Sterile Inflammatory Response and Surgery-Related Trauma in Elderly Patients with Subtrochanteric Fractures

Abstract

Sterile inflammation is a natural response of the organism in the absence of microorganisms, which is triggered in correspondence with the degree of tissue damage sustained after a surgical procedure. The objective of this study was to explore the values of postoperative hematological-derived biomarkers in assessing the sterile inflammatory response magnitude related to the invasiveness of the surgical reduction technique used for subtrochanteric fractures (STFs) treatment. A retrospective, observational cohort research was conducted between January 2021 and October 2023 that included a total of 143 patients diagnosed with acute subtrochanteric fractures who underwent long Gamma Nail (LGN) fixation. According to the surgical reduction technique used, they were divided into two groups: group 1, which consisted of those with a closed reduction and internal fixation (CRIF); and group 2, which consisted of those with an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). Between groups, statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in relation to days to surgery, length of hospital stay (LOHS), duration of surgery, postoperative hemoglobin (HGB) levels, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte–lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate inflammation systemic index (AISI). The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis revealed that all ratios presented a high diagnostic ability (p < 0.0001) with NLR > 6.95 being the most reliable (sensitivity 94.8% and specificity 70.6%). Moreover, the multivariate regression model confirmed that sterile immune response after orthopedic interventions can be assessed in an almost equal and non-dependent manner using these biomarkers. Postoperative NLR, PLR, MLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI ratios are closely correlated to the sterile inflammatory response magnitude, due to the extent of surgical dissection performed during internal fixation procedures of subtrochanteric femur fractures.