The FRISK (Fracture Risk)-A New Tool to Indicate the Probability of Fractures

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Emergency Medicine
• Clinical Triage

Background:

• Rising emergency department patient numbers necessitate efficient triage strategies.
• Current methods may require specialized personnel, impacting workflow.
• Optimizing fracture detection is crucial for timely orthopedic care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify simple factors for detecting fractures without specialized staff.
• To evaluate objective and subjective data for fracture risk assessment.
• To develop a heuristic for predicting fracture risk in orthopedic emergencies.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 798 patients in an orthopedic emergency department (2014-2015).
• Patients completed a pre-consultation questionnaire.
• Analysis of demographic and functional data to determine fracture risk by region and age.

Main Results:

• Highest fracture risks observed in the hip (73.21%), wrist (60.32%), and femoral shaft (57.14%).
• Lowest fracture risks noted in the knee (8.41%), ankle (18.29%), and forearm shaft (30.00%).
• Age is a significant predictor: patients >59 years (risk >59.26%), >90 years (risk >83.33%).

Conclusions:

• Injured region, patient age, and specific functional questions can predict fracture risk.
• These factors may form a basis for a preliminary triage heuristic.
• Further prospective validation is needed to confirm the utility of this heuristic.