Predicting Injury Proportionality from Neck of Femur Fractures

Description

This presentation, led by Tom Walshaw, a postdoctoral research fellow at Cardiff University and orthopedic trainee from the Northern Deanery in England, focuses on a study titled "Predicting Injury Proportionality from Neck of Femur Fractures." The research is part of the broader Orthopod Project, a national multicenter prospective service evaluation of orthopedic trauma hospital outcomes, which compiled data from 23,000 patients across 90 hospitals in the UK.



The study aims to explore the proportionality of orthopedic injuries, specifically neck of femur fractures in patients over 60, in comparison to other common fractures. With a dataset of approximately 14,000 entries, the study investigates variations in trauma cases across different regions and hospitals in the UK.



Walshaw outlines the importance of accurate predictions in injury proportionality to enhance resource allocation, optimize surgical lists, and aid in education and research efforts. The data analysis involved comparing fractures recorded in the Orthopod database with the National Hip Fracture Database, allowing the team to evaluate and predict the frequency of various fractures.



The results indicate that fragility proximal femur fractures constituted a significant percentage of total fractures, and while comparisons to the National Hip Fracture Database were relatively consistent, there were challenges in achieving precise predictions of injury rates. The presentation concludes with an acknowledgment of the team involved in the research, highlighting the ongoing nature of data processing and analysis with a focus on machine learning to improve the accuracy of future predictions.

DOI: 10.1302/3114-230470

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