THE NORWEGIAN HIP FRACTURE REGISTER

Abstract

Background: Annually about 9,000 patients in Norway are operated because of hip fractures. From January 2005 all these fractures should be reported to The Norwegian Hip Fracture Register, founded by the Norwegian Orthopaedic Association and operated by The Norwegian Arthroplasty Register from 1. January 2005.

Patients and methods: We have established contacts at every hospital in Norway that perform surgery for hip fractures. Immediately after the surgery the surgeon fills in a standardized form which is sent to the register once a month. On the form there are both patient- and procedure-related questions. Four and twelve months postoperatively we send a questionnaire to the patients, including the Norwegian translation of the EuroQol-5D. Patient information is linked to the Norwegian Death Register using the unique identification number assigned for each resident of Norway. We have so far included 5,668 primary hip fractures operations and 607 revision procedures including revisions to hemiprosthesis and total hip replacements (THR).

Results: After 1 year of registration 100 % of the hospitals are reporting to the register. Approximately 50 % of the patients have answered the questionnaire. Of the primary operated patients the mean age was 80.5 years and 73 % were females. 59 % of the fractures were intracapsular femoral neck fractures and approximately 2/3 of those were dislocated. 35 % of the fractures were intertrochanteric or subtrochanteric.

Intracapsular dislocated fractures: Screw fixation was used in 48 % of the hips while 46 % of the hips were operated with a hemiarthroplasty, and 4.1 % were operated with a THR. We could not find any difference in mortality between screw fixated patients and patients operated with a hemiarthroplasty.

Intertrochanteric/subtrochanteric fractures: The hip compression screw osteosynthesis was used in 88 % of the patients, 6.3 % of these had a lateral support plate. An intramedullary nail was used in 8.9 % of the patients.

Conclusion: After only one year, the reports from the surgeons were good. Taking the age and general status into consideration, also the response from the patients is satisfactory. With longer follow-up we will be able to give more information on the outcomes of hip fractures and of the different treatment. Updated analysis will be reported.