Results Summary

What was the research about?

Hip fractures can be a serious problem for older adults. Within a year after a hip fracture, half of people who used to live on their own have either moved to a nursing home or died.

Treatment for a hip fracture typically requires surgery. Anesthesia keeps patients from feeling pain during surgery. In this study, the research team compared how two types of anesthesia used during hip fracture surgery affected patients’ recovery:

  • Spinal anesthesia. Doctors inject medicine in the spinal fluid to numb the lower body and block pain. Patients usually also get medicine to make them feel drowsy.
  • General anesthesia. Doctors give patients medicine through a vein or mask to bring on a sleep-like state.

What were the results?

The two anesthesia types didn’t differ in an outcome that combined the rate of a new inability to walk or death within two months of surgery. For both anesthesia types, 18 percent of patients had a new inability to walk or died.

Also, patients didn’t differ in:

  • Chronic pain or overall health and disability at 2, 6, and 12 months.
  • Returning to where they lived before surgery.
  • Length of hospital stay.
  • Delirium or other complications while in the hospital.
  • Satisfaction with anesthesia care.

Compared with patients who had general anesthesia, more patients who had spinal anesthesia took prescription pain medicine two months after surgery. They also had higher levels of pain within 24 hours of surgery. But this difference was small.

Who was in the study?

The study included 1,600 patients ages 50 and older receiving hip fracture surgery. All received care at one of 46 hospitals in the United States and Canada. Among patients, 90 percent were White, 8 percent were Black, and 2 percent were Asian; 2 percent were Hispanic. The average age was 78, and 67 percent were women.

What did the research team do?

The research team assigned patients by chance to receive spinal or general anesthesia. During the first three days after surgery, the team interviewed patients about their pain, delirium, and care satisfaction. At 2, 6, and 12 months after surgery, the team asked patients if they could walk at least 10 feet without help from another person. They also asked about their overall health, pain, and place of residence. The team reviewed patient health records for length of hospital stay, complications, and death.

Older patients who had bone or joint surgery, caregivers, a patient advocacy group, and medical societies for care for older adults gave input during the study.

What were the limits of the study?

The number of patients who had a new inability to walk or died after surgery was lower than the research team expected, which may have limited the study’s ability to detect differences between anesthesia types.

Future research could compare types of anesthesia for patients who are less likely to enroll in studies, like those with dementia.

How can people use the results?

Older patients and their doctors can use the results when considering anesthesia types for hip fracture surgery.

Final Research Report

This project's final research report is expected to be available by February 2024.

Engagement Resources

Journal Citations

Article Highlight: Each year, more than 300,000 adults in the United States break a hip and nearly all will need surgery. This study, which compared how general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia during hip fracture surgery affected recovery, found patients who received spinal anesthesia received fewer opioids in the operating room but had more pain and prescription pain medication use after surgery. These results were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Overall, patients with spinal anesthesia had slightly higher levels of pain (7.9 out of 10) compared to those who had general anesthesia (7.6). Further results showed spinal anesthesia patients were also 33 percent more likely than general anesthesia patients to still be taking prescription painkillers roughly two months out from their procedure.

Peer-Review Summary

The Peer-Review Summary for this project will be posted here soon.

Project Information

Mark D. Neuman, MD, MS
University of Pennsylvania
$11,824,195
A Practical Intervention to Improve Patient-Centered Outcomes after Hip Fractures among Older Adults (Regain Trial)

Key Dates

April 2015
November 2023
2015
2023

Study Registration Information

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Last updated: June 30, 2023