Reducing hip fractures in the elderly
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Victoria Leytin1, Francesca L Beaudoin
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Clinical Question:
Is there evidence that hip protectors and vitamin D with calcium supplementation reduce hip fractures in the elderly?
Results:
The results are that vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduce incidence of hip fractures. Hip protectors provide some benefit in reducing hip fractures in elderly patients in residential facilities.
Implementation:
Primary care providers should assess patients for the risk of hip fracture and consider using hip protectors and nutritional supplementation in selected individuals to prevent fractures.
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Minor fractures with no bone displacement are treated by immobilizing the fractured bone using a cast or splint. However, in the case of fractures with displaced bones, the broken bones are repositioned before immobilization to ensure successful healing without deformation and loss of function. The realignment of fractured bone ends is performed through a process called reduction. If the procedure...
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