The cost of treatment of distal radial fractures

In an increasingly cost conscious management of health care, estimating the cost of treatment of distal radial fractures has significant relevance. We studied 100 distal radial fractures, prospectively, from their presentatio n to eventual discharge. On an average, pound 320.50 were spent on each pat ient during 1997. Ninety percent of the costs were seen to be service coals and only 10% were those of consumables. A proportion of costs incurred due to remanipulations could have been saved by supervised primary treatment. Also, lack of protocols resulted in increased use of clinic time, physiothe rapy sessions and radiographs. In-patient treatment was seen to account for the bulk of the expenditure. We have identified certain guidelines to impr ove the primary treatment of these fractures and the possibility of treatin g them in designated sessions in the day surgery unit. This is likely to re duce the overall cost of treatment of these very commonly sustained fractur es though this will need to be proved in a future validated study. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.