Single Dose of Dexamethasone in Femur Fractures

Summary

Fracture neck of femur is a common cause of hospital admission in the elderly and requires operative fixation. Dexamethasone has the potential of inhibiting cortisol secretion. In addition, preoperative glucocorticoids improve analgesia and decrease opioid consumption with reduction in associated side effects in a variety of clinical settings. The investigators hypothesis was that a single dose of preoperative dexamethasone enhance postoperative analgesia and attenuates the inflammatory response in patients undergoing operative fixation of fractured neck of femur, in a prospective, randomized, placebo controled trial.

Timeline

Start

2009-07

Primary completion

2012-01

Completion

2012-07

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper the principal outcome) were lesser in the dexamethasone group compared with the placebo group [0.8(1.3) vs. 3.9(2.9), mean(SD) p = 0.0004]. PMID 27658581 ↗

Publications

• Szucs S, Jessop D, Iohom G, Shorten GD. Postoperative analgesic effect, of preoperatively administered dexamethasone, after operative fixation of fractured neck of femur: randomised, double blinded controlled study. BMC Anesthesiol. 2016 Sep 22;16(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s12871-016-0247-5.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.