Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35655742›Full record

ReviewThe archives of bone and joint surgery2022

How Much Does an Infected Fracture Cost?

Olivia O'Connor, Azeem Thahir, Matija Krkovic

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The archives of bone and joint surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  10. Patient-reported outcomes after tibial plateau fracture: infection confers greatest risk of poor outcome.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Olivia O'ConnorDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Addenbrookes Major Trauma Unit, Cambridge University Hospitals, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom.
Azeem ThahirDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Addenbrookes Major Trauma Unit, Cambridge University Hospitals, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom.
Matija KrkovicDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Addenbrookes Major Trauma Unit, Cambridge University Hospitals, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Though infection is a common and costly complication following fracture, there is a scarcity of literature focused on the additional cost of healthcare when a fracture becomes infected. This literature review compiles existing heterogenous data to evaluate the cost of infected fractures, yielding an estimate of a 1.2-fold to six-fold increase in healthcare costs associated with infection. The increases in cost were largely driven by an increased length of stay. Factors which affect this increase include the infectious agent, the depth of infection and the location of the fracture. In order to reduce healthcare costs, early soft tissue cover and prophylactic antibiotics are effective in that they reduce the infection rates. An alternative approach is to reduce the length of stay, the key driver of cost, for example by reducing the length of inpatient antibiotic therapy. Further cost-utility analyses which focus on the same aspects of the healthcare costs are required for a more accurate estimation of the cost.

Indexed as

Healthcare costsHealth economicsOpen FracturePost-Traumatic OsteomyelitisSurgical Site infection

Identifiers

PMID35655742
PMCPMC9117895

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.