PhD defence V.A.J.I.M. (Veronique) van Rijckevorsel

Brief summary on the aim of the doctoral thesis:

Hip fractures are common in elderly patients. Due to increasing incidence of hip fractures associated with aging of the population and the high associated health care costs for hip fractures, it is of interest to keep improving care for this specific population. The research described in this thesis focuses on improving clinical outcomes of geriatric patients with a hip fracture by assessing the influence of variables involved in daily care. The research presented in this thesis shows that prediction tools as the Nottingham Hip fracture Score (NHFS) can be useful in predicting 30-day mortality rates after hip fracture surgery; that postponing hip fracture surgery longer than 48 hours after admission is associated with higher postoperative complication rates; that intravenously administrated tranexamic acid in frail geriatric patients is associated with reduced haemoglobin loss and less packed cell supplementation, with a slight enlarged risk of developing pulmonary emboli; that time to surgery and type of anaesthesia are not associated with postoperative delirium and finally that all sorts of antithrombotic drugs are associated with higher risk of bleeding associated complications in hip fracture surgery.