Abstract
Fractures of the contralateral hip may easily occur in elderly patients after an initial hip fracture. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and major predisposing risk factors of contralateral hip fracture after initial hip fracture in the elderly, to provide a clinical basis for preventing contralateral hip fracture. The data of 1586 patients who had sustained first or second hip fractures and had been surgically treated in our department were retrospectively analyzed. Potential predictive factors for contralateral hip fracture and descriptive statistics associated with surgery (such as blood loss, operation time, and length of hospital stay) were recorded. Of these patients, 133 (8.4%) suffered contralateral hip fracture. The rates of contralateral fracture after femoral neck and intertrochanteric fracture were 5.4% and 10.7% respectively (P < 0.01). Fifty-four cases of contralateral hip fracture occurred within one year, an incidence of 40.6%, while 95 cases (71.4%) and 105 cases (78.9%) occurred within two and three years, respectively, with a interval duration of 21.6 months. The risk factors for contralateral hip fracture were found to be age, type of first fracture, bone mineral density, the Singh index, and concomitant internal medical diseases, which were found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of contralateral hip fracture in multivariate logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the presence of concomitant internal diseases, type of first fracture, bone mineral density, the Singh index, and age were found to be significant predictors of the risk of contralateral hip fracture in elderly patients after a first hip fracture.