p>0.05). Although primary surgical treatments are important for an excellent outcome in osteoporotic hip fractures, treatment of osteoporosis itself is just as important for preventing SHFs.