Monitoring infective complications following hip fracture.

Hip fracture affects more than 55,000 people in the UK each year and this number is increasing. Because of their advanced age and other risk factors, hip fracture patients are at risk of developing infection and a variety of other non-infective complications. Surveillance of superficial wound and deep joint infection is important because of the large number of patients involved and represents a good example of targeted surveillance. Furthermore this may be conducted as part of a quality control programme monitoring other interventions such as prophylaxis for vascular thrombosis. However, to carry this out successfully, a simple but efficient system for recording, collecting and analysing data is required and adequate post-discharge surveillance must be carried out.