Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate surgeons' ability to perform or supervise a standard operation with agreed-upon radiologic parameters after being on call.
Methods: We reviewed a consecutive series of patients with intertrochanteric hip fractures treated with a fixed angle device at 9 centers and compared corrected tip-apex distance and reduction quality for post-call surgeons versus those who were not. Subgroup analyses included surgeons who operated the night before versus not and attending-only versus resident involved cases. Secondary outcomes included union and perioperative complications.
Results: One thousand seven hundred fourteen patients were of average age 77 years. Post-call surgeons treated 823 patients and control surgeons treated 891. Surgical corrected tip-apex distance did not differ between groups: on-call 18 mm versus control 18 mm (P = 0.59). The Garden indices were 160° on the AP and 179° on the lateral in both groups. In 66 cases performed by surgeons who operated the night before, the TAD was 17 mm. No difference was noted in corrected tip-apex distance with and without resident involvement (P = 0.101). No difference was observed in pooled fracture-related complications (P = 0.23).
Conclusion: Post-call surgeons demonstrated no difference in quality and no increase in complications when performing hip fracture repair the next day compared with surgeons who were not on call.
Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.