Providing Preoperative Traction for Femur Fractures in Low-Resource Settings

Abstract

Femur fractures are common in many low and middle-income countries due to the high incidence of road traffic accidents, which cause more than five million deaths annually. Femur fractures resulting from road traffic injuries can result in extreme pain, as much as three liters of additional blood loss, and even death. Proper equipment, such as braces, splints, and weights, combined with technical knowledge is critical to realign and immobilize the femur bone to promote healing. Before surgery to immobilize and secure the bone fragments with implanted pins, treatment involves applying traction splints to reduce the fracture and align the bone fragments to facilitate and ease the surgical procedure. In the Accident and Emergency Department (ED) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, treatment for femur fractures is limited by hospital infrastructure, procedural and material costs, and staff availability. These limitations prevent immediate care and can cause increased pain, treatment costs, and surgical difficulty. There is a need to immobilize and facilitate healing of femur fractures to reduce patient pain and discomfort before surgical treatment while in the ED. This project was identified in collaboration with clinicians at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana and the University of Michigan.