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Patients suffering from multiple fractures upon arrival to the ER should only undergo a few hours of surgery if they’re in unstable condition. Limiting time in the operating room for patients with life-threatening injuries would help reduce the amount of blood loss during surgery and could lead to fewer complications. According to an article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, this method helps to improve patient survival rates.

The doctors involved in the study examined outcomes data from trauma patient registries in Germany. They advise surgeons to use an external fixator to stabilize orthopedic injuries. Once the patient has stabilized (two or three days following initial surgery), this could be a more appropriate time to proceed with more invasive surgery.

Conducting fracture-repair surgery over several days allows the patient to recover from each procedure before moving ahead. This is critical because a patient is more fragile after blood loss due to a potentially weakened immune system.

Get more information about orthopedic trauma on our blog.