This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Gender differences exist in trauma intensity, rupture site of UCL injuries of the thumb
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
VIENNA — Gender may appear to influence trauma intensity and rupture site of ulnar collateral ligament injuries of the thumb, according to a study presented at the Free Papers Award Session for Trauma at the 18th EFORT Annual Congress in Vienna.
“The overall design of this study was a two-center retrospective data analysis including all surgically treated ruptures of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the thumb between 1992 and 2015,” study investigator Sandra Bösmüller, MD, of AUVA Trauma Center Meidling, in Vienna, told Orthopaedics Today Europe. “According to the surgical records, ruptures were classified into proximal ligament or bony avulsions, midsubstance tears and distal ligament or bony avulsions. Trauma mechanisms leading to the UCL injury were classified into the following categories: blunt trauma (ie, strains); low-velocity injuries (eg, fall from standing height, assaults); and high-velocity injuries (eg, sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents).”
The study population included 1,582 patients (1,094 men and 488 women; mean age, 41 years, range, 9 years to 90 years) treated at two level-1 trauma centers during the study period. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to assess the dependencies between rupture site and the independent variables of sex, age and trauma intensity.
The researchers found women were more frequently affected by midsubstance tears, whereas men were more likely to incur distal ligament or bony avulsions. Moreover, an association was observed between gender and intensity of trauma, with men more frequently sustaining UCL injuries from high-velocity trauma. The researchers also saw a significant correlation between trauma intensity and rupture site, demonstrating high-velocity traumas were more likely to yield a distal ligament or bony avulsion.
“We found several dependencies among the 1,582 patients who met the inclusion criteria: There was a significant effect of sex on trauma intensity, as well as of trauma intensity on the rupture site,” Bösmüller said. “Midsubstance tears occurred more frequently in women, whereas men were more prone to distal ligament or bony avulsions. Taking into account all those dependencies, we still found a significant effect of sex on rupture site.”
According to Bösmüller, these findings highlight the importance of investigating gender differences in orthopaedic studies.
“Gender analyses and differences have been gaining more attention in recent years. In orthopaedic studies, however, such investigations are performed in less than one-third,” Bösmüller told Orthopaedics Today Europe. “So far, the only orthopaedic topic dealing with gender differences is ACL surgery. With our findings, we want to raise awareness in the orthopaedic community that there do exist differences between men and women in trauma intensity and rupture site of the UCL. Thus, anatomical studies are needed to investigate origin and insertion site of the UCL, probably revealing gender differences as well. If this proves to be true, a different placement of suture anchors between men and women in surgical repair of UCL injuries might be worth considering.” – by Jennifer Byrne
- Reference:
- Bösmüller S, et al. Paper #644. Presented at: 18th EFORT Annual Congress; 31 May - 2 June 2017; Vienna.
- For more information:
- Sandra Bösmüller, MD, can be reached at AUVA Trauma Center Meidling, Kundratstraße 37, Vienna, Austria; email: sandra.boesmueller@auva.at.
Disclosure: Bösmüller reports no relevant financial disclosures.