Trauma

International Perspectives

Las Vegas 2009 AAOS Conference

A Report from AAOS 2009 Annual Meeting held in Las Vegas.

Media Briefing: "Staying One Step Ahead of Osteoporosis"

New studies showing key steps to preventing bone loss focus on early screening and treatment. According to information presented today at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), new steps to manage bone health and increase communication will significantly help reduce the rate of fractures and increase the quality of life for the aging population. “Decreasing the rate of hip fractures saves lives, prevents loss of function, and decreases costs,” said Tad Funahashi, MD, regional chief of orthopedic surgery and assistant area medical director for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of California Irvine’s College of Medicine. “If we screen for osteoporosis at the earliest onset of the disease,” said Dr. Funahashi, “we can implement treatment and help to decrease the rate of hip fractures by 45 percent.”

Hip Fractures and Osteoporosis
Study 474

Osteoporosis is also a huge problem in other parts of the world. In another study, Leonid Kandel, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at Hadassah- Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, looked at improving the diagnosis rate of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women who fracture the distal radius bone, which is located in the lower arm near the wrist. Dr. Kandel says these fractures are often the first clinical symptom of osteoporosis, yet only 15 to 25 percent of these women are referred by a family physician to have a bone density test after the fracture. “It is important that patients understand the connection between their current problem, the fracture, and the possibility that the underlying cause is osteoporosis.” Dr. Kandel also suggests that there should be a stronger connection and better communication between the hospital and the community. He feels this will increase the number of patients who are diagnosed and treated for the disease.

Osteoporosis in Women after Distal Radius Fracture
Study 475

Francesco Pegreffi, MD, orthopaedic surgeon in the Department of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Cervesi Hospital, Cattolica, Italy, along with Lorenza Belletti, MD, and Professor Maria Teresa Mascia, in the Department of Rheumatology, University of Modena, Italy, studied a group of patients, 80 percent women and 20 percent men, who were affected by rheumatoid arthritis and taking Vitamin D supplementation. “We wanted to analyze the correlation between a person’s age, sex, how long they had rheumatoid arthritis, whether they were taking Vitamin D supplements, and whether they had fragility fractures due to osteoporosis,” said Dr. Pegreffi. “We found that women affected by rheumatoid arthritis for more than three years were osteoporotic and had a fracture risk significantly higher than those without the disease. Also, Vitamin D therapy is not enough to prevent further bone loss and fragility fractures in these patients.” Men in the study faired much better. Those with rheumatoid arthritis did not have a significant risk of fracture.

Risk Factors in Osteoporotic Patients
Study 477

Fractures, especially in adults, may be a tip off or early warning sign that osteoporosis could be an issue. Many of these painful fractures of the hip, spine, wrist, arm, and leg often occur as a result of a fall or even a simple household task. One in two women and one in five men over the age of sixty five will sustain bone fractures caused by osteoporosis.