Hospital admission rates for distal forearm fractures: an epidemiological survey in patients referred to a large emergency department in Northern Italy.

UNLABELLED: In this survey, the proportion of patients with distal forearm fractures admitted to the Parma University Hospital during 2012 (13 %) was relatively low and generally lower than that reported in other studies. In our region, the main orthopedic approach remains conservative.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to define the ratio between hospitalized and non-hospitalized fragility fractures of the distal forearm in our province (Parma, Northern Italy).

METHODS

All forearm fractures referred during 2012 to the emergency department of the Parma University Hospital (the main hospital in the province with a catchment area of approximately 345,000) were retrieved from the hospital database using both ICD-9-CM codes and text strings. The diagnosis of distal forearm fracture due to low-energy trauma and the need for hospitalization were individually confirmed by medical records and X-ray reports. The analysis was limited to subjects aged 40 years and over.

RESULTS

In both sexes combined, 66 subjects out of 505 were hospitalized (13.1 %; confidence interval (CI) 95 % 10.4-16.3 %), 47 immediately (8.1 %) and 25 (5 %) after a few days. The percentage of cases hospitalized was 12 % in women (CI 95 % 9.2-15.6 %) and 17 % in men (CI 95 % 11.1-25 %; p = 0.16).

CONCLUSIONS

The percentage of fragility distal forearm fractures hospitalized in our area is relatively low and generally lower than that reported in other studies.