ArticleEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2024
Costs of fracture-related infection: the impact on direct hospital costs and healthcare utilisation.
Article in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Current applications of indocyanine green fluorescence angiography in trauma patients and its potential impact: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Dynamic distribution of systemically administered antibiotics in orthopeadically relevant target tissues and settings.APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica · 2024Pooled it
- In vivo bacteria-targeted imaging with vancomycin-based positron emission tomography and optical tracers in an orthopaedic trauma implant infection model.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- A feasibility study of a novel closed flowing vacuum-assisted technique (CFVAT) in managing fracture-related infection with implant retention.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Explainable machine learning for perioperative surgical site infection risk enrichment after operative treatment of closed pilon fractures: a multicenter retrospective study with external validation.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Recent Advancements in Non-surgical Approaches for the Management of Delayed Union and Nonunion in Long Bone Fractures of the Extremities: A Review.Advances in therapy · 2026Review
- Safety of locally applied antibiotics in orthopaedic trauma surgery: descriptive results from a prospective cohort study.Journal of bone and joint infection · 2026Article
- Article
- Development and evaluation of a risk calculator for fracture-related infection after open reduction and internal fixation: a multi-institutional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- [Recent advances regarding diagnosis and treatment of fracture-related infection].Zhongguo xiu fu chong jian wai ke za zhi = Zhongguo xiufu chongjian waike zazhi = Chinese journal of reparative and reconstructive surgery · 2025Review
- Early Surgery Reduces Infection Risk and Length of Hospital Stay in Closed Ankle Fractures: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Post-operative infection following ankle fracture surgery: a current concepts review.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Review
- Diagnostic Value of Increased [18F]FDG Uptake in Locoregional Lymph Nodes on PET/CT in Patients with Suspected Fracture-Related Infection.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The economic impact of open lower limb fractures in the Netherlands: a cost-of-illness study.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeFracture-Related Infection (FRI) is associated with high medical costs and prolonged healthcare utilization. However, limited data is available on the financial impact. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of FRI on direct hospital costs and healthcare utilization.
methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study in a level-1 trauma centre in the Netherlands. Patients ≥ 18 years, after open reduction and internal fixation of a long bone fracture between January 1st 2016 and November 1st 2021, were included. Exclusion criteria were Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥ 16, indefinable data on costs or incomplete follow-up. Hospital costs related to fracture treatment were individually calculated based on procedure codes raised with a fixed percentage of overhead expenses, in line with hospital billing policies.
resultsIn total, 246 patients were included with a median follow-up of 1 year (IQR 0.6-1.8). A total of 45 patients developed FRI, of whom 15 patients had an FRI recurrence. Compared to non-FRI patients, median hospital costs from an FRI patient without and with recurrence, were respectively three (3.1) and seven (7.6) times higher. Compared to non-FRI patients, increased costs in patients with FRI or recurrent FRI are due to respectively a fivefold or even tenfold prolonged length-of-stay, two or seven additional infection-related surgeries, and 21 or 55 days of intravenous antibiotic treatment.
conclusionDirect healthcare costs of patients with single occurrence of FRI after long bone fracture treatment are three times higher compared to non-FRI patients. In case of FRI-recurrence, the differences in costs might even increase to sevenfold. To put this in perspective, cost of severely injured trauma patients were recently established at approximately 25.000 euros. Compared to non-FRI patients, increased costs in patients with FRI or recurrent FRI are due to respectively a fivefold or even tenfold prolonged length-of-stay, two or seven additional infection-related surgeries and 21 or 55 days of intravenous antibiotic treatment. Not only from patient perspective but also from a financial aspect, it is important to focus on prevention of (recurrent) FRI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.