Hip fractures commonly occur in older patients, with high levels of frailty and comorbidity. Many of these patients have limited mobility before their fracture, and even after surgery, their mobility may remain limited. It is therefore not surprising that they are at a high risk of developing pressure sores, particularly on their heels, and a variety of devices and interventions have been proposed to reduce this risk. Foam or air mattresses, designed to reduce contact pressure on the patient’s whole body, are now routinely used in many healthcare systems. However, there is wide variation in their design. We developed the WHiTE 14;PRESSURE 3 trial to address the lack of evidence in this area. This is a three-arm multicentre randomized trial including health economic evaluation and recruiting patients from NHS hospitals in the UK. The trial compares standard strategies for the prevention of pressure sores with standard care plus a constant low-pressure device and with standard care plus a heel off-loading device. This annotation describes the development of this trial. Cite this article:
Payments by the NHS Litigation Authority continue to rise each year, and reflect an increase in successful claims for negligence against NHS Trusts. Information about the reasons for which Trusts are sued in the field of trauma and orthopaedic surgery is scarce. We analysed 130 consecutive cases of alleged clinical negligence in which the senior author had been requested to act as an expert witness between 2004 and 2006, and received information on the outcome of 97 concluded cases from the relevant solicitors. None of the 97 cases proceeded to a court hearing. Overall, 55% of cases were abandoned by the claimants’ solicitors, and the remaining 45% were settled out of court. The cases were settled for sums ranging from £4500 to £2.7 million, the median settlement being £45 000. The cases that were settled out of court were usually the result of delay in treatment or diagnosis, or because of substandard surgical technique.
Modern principles for the treatment of open fractures include stabilisation of the bone and management of the soft tissues. Wound debridement and irrigation is thought to be the mainstay in reducing the incidence of infection. Although numerous studies on animals and humans have focused on the type of irrigation performed, little is known of the factors which influence irrigation. This paper evaluates the evidence, particularly with regard to additives and the mode of delivery of irrigation fluid. Normal saline should be used and although many antiseptics and antibiotics have been employed, no consensus has been reached as to the ideal additive. Despite the advocates of high-pressure methods highlighting the improved dilutional ability of such techniques, the results are inconclusive and these irrigation systems are not without complications. New systems for debridement are currently being investigated, and an ideal method has yet to be determined.
