Abstract
Fractures occurring after “low energy trauma” are described as fragility fractures. They most commonly happen in the spine, hip and wrist due to osteoporosis and its associated risk factors, including gender, age, medications (e.g. steroids), etc (1). Menopause in women also has a drastic impact on the risk of osteoporosis. In 2019, 3,775,000 UK citizens had a diagnosis of osteoporosis - 820,000 men and 2,955,000 women. In the same year, there were 527,000 new fragility fractures in the UK (2). Nevertheless, osteoporosis and fragility fractures do not only pose a problem within the UK. It is estimated that the number of hip fractures worldwide will increase by 4,600,000 between 1990 and 2050 as a result of an ageing population (3). The percentage of the world's population over the age of 60 is projected to rise from 12% to 22% between 2015 and 2050 (6). This age shift in particular will bring on challenges as the risk of hip fractures doubles every 10 years after the age of 50 (3). Fragility fractures can have a drastic effect on patient well-being. Surgery for hip fractures for instance has a 4% mortality rate and approximately 20% of patients die within a year (3). Patient mobility, housing conditions and quality of life all deteriorate after hip fractures (4). The impact on health economics is also significant. Direct medical costs resulting from fragility fractures in the UK were approximated at £1.8 billion in 2000 and were projected to rise to £2.2 billion by 2025 (1). However, newer reports have shown that we underestimated this burden with the total annual cost of fragility fractures in the UK reaching £4.4 billion in 2022 (5).