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Data Café Insights: Antibiotic Use for Long Bone Fractures

A closer look at the 2023 ESO Trauma Index

Posted on April 15, 2024
Tags: Hospital

Providing an in-depth analysis of the current trends and benchmarks in trauma care, the 2023 ESO Trauma Index pulls data from the world’s largest de-identified trauma registry data program to establish best practices that help to improve patient care in these select areas. The 2023 Trauma Index reflects insights from over 968,538 hospital records from 596 hospital systems that took place between January 1st and December 31st of 2022. Join industry experts and Trauma Index authors this and every third Thursday of the month for the ESO Data Café webinar series, as they discuss these important metrics, while offering insights into their research along with recommendations for improving outcomes at your organization. 

This month, we’re looking at antibiotic administration for patients with open long bone fractures, a complex injury within the trauma system. According to the 2023 Trauma Index, 67% of patients with open long bone fractures received antibiotics within 60 minutes of arrival at the trauma center. Patients with open long bone fractures are at an increased risk of infection due to compromised skin and the potential exposure of tissue to environmental contaminants, making antibiotics a treatment that should be administered quickly.

What are the key takeaways for establishing best practices?  

For establishing best practices, it’s important to adhere to current guidelines recommending antibiotic administration within 60 minutes of a patient’s arrival at the trauma center. Establishing working groups and protocols for administering antibiotic prophylaxis can significantly reduce implementation time in the already time-sensitive care of patients with such fractures. Here are some additional recommendations from the 2023 ESO Trauma Index regarding improving outcomes for patients with open long bone fractures: 

  • Early administer antibiotics to significantly help decrease infection.
  • Create a working group and protocols surrounding open long bone fractures to decrease the time it takes to administer antibiotics.
  • Reduce risk of infection and complications by giving antibiotics within 60 minutes of ED arrival.
  • Encourage the training of prehospital personnel to provide antibiotics for patients with open fractures before trauma center arrival, decreasing both the time to antibiotics and infection rates. 

The full 2023 ESO Trauma Index can be downloaded here.

Get a breakdown of the 2023 Trauma Index data directly from the authors  

Join us every third Thursday of the month from 12-1 p.m. C.T. for the ESO Data Café Webinar series, where you’ll get more insight into the data directly from the 2023 ESO Trauma Index authors and can ask the questions that help you better extract your own data. Register now for upcoming sessions including this month’s ESO Data Café on Time to Antibiotics for Long Bone Fractures, happening on April 18th.    

Next Month’s ESO Data Café Webinar: Time to Surgical Repair of Hip Fractures in Elderly Adults 

Join us again on May 16th to take a deeper dive into the research surrounding the time it takes for patients 65 and older with hip fractures to receive surgical intervention. For every webinar you attend, you can earn nursing and registry-specific continuing education contact hours. For more details or to register head to the ESO Data Café.