WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For postmenopausal women, vaginal estrogen, which is used to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), may be associated with perioperative hip fracture complications, including UTIs, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of The Menopause Society, held from Oct. 20 to 24 in San Diego.
Alexandra Damron, M.P.H., from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving postmenopausal women aged 50 years and older with hip fractures to characterize estrogen utilization and its association with perioperative complications.
Overall, 33 of the 375 postmenopausal women experiencing hip fracture reported perioperative use of vaginal estrogen. The researchers found that 94 women (25.97 percent) experienced at least one perioperative UTI, and 28 (7.46 percent) experienced a preoperative UTI. Fifty-six women (14.97 percent) had a history of recurrent UTI, which was more common among vaginal estrogen users than nonusers (36.36 versus 12.90 percent). There was an association for vaginal estrogen use with history of recurrent UTI (odds ratio, 3.84). Vaginal estrogen use was associated with an increased risk for perioperative UTI in an unadjusted analysis; after adjustment for age and history of recurrent UTI, higher odds of perioperative UTI were seen in association with vaginal estrogen use and history of recurrent UTI (adjusted odds ratios, 2.56 and 2.51, respectively).
"The findings highlight both the complexity of caring for this high-risk population and the need for additional research to better understand whether vaginal estrogen may have a role in reducing perioperative UTI risk," Stephanie Faubion, M.D., medical director for The Menopause Society, said in a statement.
