Results of a US clinical trial suggests that an annual infusion of Reclast (zoledronic acid), an osteoporosis drug, improved survival and reduced the risk of further clinical fractures in elderly patients who had undergone broken hip repair.

The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine and was sponsored by the maker of the drug, Novartis.

Although other studies on osteoporosis drugs have already suggested they may benefit the prevention of fractures, this is the first study to concentrate on older patients who have undergone a hip repair and who have more coexisting conditions and a higher risk of falls.

Conducted by lead author Dr Kenneth Lyles of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues, the study was called the The Health Outcomes and Reduced Incidence with Zoledronic Acid Once Yearly (HORIZON) Recurrent Fracture Trial.

The trial was a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving over 2,000 patients with recent hip fracture.

1,065 patients were randomly assigned to receive yearly infusions of Reclast (5 mg dose) and 1,062 patients received a placebo. The infusions lasted 15 minutes.

The participants were given the dose within 90 days of having an operation to repair a hip fracture.

All participants were also given Vitamin D and calcium. The mean age was 74.5 and the median follow up period was 1.9 years.

The results showed that: A total of 424 new fractures occurred in 231…