Hip fracture and cancer: descriptive epidemiological study demonstrating a paradigm shift in common orthopedic trauma

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the increase both in patients with cancer and those with proximal femoral fractures (PFFs), details of the characteristics of non-pathological PFFs in patients undergoing cancer treatment are unknown. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the characteristics and issues of patients with active cancer who have non-pathological PFFs.

Methods

This was a retrospective, observational, descriptive epidemiological study. A total of 376 patients were admitted to Juntendo University hospital with a diagnosis of PFF. Six of these patients had metastasis-related pathological fractures and were excluded from this study. The remaining 370 patients comprised 100 men and 270 women.

Results

The mean patient age was 78.6 ​± ​11.2 years. Fractures included 141 trochanteric femoral fractures and 229 femoral neck fractures. Of these, 39 (10.5%) of the patients had active cancer, 55 (14.9%) has a history of past cancer, and 276 (74.6%) had no cancer. Among the 39 patients with active cancer, 13 (33.3%) received glucocorticoids; furthermore, 10 (76.9%) of these 13 patients were not receiving medications to prevent osteoporosis. Lastly, 9 of the 39 falls were hospitalization-related, but 6 (66.7%) of these 9 patients did not undergo rehabilitation during hospitalization.

Conclusions

Approximately one in ten patients with PFF in this study were undergoing cancer treatment. Moreover, one in four patients with PFF were cancer-related. Therefore, orthopedic surgeons should have basic knowledge about cancer management in hip fracture.