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Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated
INTRODUCTION: The value of routine radiographs during follow-up after distal radius fractures is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether routine radiographs performed during the follow-up period in patients with a distal radius fracture influenced clinical decision making. METHODS: Th...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5565644/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28735363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00402-017-2743-6 |
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author | Weil, N. L. El Moumni, M. Rubinstein, S. M. Krijnen, P. Termaat, M. F. Schipper, I. B. |
author_facet | Weil, N. L. El Moumni, M. Rubinstein, S. M. Krijnen, P. Termaat, M. F. Schipper, I. B. |
author_sort | Weil, N. L. |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: The value of routine radiographs during follow-up after distal radius fractures is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether routine radiographs performed during the follow-up period in patients with a distal radius fracture influenced clinical decision making. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged ≥18 years who were treated for a distal radius fracture at four hospitals in The Netherlands in 2012. Demographic and clinical and radiographic characteristics were collected from medical records. RESULTS: 1042 patients were included. In 121 (14%) of the 841 radiographs, a clinical indication was reported. Treatment was affected by 22 (2.6%) radiographs, including 11 (1.5%) radiographs that were categorized as routine, 9 (1.2%) of which led to prolonged cast immobilization and 2 (0.2%) to surgery for conservatively treated patients. CONCLUSION: Although it is common practice to take radiographs after distal radius fractures, the study results indicate that routine radiographs seldom affect treatment. This finding should be weighed against the high health care costs associated with these fractures. We hope that the results of our study will trigger the awareness among surgeons that in the current practice, many radiographs are taken on routine without influencing clinical decision making and can probably be omitted. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5565644 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Springer Berlin Heidelberg |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-55656442017-09-06 Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated Weil, N. L. El Moumni, M. Rubinstein, S. M. Krijnen, P. Termaat, M. F. Schipper, I. B. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg Orthopaedic Surgery INTRODUCTION: The value of routine radiographs during follow-up after distal radius fractures is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether routine radiographs performed during the follow-up period in patients with a distal radius fracture influenced clinical decision making. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged ≥18 years who were treated for a distal radius fracture at four hospitals in The Netherlands in 2012. Demographic and clinical and radiographic characteristics were collected from medical records. RESULTS: 1042 patients were included. In 121 (14%) of the 841 radiographs, a clinical indication was reported. Treatment was affected by 22 (2.6%) radiographs, including 11 (1.5%) radiographs that were categorized as routine, 9 (1.2%) of which led to prolonged cast immobilization and 2 (0.2%) to surgery for conservatively treated patients. CONCLUSION: Although it is common practice to take radiographs after distal radius fractures, the study results indicate that routine radiographs seldom affect treatment. This finding should be weighed against the high health care costs associated with these fractures. We hope that the results of our study will trigger the awareness among surgeons that in the current practice, many radiographs are taken on routine without influencing clinical decision making and can probably be omitted. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2017-07-22 2017 /pmc/articles/PMC5565644/ /pubmed/28735363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00402-017-2743-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
spellingShingle | Orthopaedic Surgery Weil, N. L. El Moumni, M. Rubinstein, S. M. Krijnen, P. Termaat, M. F. Schipper, I. B. Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title | Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title_full | Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title_fullStr | Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title_full_unstemmed | Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title_short | Routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
title_sort | routine follow-up radiographs for distal radius fractures are seldom clinically substantiated |
topic | Orthopaedic Surgery |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5565644/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28735363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00402-017-2743-6 |
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