Broken Bone? An Orthopedic Trauma Surgeon’s Best Advice for a Good Medical Outcome

Nicholas Sama, MD, director of Orthopedic Trauma at HSS Florida, the West Palm Beach location of Hospital for Special Surgery, offers advice to give patients the best chance for proper treatment, healthy healing and a good medical outcome following a bone fracture.

Common anti-seizure medication associated with elevated fracture risk in kids with epilepsy

A study found that one of the two most commonly prescribed anti-seizure medications is associated with a higher risk of fracture for children and teens with epilepsy. This is significant for this population as it comes during a critical period of bone development, a time during which several features coalesce to develop bone strength that peaks in adulthood.

Personalized medicine, not X-rays, should guide common forearm fracture treatments in older adults

A decade-long study of distal radius fracture in older adults revealed that personalized medicine catering to a patient’s individual needs and environment, not age or X-rays, should guide treatment options. The federally funded study is the most collaborative, intense effort to try and answer a 200-year puzzle about how to treat one of the most common fractures in older adults.

Study shows when people with cerebral palsy are most likely to break bones

Researchers at Michigan Medicine found people with cerebral palsy have fragile bones that present high fracture risk, but at different times across the lifespan compared to the general population. The results helped them develop new sex-specific critical periods of bone health for this population.

New study shows majority of patients do not believe e-cigarettes and vapes impact bone fracture healing

The use of e-cigarettes, vapes and mods have increased as smokers liken these alternatives as healthier and not having the same side effects of traditional cigarettes. Because e-cigarettes are readily available over the internet, unlike the sale of cigarettes, it perpetuates the notion that these are a safer alternative. A new study, “The New Era of Nicotine: Better for Patients?” released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience found that smokers and non-smokers believe the use of e-cigarettes and other smoking alternatives have less of an impairment on bone fracture healing than smoking traditional cigarettes, when in fact the nicotine found in both cigarettes and e-cigarettes can impede the healing process.