Longer time to surgery for pelvic ring injuries is associated with increased systemic complications

BACKGROUND Increased time to surgery is a well-established risk factor for complication and mortality among patients undergoing hip fracture fixation. However, few studies have been completed evaluating the association between time to surgery and complication rates in patients undergoing operative fixation of pelvic ring injuries. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was performed at a Level I trauma center including all patients with operative pelvic ring injuries from 2015 to 2022. Time from hospital admission to surgery, basic demographics, and comorbidities were determined for all patients. Systemic complications including acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, sepsis, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, ileus, acute kidney injury, myocardial infarction, and mortality were recorded. The association between time to surgery and overall complications and each complication individually was estimated using multivariable statistical models. RESULTS A total of 1,056 patients were included in the final cohort. Patients who underwent surgery within 48 hours (n = 724) had an overall lower complication rate (17.8%) compared with those patients (n = 332) who underwent surgery greater than 48 hours after admission (34.9%). Each additional hour delay to surgery from admission was associated with a 0.4% increased odds of any complication. With respect to specific complications, each additional hour also increased the odds of sepsis (0.7%), deep venous thrombosis (0.3%), acute kidney injury (0.3%), myocardial infarction (0.5%), and pneumonia (0.4%). The odds of overall complication was 2.10 when patients underwent surgery within 42 hours after admission and increased at every time point afterwards. CONCLUSION Among patients with pelvic ring injuries, increased time to surgery was associated with an increased odds of systemic complication. This underscores the importance of aggressive resuscitation and prompt surgical intervention to reduce morbidity and improve overall patient outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III.