This article was reproduced with permission from the authors. Original article from geriatric-ed.com.
The Hospital
University of California Davis School of Medicine
The Need
Patients with hip fractures have significant mortality and significantly increased morbidity. Pain management should start in the ED with multi-modal analgesia.
The Improvement
Multi-modal analgesia is effective and opioid sparing. In the ED, introduction of the pathway reduced opioid dosing in the first 24 hours. For the larger hospital program, the geriatric fracture program has significantly reduced length of stay.
The Challenges and Drivers
- Multi-disciplinary team, ongoing education particularly for insertion of the fascia iliaca compartment block.
- Education of the Hospitalist service about which service patient should belong to (internal medicine for medically unstable patients versus orthopedics for medically stable patients) as part of the larger geriatric fracture program.
- Ongoing education for orthopedic residents.
- Delayed introduction of PDSA improvements to EMR
Outcomes
- Reduced opioid dosing x 24 hours.
- Association with reduced delirium.
- Hospital LOS reduced by nearly 2 days.
Related Documents and Links
‘When Bones Attack’ shows the statistics of morbidity, mortality, and health-related risks for frail older patients presenting to the ED with low trauma hip fracture.