Can Clinical and Surgical Parameters Be Combined to Predict How Long It Will Take a Tibia Fracture to Heal? A Prospective Multicentre Observational Study: The FRACTING Study

• DOI: 10.1155/2018/1809091
• Publication Date: 2018-04-30T23:30:51Z
• Authors: Leo Massari; Francesco Benazzo; Francesco Falez; Ruggero Cadossi; Dario Perugia; Luca Pietrogrande; Domenico Costanti...; Antonio Capone; Michele D’Arienzo; Matteo Cadossi; Vincenzo Lorusso; Gaetano Caruso; Matteo Ghiara; Luigi Ciolli; Filippo La Cava; Marco Guidi; Filippo Castoldi; Giuseppe Marongiu; Alessandra La Gat...; Dario Dell’Omo; Michelangelo Scag...; Sandro Giannini; Mattia Fortina; Alberto Riva; Pier Luigi De Palma; Antonio Pompilio ...; Biagio Moretti; Giuseppe Solarino; Francesco Lijoi; Giovanni Giordano; Pier Giorgio Londini; Danilo Castellano; Giuseppe Sessa; Luciano Costarella; Antonio Barile; Mariano Borrelli; Attilio Rota; Raffaele Fontana; Alberto Momoli; Andrea Micaglio; Guido Bassi; Rossano Stefano C...; Claudio Castelli; Michele Giudici; Mauro Monesi; Luigi Branca Vergano; Pietro Maniscalco; M’Putu Bulabula; Vincenzo Zottola; Auro Caraffa; Pierluigi Antinolfi; Fabio Catani; Claudio Severino; Enrico Castaman; Carmelo Scialabba; Venceslao Tovaglia; Pietro Corsi; Paolo Friemel; Marco Ranellucci; Vincenzo Caiaffa; Giovanni Maraglino; Roberto Rossi; Antonio Pastrone; Patrizio Caldora; Claudio Cusumano; Pier Bruno Squarzina; Ugo Baschieri; Ettore Demattè; Stefano Gherardi; Carlo De Roberto; Alberto Belluati; Antonio Giannini; Ciro Villani; Pietro Persiani; Silvio Demitri; Bruno Di Maggio; Guglielmo Abate; Francesca De Terl...; Stefania Setti
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Adolescent; Reproducibility of Result; 610; Tibia fracture, multicentre observational study; fracture; healing; tibia; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Tibia fracture; 0302 clinical medicine; Osteogenesis; 617; Humans; multicentre observational study; Adolescent; Adult; Female; Fracture Healing; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Osteogenesis; Prospective Studies; Reproducibility of Results; Tibia; Tibial Fractures; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Prospective Studies; NOT AVAILABLE; Biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (all); Immunology and microbiology (all); Fracture Healing; Tibia; Osteogenesi; Reproducibility of Results; Middle Aged; Tibial Fractures; Prospective Studie; Treatment Outcome; Adolescent; Adult; Female; Fracture Healing; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Osteogenesis; Prospective Studies; Reproducibility of Results; Tibia; Tibial Fractures; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all); Immunology and Microbiology (all); Tibial Fracture; Female; tibia fracture,tibia FRACTure prediction healING; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all); Immunology and Microbiology (all); Human; Research Article

Background. Healing of tibia fractures occurs over a wide time range of months, with a number of risk factors contributing to prolonged healing. In this prospective, multicentre, observational study, we investigated the capability of FRACTING (tibia FRACTure prediction healING days) score, calculated soon after tibia fracture treatment, to predict healing time.Methods. The study included 363 patients. Information on patient health, fracture morphology, and surgical treatment adopted were combined to calculate the FRACTING score. Fractures were considered healed when the patient was able to fully weight-bear without pain.Results. 319 fractures (88%) healed within 12 months from treatment. Forty-four fractures healed after 12 months or underwent a second surgery. FRACTING score positively correlated with days to healing:r=0.63(p<0.0001). Average score value was 7.3 ± 2.5; ROC analysis showed strong reliability of the score in separating patients healing before versus after 6 months: AUC = 0.823.Conclusions. This study shows that the FRACTING score can be employed both to predict months needed for fracture healing and to identify immediately after treatment patients at risk of prolonged healing. In patients with high score values, new pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments to enhance osteogenesis could be tested selectively, which may finally result in reduced disability time and health cost savings.