Team approach: Multidisciplinary treatment of hip fractures in elderly patients: Orthogeriatric care

Abstract

Patients with hip fractures are best managed by a multidisciplinary team. The multidisciplinary team consists of an orthogeriatrician, orthopaedic surgeon, aanesthesiologist, orthopaedic and/or geriatric nurse, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and clinical pharmacologist and may also include other professions, such as endocrinologist, nutritional therapist, and social worker. Key factors include perioperative assessment and minimal delay to surgery; comprehensive geriatric assessment; multidisciplinary in-ward assessment including discharge planning, treatment, and rehabilitation; and secondary fracture prevention. Current evidence shows that older people receiving multidisciplinary treatment for a hip fracture, comprehensive geriatric assessment, and systematic secondary fracture prevention have reduced morbidity and mortality and a lower risk of subsequent fractures and are more likely to return to the same location in which they lived before hospital admission.