Trends and outcomes of patients admitted to an orthopaedic trauma department in Singapore: a retrospective study

Abstract Introduction: With Singapore’s rapidly ageing population, the incidence of fragility fractures such as hip fractures has been rising. We aimed to investigate the general trends and provide a descriptive analysis of the demographics, ambulation status and bone mineral density (BMD) of patients with hip fractures. Methods: This was a retrospective study. The EPIC patient records database at a Singapore hospital was queried for surgically treated cases in the orthopaedic trauma department between June 2020 and September 2023. A total of 3522 cases were analysed. Using Microsoft Excel, patients’ age, gender, type of fracture, ambulation status and BMD were trended across the years. Demographics between intertrochanteric and femoral neck fractures were also compared. Results: Surgically managed orthopaedic trauma cases increased by 14% from 2021 to 2022 and by 18% from 2022 to 2023. Hip fractures remained the most common fracture type (39%–42%), with femoral neck fractures accounting for the majority (55.5%). The proportion of geriatric hip fracture patients progressively increased from 85.6% in 2020 to 91.0% in 2023. Patients with intertrochanteric fractures were older than femoral neck fracture patients. Other demographics remained stable: 64%–68% of patients were female and 83%–90% were Chinese. The hip BMD of surgically treated hip fracture patients improved from –2.85 in 2020 to –2.61 in 2023. The ambulation status recovery rate among surgically treated hip fracture patients increased from 57% in 2022 to 60% in 2023. Conclusion: The rising number of surgically managed orthopaedic trauma cases highlights the need for strengthened healthcare support and resources. Although BMD and ambulation status recovery rates have improved, areas for improvement remain, and enhanced multipronged preventive measures against fragility fractures should be implemented.