International Orthopaedic Multicenter Study in Fracture Care (INORMUS)

Worldwide, trauma is among the top three leading causes of death in the first four decades of life. For every death attributable to trauma, three patients survive but are permanently disabled.

Globally, the majority of trauma results from road traffic injuries, which ranks in the top 10 causes of all-cause disability.

Over 90% of road traffic deaths occur in low to middle income countries (LMICs), which account for 84% of the world’s population.

Musculoskeletal injuries are common manifestations of trauma, occurring in over 60% of injured people. Despite the magnitude of this problem, the burden of musculoskeletal injuries remains unknown in LMICs.

International Orthopaedic Multicenter Study in Fracture Care (INORMUS) is an observational study across three continents, 18 countries and 40 clinical sites with over 40,000 participants. This research is investigating fracture care pathways and recovery outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and is a collaborative project with The George Institute for Global Health, Australia the Canadian Institute of Health Research and McMaster University.

Objectives

The primary objective of INORMUS is to determine among adult individuals admitted to hospital with musculoskeletal trauma (e.g. fractures or dislocations) the following;

The incidence of major complications (mortality, re-operation and infection) as a composite outcome and as individual components within 30 days post-hospital admission.
The factors (system and patient variables) associated with the composite of major complications (mortality, re-operation and infection) within 30 days post-hospital admission.

Inclusion criteria

Adults (≥18 years).
Patients who are diagnosed with an acute fracture, dislocation or fracture dislocation of the appendicular skeleton (upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle, and pelvic girdle) or spine in the last three months from the date of admission.
Admitted (requiring a bed for management) to participating hospital.
Able (or by proxy) to provide informed consent.

Exclusion criteria