Advancing patient care for wrist fractures in the Emergency Department
Distal radius fractures are an extremely common type of broken bone, accounting for nearly 20% of all fractures seen at the Mater Emergency Department. It’s a break near the wrist, generally caused by falling onto your hand. Initial treatment involves reduction and splinting by two medics, which involves gently repositioning the bone back to its correct spot and then splinting to hold the bone in place.
When a patient comes to ED with this injury, usually this is carried out under sedation in the resuscitation area. Currently when these patients arrive in the Emergency Department and have their assessment and x-ray, they must wait until a resus bay is free and staff are available to carry out both the sedation and the reduction. This can lead to a significant wait, as a minimum of one nurse and two doctors are required to carry out the procedure.
In 2024, €3,684 was invested in Finger Trap Traction (FTT) for the Emergency Department, in which the forearm is suspended by finger traps and counter-traction is provided by weights near the elbow.
Having access to this innovative piece of equipment in the Emergency Department brings huge benefits to the patient, the department and the hospital. With the FTT in place, when a distal radius fracture is identified, the patient will be given a local anaesthetic and placed in traction. After half an hour, the patient can then have their reduction and splinting carried out, receive another x-ray and can be discharged to the orthopaedic fracture clinic for follow up, where appropriate.
With over 1,000 distal radius fractures treated annually, this quicker and less invasive process leads to better patient experience, a shorter waiting time and has a positive ripple effect of reducing resources used and increasing efficiency in the Emergency Department as a whole.