P134 Under the weather: The Meteorological correlation in Orthopaedic Trauma and within Hertfordshire

Abstract

BackgroundThe paper aims to understand the effect of meteorological factors on the number of referrals and volume of trauma operating cases within our local area.MethodTrauma data was analysed in our database: (eTrauma), a digital clinical platform that co-ordinates all admissions and: trauma theatre activity. Data consisted of number of referrals per day, patient: age, mechanism of injury and type of orthopaedic injury. Weather data was: gathered from a local weather station which: records daily weather observations.Results1160 consultations wereanalysed, 779 required an operative intervention. Neck of femur fractures: and ankle trauma were the two most common cause of trauma, accounting for 27% and 15% respectively. Neck of femur fracture pathology were not significantly correlated with any meteorological factor studied. On the contrary, ankle trauma were the only injuries significantly correlating with temperature (p < 0.03) and due point (p < 0.04).ConclusionWeather has no effect on neck of femur fractures, the most common trauma pathology treated in our department. In all seasons allocated specific trauma lists for the latter should be arranged irrelevant of the weather conditions. We identified the days receiving highest referral rate, using this data to shape the future on call trauma service.