Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA
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Hip fracture has repeatedly been associated with increases in the risks of death and pulmonary embolism (PE), but few studies have considered whether other fractures are also associated with these adverse outcomes. The authors estimated the 90-day risks and relative risks of mortality and PE after fractures, and the longer-term relative risks of mortality, for each of ten fracture sites. Using the 5% US standard sample of the Medicare population, we identified 81,181 fractures of the pelvis, patella, and long bones occurring between July 1, 1986, and June 30, 1990, among beneficiaries aged 65 years or older. ⋯ Patients who survived 1 year after most fracture types had no clinically significant excess mortality compared with their surviving controls. For patients with hip, nonhip femur, and pelvis fractures, however, there remained an elevated risk of 1.6 to 1.8, and for patients with proximal humerus fractures the risk ratio was 1.4. All lower-limb fractures carried a higher risk of PE than any upper-limb fracture.