Osteoporosis fracture is the invisible killer of the elderly

  We often hear that so-and-so old man fell and broke a bone, and not long after that the old man died. In fact, the fracture itself can not die, why would it take the life of the elderly? The main reason is that the elderly people lose their lives because they are bedridden for a long time after the fracture caused other diseases. It is easy for the elderly to fall and break a bone, why is that? Because the elderly suffer from osteoporosis easy to fracture, this is what we are going to say today osteoporosis fracture.  When it comes to osteoporosis fracture we first have to say what is osteoporosis, now ordinary people know osteoporosis, but we have a misconception that osteoporosis is a change in human aging is not considered a disease more necessary to cure, this understanding is incorrect. As early as 1994, the World Health Organization pointed out that osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease characterized by reduced bone mass, destruction of bone microstructure, increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. With the aging of society, the incidence of osteoporosis, especially primary osteoporosis, is increasing year by year, seriously affecting the quality of life and healthy life expectancy of the population, and becoming a global public health problem. What we are talking about today is primary osteoporosis.  There are two groups of people who are vulnerable to primary osteoporosis, one is postmenopausal women and the other is elderly people over 60 years old. Most often, fractures occur with minor or no apparent trauma, even during daily activities. Some postmenopausal women have had multiple fractures in a few years, which are caused by osteoporosis and should be given our utmost attention.  Osteoporosis fractures can affect our health and quality of life, and even our lives. Knowing that you have osteoporosis when a fracture occurs is something that many people experience. Orthopedic surgeons are the first to discover that a fracture patient has osteoporosis, so it is the responsibility of the orthopedic surgeon to inform everyone about the dangers of osteoporosis and the importance of preventing and treating osteoporosis.  Osteoporotic fractures are often found in the thoracolumbar spine, hip and wrist. Osteoporotic fractures of the thoracolumbar spine account for approximately 90% of all spinal fractures. Treatment can be considered surgical or conservative depending on the patient’s age and physical health. Surgery can be performed using minimally invasive surgical methods. Percutaneous vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are currently recommended minimally invasive surgical treatment measures to reduce pain, stabilize the spine, restore the physiological curvature of the spine and early movement.  Osteoporotic fractures of the hip are mainly femoral neck fractures and intertrochanteric fractures, which are characterized by high rates of non-union, femoral head necrosis, disability and death. Surgery or conservative treatment is considered depending on the patient’s age and health status. If the fracture is not significantly displaced or if the patient is in poor health to tolerate surgery, non-surgical treatment can be used. Surgical treatment includes external fixation frame, internal fixation, artificial joint replacement (artificial femoral head replacement, artificial total hip replacement), etc. For the surgical treatment of intertrochanteric fractures, artificial femoral head replacement or artificial total hip replacement is not the preferred option. For wrist fractures most of them are treated by repositioning splint fixation.  The Guidelines for the Treatment of Osteoporotic Fractures formulated by the Orthopedic Branch of the Chinese Medical Association clearly states that “osteoporotic fractures originate from osteoporosis, so the use of effective drugs to treat osteoporosis is the necessary therapeutic basis for the treatment of osteoporotic fractures”. In addition to surgical treatment of osteoporotic fractures, bone density tests are also performed. Treatment of osteoporosis is based on the degree of osteoporosis.  First of all, calcium supplementation: Our Nutrition Society recommends 800mg (elemental calcium) per adult per day, along with vitamin D, which is beneficial for promoting calcium absorption, for bone health, for maintaining muscle strength, for improving physical stability, and for reducing the risk of fracture.  It is not enough to take calcium and vitamins alone to treat osteoporosis, but it is essential to apply anti-osteoporosis medications as well. Anti-osteoporosis includes drugs that inhibit bone loss and promote bone formation. For patients with osteoporotic fractures anti-osteoporotic drug therapy should be timed, and it is recommended that drugs with osteoclast inhibition be started 4 weeks after the fracture.  The rehabilitation of patients with osteoporotic fractures should follow the general postoperative rehabilitation rules for fractures, but also take into account the poor bone quality, poor internal fixation and slow fracture healing in this group of patients. Emphasis is placed on early active and passive muscle exercises, early movement of unfixed joints, and minimizing the time spent in bed.