Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Feb 8;3(2):e002276.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002276. Print 2013.

The relative incidence of fracture non-union in the Scottish population (5.17 million): a 5-year epidemiological study

Leanora Anne Mills  1 , A Hamish R W Simpson
Affiliations

The relative incidence of fracture non-union in the Scottish population (5.17 million): a 5-year epidemiological study

Leanora Anne Mills et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: In the UK there are approximately 850 000 new fractures seen each year. Rates of non-union of 5-10% of fractures have been suggested, the cost to the National Health Service of treating non-union has been reported to range between £7000 and £79 000 per person yet there are little actual data available. The objective of this epidemiological study therefore is for the first time to report the rates of fracture non-union.

Design: A cross-sectional epidemiological study.

Setting: The population of Scotland.

Participants: All patient admissions to hospital in Scotland are coded according to diagnosis. These data are collected by (and were obtained from) Information Services Department Scotland. Those who have been coded for a bone non-union between 2005 and 2010 were included in the study. No patients were excluded. Population data were obtained from the Registrar General for Scotland.

Outcome measure: The number of fracture non-unions per 100 000 population of Scotland according to age, sex and anatomical distribution of non-union.

Results: 4895 non-unions were treated as inpatients in Scotland between 2005 and 2010, averaging 979 per year, with an overall incidence of 18.94 per 100 000 population per annum. The distribution according to gender was 57% male and 43% female. The overall peak incidence according to age was between 30 and 40 years. The mean population of Scotland between 2005 and 2010 was 5 169 140 people.

Conclusion: Fracture non-union in the population as a whole remains low at less than 20 per 100 000 population and peaks in the fourth decade of life. Further research is required to determine the risk of non-union per fracture according to age/sex/anatomical distribution. .

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Incidence of non-union with age and sex.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of non-union by site and age, (A) upper and (B) lower limb.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mock C, Lormand JD, Goosen J, et al. Guidelines for essential trauma care. Geneva: World Health Organiziation, 2004
    1. Mock CN, Adzotor KE, Conklin E, et al. Trauma outcomes in the rural developing world: comparison with an urban level I trauma center. J Trauma 1993;35:518–23 - PubMed
    1. Sethi D, Racioppi F, Baumgarten I, et al. Reducing inequalities from injuries in Europe. Lancet 2006;368:2243–50 - PubMed
    1. Court-Brown C, Aitken SA, Forward D, et al. The epidemiology of adult fractures. In: Bucholz RW, Court-Brown C, Heckman JD, Tornetta P, eds. Rockwood and green's fractures in adults. 7th edn. Philidelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2010, 2009:53–84
    1. Dahabreh Z, Calori GM, Kanakaris NK, et al. A cost analysis of treatment of tibial fracture nonunion by bone grafting or bone morphogenetic protein-7. Int Orthop 2009;33:1407–14 - PMC - PubMed