sub first_row {
    my ($dbh, $query, @args) = @_
    my $sth = $dbh->prepare($query);
    my $rv = $sth->execute(@args);
    my $first_row = $sth->fetchrow_hashref;
    return ($rv, $first_row);
}

my ($success, $first_result) = first_row($dbh, "SELECT ... ");
# and if you don't want to actually check success
my $second_result = first_row(...);