Hospital admission rates for distal forearm fractures: an epidemiological survey in patients referred to a large emergency department in Northern Italy.

Unlabelled: In this survey, the proportion of patients with distal forearm fractures admitted to the Parma University Hospital during 2012 (13 %) was relatively low and generally lower than that reported in other studies. In our region, the main orthopedic approach remains conservative.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to define the ratio between hospitalized and non-hospitalized fragility fractures of the distal forearm in our province (Parma, Northern Italy).

Methods: All forearm fractures referred during 2012 to the emergency department of the Parma University Hospital (the main hospital in the province with a catchment area of approximately 345,000) were retrieved from the hospital database using both ICD-9-CM codes and text strings. The diagnosis of distal forearm fracture due to low-energy trauma and the need for hospitalization were individually confirmed by medical records and X-ray reports. The analysis was limited to subjects aged 40 years and over.

Results: In both sexes combined, 66 subjects out of 505 were hospitalized (13.1 %; confidence interval (CI) 95 % 10.4-16.3 %), 47 immediately (8.1 %) and 25 (5 %) after a few days. The percentage of cases hospitalized was 12 % in women (CI 95 % 9.2-15.6 %) and 17 % in men (CI 95 % 11.1-25 %; p = 0.16).

Conclusions: The percentage of fragility distal forearm fractures hospitalized in our area is relatively low and generally lower than that reported in other studies.