Hip fractures in Hungary and Sweden – differences in treatment and rehabilitation

• Published in: International Orthopaedics
• Main Authors: Cserháti, Péter, Fekete, Károly, Berglund-Rödén, Margaretha, Wingstrand, Hans, Thorngren, Karl-Göran
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer-Verlag 2002
• Subjects: Original Paper; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620952; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12185524; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-002-0349-1

Data of 1,337 consecutive hip fracture patients were registered during 1 year within a prospective comparative multicenter study comparing osteosynthesis techniques and rehabilitation results in Budapest, Hungary, in Sundsvall, northern Sweden, and in Lund, southern Sweden. In Budapest the mean age was 4–5 years lower than in Sweden, and more patients lived in their own home (91% versus 70% and 62%). Less intracapsular (41% versus 54% and 54%) and more trochanteric fractures (52% versus 40% and 35%) were observed in Budapest. Many more Hungarian patients returned home (68% versus 54% and 33%); however, their mortality rate 4 months later significantly exceeded that of the Swedish centres (24% versus 15% and 13%), and more had severe pain in the operated hip (27% versus 17% and 15%). Four months after double nail osteosynthesis of displaced cervical fractures, more patients (28%) had severe hip pain than after hemiarthroplasty (16%) in Budapest as compared to Lund or Sundsvall (19% and 22%). Mortality rate after 4 months following hemiarthroplasty and nailing (36% and 20%) was significantly higher than in the Swedish centres (14% and 11%).