Medical researchers from across the world including India have discovered through a global trial, that accelerated time to surgery after a hip fracture diagnosis result in a lower risk of delirium and urinary tract infections.

The path-breaking research titled-HIP Fracture Accelerated Surgical TreaTment And Care tracK (HIP ATTACK) Trial was presented on Sunday at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2020 Annual Meeting and published in The Lancet. The research was led by researchers of the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) in Hamilton, Canada and involved 2,970 people at 69 sites across 17 countries.

In India, the investigation was led by Narayana Health. Dr Alben Sigamani, Group Head of Clinical Research Narayana Health, Bangalore and Dr Parag Sancheti Chairman & Managing Director, Sancheti Hospital led a team of orthopedic surgeons from 11 hospitals to recruit 471 patients.

Sancheti Hospital and CMC Ludhiana (Dr Bobby John) recruited over 100 patients. Government Medical College Hospital (Dr Alen Sigamani), JIPMER (Dr Adinarayanan), The Baptist Hospital (Dr Niranjan) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Dr Vijay Sharma) contributed over 40 patients each.

"India has been seeing a steady rise in the elderly population and many of them require surgery for various conditions. This trial is very unique in helping us gather evidence about managing an emergency situation common among elderly patients. It is the first-ever trial that has shown a clear benefit in performing emergency surgery in patients having a hip fracture", elaborated Dr Alben Sigamani, Group Head of Clinical Research Narayana Health.

The main funding for the HIP ATTACK trial came from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Support Unit, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.