According to a study in JAMA Surgery, patient-presentation of risk factors may allow physicians to predict possible nonunion injuries.
Here's what you should know.
1. Of the 309,330 fractures in 18 bones in 2011, the overall nonunion rate was 4.93 percent.
Patients who smoked or drank or had severe fractures or high body mass index all had a high nonunion risk.
2. Researchers found that males were more prone to nonunion, and that nonunion rate increased if a patient used antibiotics, anticoagulants and opioids.
Nonunion was also more common in patients suffering from obesity, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
3. The study used fracture patients from a health plan database. Patients with fractures were identified, and the patient had to remain enrolled in the database for 12 months after to capture the nonunion diagnosis.
4. The study was funded by Bioventus.
More news related to orthopedic and spine devices:
Stryker, Zimmer Biomet & more — 5 recent orthopedic, spine device company mergers & acquisitions
Nevro's Senza SCS trial yields positive 2-year results: 6 observations
VEXIM receives Australian approval for SpineJack, Masterflow: 4 highlights