Devastating Impact of Fracture Nonunions: The Need for Timely Identification and Intervention for High-Risk Patients: Commentary on an article by Patrick C. Schottel, MD, et al.: "Time Trade-Off as a Measure of Health-Related Quality of Life: Long Bone Nonunions Have a Devastating Impact".

Abstract

Despite contemporary surgical techniques and novel adjunct therapies, orthopaedic care providers encounter a considerable number of patients with long bone nonunions due to the high-volume nature of musculoskeletal trauma1-3. Although the risk factors and etiology of nonunion may be varied, Schottel et al. demonstrate quite distinctly that the consequences of nonunion are rather harmonized, in that they have a devastating impact on patient quality of life1. In their study titled, “Time Trade-Off as a Measure of Health-Related Quality of Life: Long Bone Nonunions Have a Devastating Impact,” Schottel et al. evaluated more than 800 adult patients with long bone nonunions for their perceived health-related quality of life using the Time Trade-Off approach. On average, patients in this cohort were willing to trade 32% of their remaining …