Search

A positive history of fractures in older patients with hip fracture is common. We determined the risk factors associated with a positive history of fractures and the profile of care in hip fracture patients. In the Break Study, we enrolled 1249 women aged ≥60 years, seeking care for a hip fracture. Baseline information included age, body mass index, lifestyle (smoking habit, alcohol consumption), patient's history of fracture after the age of 50 years, family history of fragility fracture and health status (presence of comorbidity, use of specific drugs, pre-fracture walking ability, type of fracture, time to surgery, type of surgery, osteoporosis treatment). In the multivariable model age, smoking, family history, treatment with antiplatelet, anticoagulants and anticonvulsants, were significant predictors of a positive history of fracture. More than 70% of patients underwent surgery more than 48 hours after admission. About 50% were discharged with a treatment for osteoporosis, but more than 30% only with calcium and vitamin D. In conclusion, factors associated with a positive history of fracture are the traditional risk factors, suggesting that they continue to have a negative impact on health even at older ages. Selected drugs, such as antiplatelet and anticoagulants, deserve further consideration as significant factors associated with fractures. Given that delay in surgery is a major cause of mortality and disability, while treatment for osteoporosis decreases significantly the risk of recurrent fractures and disability, interventions to modify these patterns of care are urgently needed. ©2011, Editrice Kurtis.

Sarcopenia is the age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. It is a major clinical problem for older people and research in understanding of pathogenesis, clinical consequences, management, and socioeconomic burden of this condition is growing exponentially. The causes of sarcopenia are multifactorial, including inflammation, insulin resistance, changing endocrine function, chronic diseases, nutritional deficiencies and low levels of physical activity. Operational definition of sarcopenia combines assessment of muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance. The diagnosis of sarcopenia should be based on having a low appendicular fat free mass in combination with low handgrip strength or poor physical functioning. Imaging techniques used for estimating lean body mass are computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, bioelectrical impedance analysis and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, the latter considered as the preferred method in research and clinical use. Pharmacological interventions have shown limited efficacy in counteracting the age-related skeletal muscle wasting. Recent evidence suggests physical activity and exercise, in particular resistance training, as effective intervention strategies to slow down sarcopenia. The Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Medicine (Or-toMed) provides this position paper to present the update on the role of exercise on sarcopenia in the elderly.

Introduction: We aimed to assess the incidence and hospitalization rate of hip and "minor" fragility fractures in the Italian population.Methods: We carried out a 3-year survey at 10 major Italian emergency departments to evaluate the hospitalization rate of hip, forearm, humeral, ankle, and vertebral fragility fractures in people 45 years or older between 2004 and 2006, both men and women. These data were compared with those recorded in the national hospitalizations database (SDO) to assess the overall incidence of fragility fractures occurring at hip and other sites, including also those events not resulting in hospital admissions.Results: We observed 29,017 fractures across 3 years, with hospitalization rates of 93.0% for hip fractures, 36.3% for humeral fractures, 31.3% for ankle fractures, 22.6% for forearm/wrist fractures, and 27.6% for clinical vertebral fractures. According to the analyses performed with the Italian hospitalization database in year 2006, we estimated an annual incidence of 87,000 hip, 48,000 humeral, 36,000 ankle, 85,000 wrist, and 155,000 vertebral fragility fractures in people aged 45 years or older (thus resulting in almost 410,000 new fractures per year). Clinical vertebral fractures were recorded in 47,000 events per year.Conclusions: The burden of fragility fractures in the Italian population is very high and calls for effective preventive strategies. © 2010 Tarantino et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.