Orthopaedic Trauma in Patients with Documented Alcohol Use: Injury Mechanisms, Clinical Characteristics, and Geriatric Vulnerability.

BACKGROUND

Alcohol-related conditions may influence both injury patterns and in-hospital management in orthopaedic trauma. This study evaluated the clinical characteristics, injury mechanisms, treatment patterns, and hospital outcomes of adults with acute orthopaedic trauma and documented alcohol use, with particular attention to geriatric vulnerability and alcohol withdrawal.

METHODS

This retrospective single-centre cohort included adults admitted between January 2018 and December 2025 with acute musculoskeletal trauma and an alcohol-related diagnosis during the same hospitalisation. Patients were classified according to their predominant recorded alcohol-related presentation. Geriatric patients, defined as those aged 65 years or older, were compared with younger adults. Injury mechanisms, comorbidities, operative treatment, intensive care unit involvement, hospital length of stay, mortality, and recorded hospitalisation costs were analysed.

RESULTS

The final cohort comprised 294 patients, including 87 geriatric patients. Geriatric patients more frequently sustained same-level or low-energy falls than younger adults (46.0% versus 25.6%; Holm-adjusted p = 0.005) and had a higher prevalence of proximal femoral fractures (40.2% versus 21.7%; OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.41 to 4.16). Any recorded ICU involvement was more frequent among geriatric patients, although prolonged ICU stays of 24 h or longer did not differ significantly between age groups. Alcohol withdrawal was documented in 46 patients and was associated with longer hospitalisation and a longer admission-to-surgery interval. In-hospital mortality occurred in 5 of 46 patients with documented withdrawal (10.9%) and 5 of 248 without withdrawal (2.0%; unadjusted OR 5.93, 95% CI 1.64 to 21.37; p = 0.010).

CONCLUSIONS

Orthopaedic trauma patients with documented alcohol use represent a clinically heterogeneous population. Geriatric patients showed greater vulnerability to low-energy trauma, proximal femoral fracture, comorbidity, and intensive care involvement, while alcohol withdrawal identified patients with a more complex hospital course. Early recognition of withdrawal risk and enhanced inpatient safety measures may improve orthopaedic care. These findings support careful assessment of alcohol-related risk, early recognition of withdrawal, and heightened inpatient safety precautions.