Is Preoperative Bevacizumab Associated with Increased Complications After Urgent Hip Fracture Surgery? A Retrospective Review.

Objectives: To investigate whether patients with impending or completed fracture of the proximal femur who were treated with bevacizumab in the six weeks prior to surgery are at higher risk of surgical complications than patients given bevacizumab outside of the six-week period.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of hip fracture treated between 1995 and 2020 at our institution. Patients were included if they were age 18 years or older, underwent hip surgery for impending or completed fracture, and received bevacizumab preoperatively but not postoperatively. Charts were reviewed for demographic, surgical, and postoperative details. A Cox model was applied to assess whether the timing of preoperative bevacizumab administration (≤6 weeks vs. >6 weeks) was associated with the risk of a postoperative complication.

Results: Two of the 23 patients who received bevacizumab ≤6 weeks before surgery experienced complications (deep vein thrombosis [n=1] and intraoperative fracture related to progression of disease [n=1]). Of the 53 patients who received bevacizumab more than six weeks preoperatively, five experienced complications (wound drainage [n=2] and deep vein thrombosis [n=3]). In the Cox model, timing of bevacizumab was not associated with postoperative complications (univariable hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-4.73).

Conclusion: In this cohort of patients who underwent surgery for hip fractures, we did not observe an increased risk of postoperative complications among those who received bevacizumab within six weeks of surgery relative to those who received bevacizumab more than six weeks before surgery. The retrospective nature of the study and small sample size are limiting factors in this study.