Musculoskeletal recovery 5 years after severe injury: long term problems are common

Five years after severe injury (ISS>15), usually involving several body regions, 158 patients were assessed regarding their musculo-skeletal recovery. An earlier paper in this journal about this study 'Injury 29 (1998) 55' showed that when considering the main body regions causing long term disability, 45% were due to bony injuries to the extremities, pelvis and shoulder girdle. We analysed these body areas regarding the degrees of disability and pain and also for problems with activities of daily living, work, sport and mobility. All patients with unstable pelvic fractures had moderate or severe persisting disability and chronic pain. Functional problems with activities of daily living, work, sport and mobility were reported in 28, 86, 100 and 100% of patients, respectively. Patients with stable pelvic fractures had persisting disability in 54% of cases, which was mild in 42% and moderate or severe in 12% of patients. In patients with stable pelvic fractures 54% had chronic pain, which was mild in 24% of patients and moderate or severe in 30% of patients. Functional problems with mobility, work and sport were reported in 38, 19 and 19% of patients, respectively. Patients with shoulder girdle injuries had persisting disability in 48% of cases which was mild in 24% and moderate or severe in 24% of patients. In patients with shoulder girdle injuries 45% had chronic pain, which was mild in 14% and moderate or severe in 31% of patients. Functional problems with activities of daily living, work, sport and mobility were reported in 38, 28, 38 and 38% of patients respectively. Patients with upper limb fractures had persisting disability in 66% of cases which was mild in 34% of patients and moderate or severe in 32% of patients. Chronic pain was present in 62% of these cases, which was mild in 32% and moderate or severe in 34% of patients. Functional problems with activities of daily living, work, sport and mobility were reported in 31, 45, 48 and 66% of patients, respectively. Patients with lower limb fractures had persisting disability in 84% of cases, which was mild in 16% and moderate or severe in 68% of patients. Chronic pain was present in 80% of these cases, which was mild in 24% and moderate or severe in 56% of patients. Functional problems with activities of daily living, work, sport and mobility were reported in 40, 56, 64 and 76% of patients, respectively. Patients with multiple extremity injuries or combinations of pelvic and lower extremity or shoulder girdle and upper extremity injuries were much more likely to have continuing disability compared with those sustaining single bone injuries of that limb. This high disability rate reflecting treatment in 1989-1990, raises the question of whether our present policy of earlier and better fixation and rehabilitation of fractures in severely injured patients (ISS>15) can improve these results.