Patients may sustain distal radius fractures due to balance, gait issues
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Women with operatively treated distal radius fractures showed declined gait ability vs. controls, which investigators theorize may be related to why patients sustained their fractures.
At the virtual American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting, Koji Fujita, MD, PhD, in the department of department of orthopaedic and spinal surgery at the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Tokyo, presented results of the study in which he and his colleagues measured the gait at 2 weeks postoperatively of 32 women patients with an operatively treated distal radius fracture.
For the measurements, researchers used a novel, laser, timed up-and-go (TUG) system they developed with a single-laser range sensor to analyze patients’ gait during a standard TUG test. The system does not require that instruments be attached to the patients.
Measurements included TUG time, reaction time, time for the first step, outbound and inbound times and time for cornering. Researchers obtained the same measurements for 43 female volunteers with similar demographics and comorbidities who did not have a history of distal radius fractures and compared results from both groups.
“Timed up-and-go test – TUG – is the easiest method to measure their dynamic body balancing ability,” Fujita said during his presentation.
Statistical comparison of laser TUG system data for the leg motions of both groups showed the fracture group took more steps in the turn phase of the TUG test. Their speed in completing the test was also slower compared with the control group, according to the results.
“But, they did not have a slower reaction time vs. controls,” Fujita said.
In addition, he said the distal radius fracture group showed declined body balancing ability.
“Declined gait ability could be [a] reason for distal radius fracture,” Fujita said.
Fujita told Healio Orthopedics, “As well as treating [a] fracture surgically,” he said fracture prevention is important.
“We previously reported that, before getting osteoporosis, body balancing ability tends to decline, and that leads to a fall and first fragility fracture, such as distal radius fracture. We developed the novel laser TUG system, which enables us to examine the gait performance without attaching any instrument to patients. With this system, we analyzed patients with distal radius fracture, and they showed declined ability to perform TUG, especially [in the] turning phase. We found more than 13 steps to complete TUG was a risk factor of distal radius fracture, and TUG is a possible screening tool for future fracture,” Fujita told Healio Orthopedics.
References:
Fujita K, et al. Gait Posture. 2020;doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2020.06.005.
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Fujita K, et al. Paper 8. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting; Oct. 1-3, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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