Osteoporosis Disease Management: What Every Orthopaedic Surgeon Should Know

Abstract

There is a huge cost associated with osteoporosis in terms of morbidity, mortality, and the financial impact on society. The most devastating complication of osteoporosis is a hip fracture. According to the most recent statistics published in the United States Surgeon General's 2004 report on osteoporosis, of the 325,000 patients who sustain a hip fracture each year, 25% will find it necessary to enter a nursing home, 50% will never reach their previous functional capacity, and 25% will die within the first year after the fracture². The first-year mortality rate after a hip fracture is almost twice as high in men as it is in women (30% compared with 17%). The mortality rate associated with osteoporosis-related fractures is greater than the rates associated with breast cancer and cervical cancer combined^1-6.