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Review
. 2021 Feb 3;103(3):274-281.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.20.00628.

Orthopaedic Care of the Transgender Patient

Affiliations
Review

Orthopaedic Care of the Transgender Patient

Duncan C Ramsey et al. J Bone Joint Surg Am. .

Abstract

»: A transgender person is defined as one whose gender identity is incongruent with their biological sex assigned at birth. This highly marginalized population numbers over 1.4 million individuals in the U.S.; this prevalence skews more heavily toward younger generations and is expected to increase considerably in the future.

»: Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) has physiologic effects on numerous aspects of the patient's health that are pertinent to the orthopaedic surgeon, including bone health, fracture risk, and perioperative risks such as venous thromboembolism and infection.

»: Language and accurate pronoun usage toward transgender patients can have a profound effect on a patient's experience and on both objective and subjective outcomes.

»: Gaps in research concerning orthopaedic care of the transgender patient are substantial. Specific areas for further study include the effects of GAHT on fracture risk and healing, outcome disparities and care access across multiple subspecialties, and establishment of perioperative management guidelines.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors indicated that no external funding was received for any aspect of this work. The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJS/G201).

References

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