Hip Fracture Surgery for Older Patients Can Wait Until the Next Day, Study Finds
Hip fractures are strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality and are expected to rise in incidence as the general population ages.
In the older adult population, surgical timing is among key factors that are critical to achieving the best outcomes, and the consensus is that reducing the time to surgery improves patient survival and other positive postoperative outcomes.
However, in new research from NYU Langone Orthopedics, no notable differences were observed in key outcomes for patients who underwent surgery the same day as their hip fracture compared with those who underwent surgery the next day. Outcomes of note include in-hospital complication incidence, mortality, and readmission rates. Length of stay was longer in patients whose surgery was the day after the hip fracture.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, suggests that next-day hip fracture surgery is safe for older adult patients.
“Given the range of data defining optimal time to surgery for patients with hip fracture, a 24-hour threshold seems arbitrary and may place undue resource burden on hospitals and providers without clear benefit in patient outcome,” said Sanjit Konda, MD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“Logically, earlier surgery is always optimal when possible, especially in sicker patients. However, as patients with hip fracture are disproportionately older and have a larger relative comorbidity burden, there are myriad reasons that surgery might be delayed to stabilize the patient. This study shows that these patients are no worse off, which could influence surgical practices.”
Source
Ganta A, Hammond B, Olson DM, Egol KA, Konda SR. Hip Fracture Surgery Performed <24 Hours vs >24 Hours (Next Calendar Day) After Emergency Department Presentation Yields Equivalent Outcomes (Program Number: 051). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, March 2-6, 2026, New Orleans, Louisiana.