UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Chair and Professor Steven Theiss, M.D., alongside his colleagues, published “Association Between COVID-19 and Mortality in Hip Fracture Surgery in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C): A Retrospective Cohort Study” in the Journal of the AAOS Global Research and Reviews.

The purpose of their research was to study the results and aftermaths of COVID-positive patients receiving hip fracture surgery. Researchers were also focused on contrasting hip fracture surgery outcomes between COVID- positive and COVID-negative matched cohorts from 46 sites across the U.S.

Researchers found that the 30-day mortality was 14 percent with COVID-positive versus four percent in COVID-negative. The all-cause mortality for hip fracture surgery was 27 percent in the COVID-positive group during the study period.

The study included over three-thousand adults who underwent hip fracture surgery. Researchers investigated patients 65 and older with a hip fracture surgery between Mar. 15 and Dec. 31, 2020.

Researchers ultimately found a higher incidence of all-cause mortality in patients with versus without diagnosis of COVID-19 after undergoing hip fracture surgery. 

Faculty and trainees collaborated with colleagues across the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, as well as the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine; the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Johns Hopkins University; and the Hughston Clinic.

Study authors include:

• Eli B. Levitt, M.S.
• David A. Patch, M.D.
• Scott Mabry, M.D.
• Alfredo Terrero, M.D.
• Byron Jaeger, Ph.D.
• Melissa A. Haendel, Ph.D.
• Christopher G. Chute, M.D.
• Jonathan H. Quade, M.D.
• Brent Ponce, M.D.
• Steven Theiss, M.D.
• Clay A. Spitler, M.D.
• Joey P. Johnson, M.D.