IOA 2022

Impact of the BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine against Covid-19 on Early Post-operative Complications following Hip Fracture Surgery

Ben Efrima 1,2 Adi Lichtenstein 1,2 Alex Bebin 1,2 Joshua Ovadia 1,2 Assaf Albagli 1,2 Ronen Karpf 1,2 Ortal Segal 1,2 Elchanan Joseph Luger 1,2 Dani Rotman 1,2 Amal Khoury 1,2
1Orthopedic Surgery, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
2Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Background:
As a result of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, administration of BNT162b2 vaccine was quickly implemented. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine on early post-operative morbidity in patients operated on for hip fractures. It was hypothesized that the vaccination does not increase the early complication rate of surgery for hip fracture.

Methods:
In this retrospective single tertiary center study, 230 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for hip fracture were recruited and separated into two groups based on COVID-19 status: “V-” (non-vaccinated and non-exposed) and “V+” (vaccinated). Thirty-day post-operative complication rates were recorded in accordance with the modified Clavien-Dindo classification scheme and compared between the two groups. Additionally, outcomes such as the time to surgery (TTS) and length of stay (LOS) in the hospital were recorded.

Results:
A total of 270 complications occurred in 149 patients, 55 (60.4%) patients from the V- and 94 (67.6%) patients from the V+ group. There was no statistically significant increase in the 30-day post-operative morbidity rate (p=.824). A linear regression of risk factors revealed a higher likelihood of having a higher modified Clavien-Dindo complication score in patients with a higher CCI (p=0.001). Furthermore, the mean time to surgery (TTS) (p=0.761, 95% CI: -0.225, 0.307) and length of stay (LOS) (p=0.157, 95% CI: -0.591, 3.653) in the hospital across the two groups did not demonstrate any significant difference.

Conclusion:
The BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 was not associated with an increase in early post-operative morbidity.