The Multidisciplinary Approach to Fragility Fractures Around the World: An Overview

The basic argument for an orthogeriatric approach is that many patients presenting with fragility fracture need the simultaneous application of the skillsets of orthopaedic surgery and geriatric medicine. Recent thinking, encapsulated in the Global Call to Action (Dreinhofer, Injury 49:1393–1397, 2018) has expanded the meaning of the term ‘orthogeriatrics’ to include all phases of post-fracture care, not just the immediate acute episode. These have come to be known as the three clinical ‘pillars’ of the Call to Action; the two additional elements are rehabilitation and secondary prevention. The book, therefore, tries to define what would be the ideal response from the moment of the first fragility fracture, for the rest of the patient’s life.