Patients Who Broke Bones in Traumatic Accidents Frequently Suffer from Stress Disorder

[Guest guest]

Patients Who Broke Bones in Traumatic Accidents Frequently Suffer from

Stress Disorder

DALLAS, TX -- June 4, 2004 -- People who have had a traumatic bone break

also frequently suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, researchers at

UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.

Research that appears in the June 5 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint

Surgery is available online and explains why some people take longer to

recover after an injury even though their bone has physically healed.

" The thing that drove us to do this study was the frustration we felt as

physicians, " said Dr. Adam Starr, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery

and the study's lead author.

" We have patients who go through these traumatic events, and medically they

have healed. But they come back to the clinic and say, 'I just don't feel

right,' or 'I'm not ready to go back to work,' " he said. " You dig a little

deeper, and you discover that they are having nightmares or flashbacks, or

their wife will tell you 'He cries every night,' or 'He has angry outbursts

all the time.' "

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness caused by

witnessing or experiencing an event involving serious injury, or threatened

or actual death. Those with the disorder experience intense fear,

helplessness or horror.

The more severe the orthopaedic injury, the more likely a patient is to

suffer from the disorder, Dr. Starr concluded in the study.

Researchers used a questionnaire based on one designed to detect

combat-related PTSD. Some 580 civilian orthopaedic trauma patients were

queried. Of those patients, almost 51 percent (295) were found to have the

disorder. Study participants' average time since the injury was one year.

Falls and motor vehicle collisions were responsible for the most injuries.

Injuries were also caused by motor vehicle-pedestrian collision, motorcycle

collision, a crush injury, bicycles, horseback riding and gunshot wounds.

The next step, researchers say, is to determine how to best identify and

effectively treat patients with the disorder.

" If it turns out you can treat the PTSD too, it has enormous implications

for treating orthopaedic trauma, " Dr. Starr said.

Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr.

Frawley, assistant professor of academic computing services; and Dr.

Reinert, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery. Researchers at Parkland

Health & Hospital System and Denver Health Medical Center also contributed

to the study.

SOURCE: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas