HANDHELDS AND REGISTRY OF PATIENTS WITH WRIST FRACTURES

Abstract

Background. In the past decade and with increased life expectancy the incidence of wrist fractures has been rising. To improve a quality of treatment of patients with wrist fractures, a protocol specifying the timing and nature of the patient data to be recorded and an appropriate information solution are needed.Methods. The protocol for acquisition of data on patients with fractures of distal radius was based on internationally accepted standards. Computer-based implementation of the protocol used standard approaches for building databases on handhelds.Results. We have developed a protocol for data acquisition from patients with fractures of distal radius. The protocol consists of four follow-ups and includes an initial examination, two control exams and a final examination. The application that supports the protocol was implemented on a handheld computer, so that its practical value and ease of use could have been assessed.Conclusions. The proposed protocol and its handheld-based implementation were already used to acquire the data from more then 100 patients with Colles’ wrist fracture. Only unstable fractures of distal radius with 20 degrees dislocation, potentially including a dorsal fragment, have been considered.

Keywords

• wrist fractures
• registry of patients
• information systems
• clinical database
• handhelds