My mother fell and broke her hip last year. She had surgery to repair it right away. Last month, her sister fell and also broke her hip. She didn’t have an operation to repair it at all. Why the difference?

Surgery may not be needed if a patient has a stable fracture. This means that the fracture hasn’t moved or been dislodged. It may knit together if left to heal on its own.

Some patients are unfit for anesthesia. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Severe heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, or obesity may limit a patient’s ability to have surgery.

In some cases, surgery is delayed because the hospital doesn’t have an open operating room.