Older age and type of surgery predict the early inflammatory response to hip trauma mediated by interleukin-6 (IL-6)
Abstract
Hip trauma and surgery are associated with systemic inflammatory reaction. However, little evidence exists about the role of IL-6.
In order to assess the inflammatory response, we evaluated white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 dynamics in sequential pre- and postsurgical samples collected from 125 elderly patients (mean age 78 +/- 9 years) undergoing osteosynthesis (OS) for extracapsular hip fractures (n = 69), hemiarthroplasty (HA) or urgent total hip arthroplasty for intracapsular fractures (UA) (n = 35), and elective total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthrosis (OA) (n = 21). Both preoperative CRP and IL-6 levels were higher in patients with intracapsular fractures.
IL-6 levels reached peak values immediately after the surgery, while CRP peak levels were reached 48 h after the surgery. The overall inflammatory reaction was more intense in HA patients compared to the other subgroups.