The impact on time between injury and semi-acute surgery for hand fractures after virtual fracture clinic implementation

Abstract

The aim of this before-and-after study was to evaluate the implementation of a virtual fracture clinic (VFC) on the time between injury and surgery in patients presenting with a phalangeal or metacarpal fracture and in need of semi-acute surgical treatment. Between 1 January and 30 September 2018 (pre-VFC) and in the same period in 2022 (VFC), 101 and 113 patients were included, respectively. Before VCF implementation, the time between injury and surgery was 8.9 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.1 to 9.6), while after VCF implementation it was 7.6 days (95% CI: 7.0 to 8.3). In 2018, 7% of operations were unacceptably delayed beyond 14 days from injury, which was reduced to 5% in 2022, despite patient-presentation delays of up to 10 days. VFC implementation was associated with a reduction in time until semi-acute surgery for phalangeal or metacarpal fractures and improved the quality of semi-acute surgery planning. Level of evidence: Level III