The Impact of Orthopedic Trauma on Survival in the Oldest Old: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.

Abstract

The growing population of centenarians poses unique challenges to healthcare systems, particularly in orthopedic care, where age-related factors like increase susceptibility to fractures and complicate treatment. This study investigates epidemiological features, mortality risk factors and 1-, 6-, and 12-month mortality rates among centenarians (aged 100 years and older) with orthopedic traumas, based on data collected from a tertiary trauma center. The hospital database searched from 2014 to 2023 revealed 23,458 trauma patients admitted to the emergency department of whom 116 were centenarians. 74 of them had bone fractures or dislocations that required treatment. Information of the patients were recorded from the patient's files, retrospectively. In this study, 82.4% of patients were female and the median age was 101 (100-108) years. Trauma ratio was found as 63.5% in the lower extremity and 36.5% in the upper extremity. Among the whole study group, 28.4% of the patients underwent surgery. The 1-month mortality rate was 16.2%, 6-month 28.4% and 1-year 41.9%. Males had a higher 6-month (<i>p</i> = 0.003) and 1-year mortality (<i>p</i> = 0.012) risks than females. Fracture localization and treatment preference were not associated with 6-month and 1-year mortalities. This study, which has the highest number of patients, explored factors affecting mortality in centenarians following orthopedic trauma showed, 1-month mortality rate was 16.2%, the 6-month mortality rate was 28.4% and the 1-year mortality rate was 41.9%, and revealed that fracture location did not influence 6-month or 1-year mortality. 3, case-control study. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43465-025-01429-y.