Background:Vertebral fragility fractures (VFFs) are commonly underdiagnosed, often resulting in chronic pain and reduced quality of life. It is particularly important to identify and manage VFFs, as they are important predictors of future VFFs and non-VFFs. Patients with VFFs often have multiple risk factors, which are important to identify to formulate a tailored and appropriate management plan. There is a paucity of studies that have investigated risk factors specifically for VFFs.Objectives:To identify the prevalence of osteoporosis risk factors in patients with VFFs.Methods:Retrospective review of patients seen between July 2018 and July 2019 at Purley Memorial Hospital, covering a large urban borough. Patients included in the study had prevalent moderate and severe VFFs (defined by Ghent criteria).Results:84 patients were included, of which there were 71 females and 13 males. Median age was 76 (IQR 67 – 82) and BMI was 25 (IQR 21 – 27), with 6% of patients noted to be underweight (BMI <18.5). 38% of patients had a family history of osteoporosis and 21% of patients reported a history of parental hip fracture. 21% of patients had experienced recurrent falls. Over half (56%) of patients were noted to have had 2-or-more previous fragility fractures. Of the female cohort, 24% had early menopause, 13% were nulliparous and 1% had late menarche. Of the modifiable risk factors, alcohol (24%), sedentary lifestyle (21%) and smoking (13%) were the most common. Thyroid-disease (18%) was the most common medical condition associated, followed by coeliac/malabsorption (7%), endocrinopathy (6%) and COPD (6%). Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) and steroids were the most common medications associated with 16% and 14% of cases respectively. 73% of patients had good calcium intake and 62% had calcium supplements. Overall, 27 patients had 3-or-fewer risk factors, 35 patients had 4-to-6 risk factors, 19 had 7-to-9 risk factors, and 3 had greater than 10 risk factors.Conclusion:Our study identified several risk factors and their prevalence. The majority of patients were female, of which 24% had early menopause. Several modifiable risk factors such as low BMI, alcohol, smoking and sedentary lifestyle were commonly seen, emphasising the need to identify these risk factors in the initial consultation. Over half of patients (56%) had had 2-or-more previous non-VFFs, suggesting the need to screen for VFFs in patients with multiple fragility fractures at baseline assessment. A number of co-existing medical conditions were also observed with thyroid disease being the most prevalent. PPIs and steroids were found to be important risk factors, which may lead to the consideration of alternative medications. Overall, it was found that patients had multiple risk factors, thus it is important to have a holistic assessment of VFF patients and a multi-system management approach to prevent future fractures.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.
Perioperative prognosis of infectious complications after total hip and knee arthroplasties. Part I
