OBJECTIVE:To develop a series of consensus statements regarding the operative and non-operative management of hip fracture patients. METHOD:A two-round modified-Delphi study was used to obtain consensus on statements for the the operative and non-operative management of hip fracture patients. Panel members rated the importance of each statement to guide the decision to operatively or non-operatively treat hip fracture patients. High consensus was defined as agreement of ≥ 70% and moderate consensus 50-69% between participants. RESULTS:There were 67 round 1 and 55 round 2 panellists. Panellists were working across 17 countries and commonly were anaesthetists (30%), orthopaedic or trauma surgeons (28%), or geriatricians (27%). Just less than one-quarter of panellists (24%) indicated the facility they predominately worked in had a protocol for the non-operative management of hip fracture patients. At the conclusion of the modified-Delphi study, 14 (93%) statements achieved high consensus and one (7%) statement moderate consensus. CONCLUSION:The consensus statements are intended to support shared decision-making regarding non-operative hip fracture care and to promote a more consistent approach to the management of older adults with hip fracture at the end of life. Ultimately, the decision for operative or non-operative management should be made based on each patient's individual circumstances.

➢ Fragility fracture care remains suboptimal worldwide despite strong evidence supporting timely surgery, orthogeriatric care, early mobilization, unrestricted weight-bearing, and secondary fracture prevention. ➢ International quality standards and registry-based audits have translated this evidence into measurable indicators that improve care in many high-income health-care systems. ➢ Implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited primarily by health-system constraints, including workforce shortages, delayed presentation, limited infrastructure, and fragmented care pathways, rather than by lack of evidence. ➢ Emerging initiatives demonstrate that evidence-based quality standards can be successfully adapted to local contexts while preserving their core clinical principles. ➢ Orthopaedic surgeons have a central role in leading multidisciplinary care, promoting secondary fracture prevention, and driving quality improvement across the entire fragility fracture pathway. ➢ Future progress depends on strengthening health systems, embedding auditing and certification programs, and implementing context-sensitive quality standards that bridge the gap between evidence and routine.

➢ Fragility fracture care remains suboptimal worldwide despite strong evidence supporting timely surgery, orthogeriatric care, early mobilization, unrestricted weight-bearing, and secondary fracture prevention.➢ International quality standards and registry-based audits have translated this evidence into measurable indicators that improve care in many high-income health-care systems.➢ Implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited primarily by health-system constraints, including workforce shortages, delayed presentation, limited infrastructure, and fragmented care pathways, rather than by lack of evidence.➢ Emerging initiatives demonstrate that evidence-based quality standards can be successfully adapted to local contexts while preserving their core clinical principles.➢ Orthopaedic surgeons have a central role in leading multidisciplinary care, promoting secondary fracture prevention, and driving quality improvement across the entire fragility fracture pathway.➢ Future progress depends on strengthening health systems, embedding auditing and certification programs, and implementing context-sensitive quality standards that bridge the gap between evidence and routine.

Objectives:This position paper from the Fragility Fracture Network (FFN) responds to the observed global variation in weight-bearing prescriptions after hip fracture surgery in older adults. Methods:The paper summarises current guidelines and evidence regarding unrestricted weight-bearing after hip fracture surgery. Results:The synthesis of available evidence supports the endorsement of unrestricted weight-bearing after surgery to enhance patient outcomes. Conclusion:The FFN endorses unrestricted weight-bearing and recommends healthcare professionals, institutions, and policymakers re-evaluate practices favouring limited or non-weight-bearing prescriptions and establish a standardised system for monitoring and auditing, with clear justification and documentation of any restrictions.

A survey of awareness and attitudes to the management of fragility fractures among the membership of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association conducted in 2022 found considerable variation in care across the region. A Call to Action is proposed to improve acute care, rehabilitation and secondary fracture prevention across Asia Pacific. Fragility fractures impose a substantial burden on older people and their families, healthcare systems and national economies. The current incidence of hip and other fragility fractures across the Asia Pacific region is enormous and set to escalate rapidly in the coming decades. This publication describes findings of a survey of awareness and attitudes to the management of fragility fractures among the membership of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (APOA) conducted in 2022. The survey was developed as a collaboration between the Asia Pacific Osteoporosis and Fragility Fracture Society and the Asia Pacific Fragility Fracture Alliance, and included questions relating to aspects of care upon presentation, during surgery and mobilisation, secondary fracture prevention, and access to specific services. In total, 521 APOA members completed the survey and marked variation in delivery of care was evident. Notable findings included: A Call to Action for all National Orthopaedic Associations affiliated with APOA is proposed to improve the care of fragility fracture patients across the region.

Introduction In low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC), the orthogeriatric model of care is still in its early stages of development. This study describes the initial results of the first online fragility hip fracture database to be setup in the Philippines using a modified minimum common dataset to generate outcomes data based on current hospital practices. Methods A multicentre prospective cohort study among 12 Philippine hospitals was conducted from June 2020 to February 2021. Thirty-day mortality, morbidity and mobility were measured. Significant factors associated with mortality were determined. Results 158 elderly patients with fragility hip fractures were included in the study. Nine patients (5.7%) were confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19 infection. Median time of injury to admission was at least 3 days (IQR: 1.0–13.7). Overall, 80% of patients underwent surgical intervention with a median time from admission to surgery of at least 5 days (IQR: 2.5–13.6). Thirty-day mortality and morbidity rates for acute fragility fractures were 3.7%. Factors significantly associated with early mortality were poor prefracture mobility, COVID-19 infection, radiograph of the abnormal chest and conservative treatment. Non-surgical patients had no functional mobility or were wheelchair users and had a significantly higher morbidity rate than surgically treated patients (13.6% vs 1.8%; p=0.031). Conclusion Despite treatment delays unique to an LMIC, short-term outcomes remain favourable for non-COVID-19 fragility hip fracture patients treated with surgery. Prompt admission and multidisciplinary care for elderly hip fracture patients while maintaining protective measures for COVID-19 infection control are recommended. The quality of data collected illustrates how this online database can provide a framework for a sustainable audit or registry as well as provide a platform for the introduction of orthogeriatric concepts at a multiregional scale.

This narrative review summarises ongoing challenges and progress in the care and prevention of fragility fractures across the Asia Pacific region since mid-2019. The approaches taken could inform development of national bone health improvement Road Maps to be implemented at scale during the United Nations 'Decade of Healthy Ageing'. This narrative review summarises recent studies that characterise the burden of fragility fractures, current care gaps and quality improvement initiatives intended to improve the care and prevention of fragility fractures across the Asia Pacific region. The review focuses on published studies, reports and quality improvement initiatives undertaken during the period July 2019 to May 2022. Epidemiological studies conducted in countries and regions throughout Asia Pacific highlight the current and projected increasing burden of fragility fractures. Recent studies and reports document a persistent and pervasive post-fracture care gap among people who have sustained fragility fractures. Global initiatives developed by the Fragility Fracture Network and International Osteoporosis Foundation have gained significant momentum in the Asia Pacific region, despite the disruption caused by the COVID-pandemic. The Asia Pacific Fragility Fracture Alliance has developed educational resources including a Hip Fracture Registry Toolbox and a Primary Care Physician Education Toolkit. The Asia Pacific Osteoporosis and Fragility Fractures Society—a new section of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association—is working to engage orthopaedic surgeons across the region in the care and prevention of fragility fractures. The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis developed a framework to support national clinical guidelines development groups. Considerable activity at the national level is evident in many countries across the region. Development and implementation of national Road Maps informed by the findings of this review are urgently required to respond to the epidemiological emergency posed by fragility fractures during the United Nations 'Decade of Healthy Ageing'.

Objectives. Presence of COVID-19 infection in patients with acute fragility hip fracture complicates the decision-making process in the management of these patients. This study aims to describe outcomes of patients with coexisting fragility hip fracture and COVID-19 infection who underwent surgery.Methods. In this retrospective study, the patient database of a university hospital designated as a COVID-19 referral center with an orthogeriatric team was reviewed to determine the mortality and morbidity rates, and short-term functional outcomes of patients with coexisting COVID-19 and acute fragility hip fracture who underwent surgery.Results. A total of 18 patients were admitted with COVID-19 infection and acute fragility hip fracture – 12 hadsurgery. Mean injury-to-admission and admission-to-surgery intervals were 6.5 and 4.8 days, respectively. Mostpatients (91.7%) had an incidental finding of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mean ASA score was 2.9. Arthroplasty wasdone in all patients with a mean operative time of 155.8 minutes and an average blood loss of 366.7 mL. Thirty-day mortality and morbidity rates were 16.7% and 33.3%, respectively. Mean EuroQoL overall health score was 79.3.Conclusion. A multidisciplinary team approach is recommended to expedite timely surgery prior to the onset ofclinical deterioration. Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients with acute fragility hip fracture are candidates for urgent surgical intervention even in the presence of COVID-19 infection

The current burden of fragility fractures is enormous, and it is set to increase rapidly in the coming decades as humankind enters a new demographic era. The purpose of this review is to consider, in different settings:• The human and economic toll of fragility fractures.• Risk factors for fragility fractures.• Current acute management of fragility fractures.• Current care gaps in both secondary and primary fracture prevention.A summary of global, regional, and national initiatives to improve the quality of care is provided, in addition to proposals for the research agenda. Systematic approaches to improve the acute care, rehabilitation and prevention of fragility fractures need to be developed and implemented rapidly and at scale in high-, middle- and low-income countries throughout the world. This must be an essential component of our response to the ageing of the global population during the remainder of the current United Nations – World Health Organization “Decade of Healthy Ageing”.

Globally, populations are ageing and the estimated number of hip fractures will increase from 1.7 million in 1990 to more than 6 million in 2050. The greatest increase in hip fractures is predicted in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), largely in the Asia-Pacific region where direct costs are expected to exceed $US15 billion by 2050. The aims of this qualitative study are to identify barriers to, and enablers of, evidence-informed hip fracture care in LMICs, and to determine if the Blue Book standards, developed by the British Orthopaedic Association and British Geriatrics Society to facilitate evidence-informed care of patients with fragility fractures, are applicable to these settings. This study utilized semi-structured interviews with clinical and administrative hospital staff to explore current hip fracture care in LMICs. Transcribed interviews were imported into NVivo 12 and analysed thematically. Interviews were conducted with 35 participants from 11 hospitals in 5 countries. We identified five themes-costs of care and the capacity of patients to pay, timely hospital presentation, competing demands on limited resources, delegation and defined responsibility and utilization of available data-and within each theme, barriers and enablers were distinguished. We found a mismatch between patient needs and provision of recommended hip fracture care, which in LMICs must commence at the time of injury. This study describes clinician and administrator perspectives of the barriers to, and enablers of, high-quality hip fracture care in LMICs; results indicate that initiatives to overcome barriers (in particular, delays to definitive treatment) are required. While the Blue Book offers a starting point for clinicians and administrators looking to provide high-quality hip fracture care to older people in LMICs, locally developed interventions are likely to provide the most successful solutions to improving hip fracture care.

Objective. The study compared functional outcomes among post-operative geriatric fragility hip fracture patients who received complete and incomplete rehabilitation. Methods. This is an ambispective cohort study of 50 acute fragility hip fractures over a 40-month period (October 2017 to November 2020) treated with either arthroplasty or internal fixation under the UP-PGH Orthogeriatric Fracture Liaison Service (FLS). Patients were contacted and interviewed through Telemedicine. They were asked to answer two questionnaires – the Modified Harris Hip Score (MHHS) and the EuroQol-5D-5L (EQ-5D-5L). The scores were tallied and used to describe and compare the post-operative functional outcomes between the two rehabilitation pathways. Results. Among the 50 patients included in this study, twenty-three (46%) patients underwent complete rehabilitation, while 27 (54%) underwent incomplete rehabilitation. The average corrected MHHS was at 82.5 suggesting good outcomes among all patients, with a higher-than-average outcome of 83.6 among patients who underwent complete rehabilitation, and an outcome of 75.9 among patients who underwent incomplete rehabilitation. Results to the EQ-5D—5L survey showed that a majority of patients who underwent complete rehabilitation reported having ‘no problems’ in terms of self-care, and anxiety or depression. However, the same group had more patients reporting ‘any problems’ in terms of mobility. On the other hand, a bigger proportion of patients from the incomplete rehabilitation group presented with ‘any problems’ in terms of usual activities. Proportions were similar for both groups in terms of pain or discomfort, with neither group having patients who reported extreme pain or discomfort. Conclusion. In spite of the heterogenous nature of the hip fracture population, functional outcome measures show generally good outcomes of patients under the UP-PGH Orthogeriatric FLS, with no significant difference among patients who receive complete rehabilitation from those who undergo incomplete rehabilitation. Continuing this study may better describe and differentiate the functional outcomes in order to pave the way for evidence-based protocols dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for acute fragility fracture patients.

This narrative review describes efforts to improve the care and prevention of fragility fractures in New Zealand from 2012 to 2022. This includes development of clinical standards and registries to benchmark provision of care, and public awareness campaigns to promote a life-course approach to bone health. This review describes the development and implementation of a systematic approach to care and prevention for New Zealanders with fragility fractures, and those at high risk of first fracture. Progression of existing initiatives and introduction of new initiatives are proposed for the period 2022 to 2030. In 2012, Osteoporosis New Zealand developed and published a strategy with objectives relating to people who sustain hip and other fragility fractures, those at high risk of first fragility fracture or falls and all older people. The strategy also advocated formation of a national fragility fracture alliance to expedite change. In 2017, a previously informal national alliance was formalised under the Live Stronger for Longer programme, which includes stakeholder organisations from relevant sectors, including government, healthcare professionals, charities and the health system. Outputs of this alliance include development of Australian and New Zealand clinical guidelines, clinical standards and quality indicators and a bi-national registry that underpins efforts to improve hip fracture care. All 22 hospitals in New Zealand that operate on hip fracture patients currently submit data to the registry. An analogous approach is ongoing to improve secondary fracture prevention for people who sustain fragility fractures at other sites through nationwide access to Fracture Liaison Services. Widespread participation in national registries is enabling benchmarking against clinical standards as a means to improve the care of hip and other fragility fractures in New Zealand. An ongoing quality improvement programme is focused on eliminating unwarranted variation in delivery of secondary fracture prevention.

Objectives: Fragility hip fractures present not only as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality to the elderly population but also as an important source of financial burden due to staggering costs for treatment. This study is designed to determine the effects of timing of hospitalization to the treatment costs of patients with acute fragility hip fractures.Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the patient database of the University of the Philippines Manila-Philippine General Hospital Orthogeriatric Multidisciplinary Fracture Management Model and Fracture Liaison Service was reviewed to investigate the effects of timing of hospitalization to the treatment cost of patients with acute fragility hip fractures admitted in a tertiary government hospital. The economic burden of this group of patients was also computed.Results: A total of 118 patients were enrolled in the study with 54 patients in the early hospitalization (EH) group (< 3 days from injury) and 64 in the delayed hospitalization (DH) group (4-28 days). Median treatment cost is less among the EH group than those who were in the DH group (P = 0.0362). The computed economic burden of patients with acute fragility hip fractures is PhP 1,094,048,363.0 0 (USD 22,595,007.79) per year in the Philippines.Conclusions: Fragility hip fractures impose significant financial impact; and therefore, recommend early hospitalization to lessen treatment cost. Future studies should also be undertaken to investigate other interventions that may help alleviate this burden.(c) 2021 The Korean Society of Osteoporosis. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Objectives. This study is a retrospective cohort that aims to describe the profile of orthopedic geriatric patients aged 60 years old and above with acute hip fractures occurring within one month of admission in the Philippine General Hospital managed by a multidisciplinary team approach. Methods. Data collection from the database was done to gather information regarding the patient profile, time to surgery, causes for delay in consultation, length of hospital stay, and follow-up rate, since this model was implemented. Results. Overall, we saw a decrease in the time from admission to surgery and a decrease in the length of hospital stay, when compared to previous data. Follow-up rates and compliance to maintenance medication are at 96% and 72% respectively. Conclusion. The implementation of a multidisciplinary approach and fracture liaison service presents us with favorable results in addressing hip fractures and osteoporosis.

Hypervirulent strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae are known to cause liver abscesses and other metastatic infections. Being Asian and having diabetes are known host risk factors. Here we present an unusual case of a Filipino ballet dancer–choreographer with diabetes presenting with bilateral leg pains initially thought to be cellulitis, but was eventually diagnosed as bilateral subcutaneous leg abscesses. He also had a liver abscess, thankfully asymptomatic, which was only discovered on imaging. The occurrence of three distant abscesses in one patient, hence ‘3-in-1,’ makes this case worth reporting. Bilateral subcutaneous leg abscesses as the presenting manifestation of this infection have not been reported yet. We hypothesise that his occupation which makes use of frequent contractions of leg muscles led to increased blood flow and preferentially directed blood-borne bacteria to localise in both legs. We have also characterised the pathogen with regards to its hypermucoviscous phenotype, capsular type, virulence genes and phylogeny.