Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialist Op.Dr. Ziya Postalcı gave information about hip fractures, which significantly reduce the life expectancy of older people.
While hip fractures were detected as 1.5 million worldwide in the 1990s, today this number has increased to 6 million. A 50 percent increase is expected in the 2050s. The reason for this is that the average life expectancy in the world is increasing and these fractures mostly occur as low-intensity traumas of the elderly population. While the mortality rate after hip fracture in the population over 70 years of age was 50-60 percent in the 1990s, today the mortality rate within 1 year after hip fracture has dropped to 30 percent. This rate will gradually decrease in the coming years.
It would be wrong to consider hip fracture only as a disorder or trauma of the skeletal system in older patients. Any trauma (mechanical or systemic) to the body rather than the fracture itself reduces the patient's life expectancy. Because possible pre-existing disorders in the systems are irreparably damaged after fractures and trauma in these patients and trigger each other with a domino effect, causing the organs to fail. IT IS NOT A CONCERNING TRAUMA'
We can exemplify this with a car tire bursting. If we simply compare a hip fracture to a car tire burst, the hip joint is an indispensable part of the walking mechanism. When you replace the flat tire of your vehicle, the vehicle will be repaired without any problems since there is no damage to the vehicle's engine. However, we cannot simplify the situation in humans, especially in the elderly population. A hip fracture is more than just a bursting of the wheel, which is the driving axle of the vehicle, it causes a trauma that disrupts all systems that we can compare to the engine of the vehicle. After this fracture, the engine of the vehicle (both the systems and mental health of the human body), which has already worn out over the years, quickly deteriorates and the alarm system also affects and disrupts other working systems that continue their duties in one way or another. As a result, the trauma of a hip fracture is not a trauma that only concerns the hip joint in these patients, but also a trauma that affects all systems. It is a versatile and comprehensive trauma. The cause of deaths after hip fractures is such a systemic collapse. The fracture itself cannot cause this result.
'FRACTURE REQUIRES EMERGENCY SURGERY'
In older patients with hip fractures, the aim is to To mobilize as soon as possible, that is, to get up and walk (if there is walking potential). If this cannot be done, the collapse of the systems mentioned above is inevitable and will accelerate. It is incompatible with life for the human body (especially one that has been so worn out over the years) to remain in a lying position for a long time. By providing possible optimal conditions, the primary goal is to take the hip fracture into surgery as soon as possible and remove the fracture from the body.
Today's developing surgical techniques, much less abrasive equipment than in the past, and especially the anesthesia used. With the development of methods, this process can be overcome in a much shorter time and with less damage.
Of course, although all fractures are more or less the same type and treatment options are quite similar, each person has a different mechanism and each body has a different mechanism. Their ability to withstand this stress varies. For all these reasons, the aim should be to heal the patient, not the fracture.
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