Fragility Fracture Network

15/10/2026

Vertebral fractures (VFs) are often under-recognised and underreported, despite their importance in identifying osteoporosis and preventing future fractures.

🔎 Only 14.7% of vertebral fractures were documented in the impression section of the radiology report, highlighting a critical gap in recognition and reporting.

What can we do to improve detection and strengthen secondary fracture prevention?

📖 Read the article in Osteoporosis International:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-026-08204-1

14/10/2026

The Hidden Emotional Burden of Caregiving After a Fragility Fracture
Caring for someone after a fragility fracture can bring significant emotional challenges, yet caregivers often feel pressured to manage their responsibilities without complaint or assistance.

A qualitative study involving 32 informal caregivers explored the emotional complexities of caregiving, revealing internal struggles, tensions with care recipients, and societal pressures to take on caregiving roles.

Many caregivers reported feeling reluctant to express frustration or ask for help, reinforcing a sense that they must suffer in silence.

Key takeaway: Caregiver support must go beyond practical assistance. Recognising emotional distress, empowering caregivers to seek help, and developing meaningful support systems and policies are essential to reducing caregiver burden.

Read more

Summary The emotional experience of informal caregiving is considerable and complex, consisting of tensions internally and with the care recipient, and exacerbated by pressures to adopt the caregiver role without complaint or assistance. Our findings demonstrate the need to develop policies to relie...

10/10/2026

Higlights from the FFN European Regional Congress in Edinburgh.

23/09/2026

Bridging the Global Implementation Gap in Immediate Weight-Bearing After Hip Fracture Surgery

Immediate weight-bearing as tolerated (WBAT) after hip fracture surgery is widely recommended—but implementation remains inconsistent across many regions of the world.

The new WAIT-Free Consensus provides a practical, evidence-informed framework to support the safe and sustainable adoption of immediate WBAT for older adults with hip fracture in low-adoption regions.

Developed by 31 international experts from 15 countries through a structured 3-round Delphi process, the consensus includes 13 recommendations across four key domains:

🔹Shared decision-making with proportionate documentation of informed discussions about benefits and realistic risks
🔹Mobility-based stratification that prioritizes immediate WBAT for patients who were independently ambulatory before the fracture
🔹 Structured fall prevention and multidisciplinary perioperative optimization
🔹 Postoperative stability-related triage to individualize weight-bearing protocols after internal fixation versus arthroplasty
A pragmatic supportive-factor checklist is also included to help teams introduce change progressively and adapt implementation to local resources and capacity.

The goal is clear: translate evidence into practice and support earlier, safer mobilisation for older people after hip fracture surgery—regardless of where they receive care.

Read more

Postoperative care for hip fractures remains globally inequitable. Immediate weight-bearing as tolerated (WBAT) after surgery is widely recommended...

19/09/2026

A Romanian cohort study followed 1,977 patients with low-trauma hip fracture for up to 7 years.
Cumulative mortality reached 73.8% at 7 years.
• Overall mortality was approximately 9 times higher than expected compared with the age- and s*x-specific general population.
• Mortality was highest during the first year but remained elevated throughout the 7-year follow-up.
• Conservative management was independently associated with higher mortality compared with surgery, while female s*x was associated with better survival.
• These findings highlight the need to strengthen hip fracture and osteoporosis care, from acute management and orthogeriatric pathways to long-term follow-up and secondary fracture prevention.

Read more https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11657-026-01736-3

17/09/2026

15/09/2026

2026 NICE Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Guideline Update
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released an update to its 2012 guideline ‘Osteoporosis: Assessing the Risk of Fragility Fracture’. The new 2026 guideline ‘Osteoporosis: Risk Assessment’ covers identifying adults for fragility fracture risk assessment, risk assessment methods, identifying vertebral fragility fractures and treatment criteria.
Learn more https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng259

09/09/2026

Global Perspectives on the Care Gap in Fragility Fracture Management

Fragility fracture care remains suboptimal worldwide despite strong evidence supporting timely surgery, orthogeriatric care, early mobilization, unrestricted weight-bearing, and secondary fracture prevention.

International quality standards and registry-based audits have translated this evidence into measurable indicators that improve care in many high-income health-care systems.

Implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited primarily by health-system constraints, including workforce shortages, delayed presentation, limited infrastructure, and fragmented care pathways, rather than by lack of evidence.

Emerging initiatives demonstrate that evidence-based quality standards can be successfully adapted to local contexts while preserving their core clinical principles.

Orthopaedic surgeons have a central role in leading multidisciplinary care, promoting secondary fracture prevention, and driving quality improvement across the entire fragility fracture pathway.

Future progress depends on strengthening health systems, embedding auditing and certification programs, and implementing context-sensitive quality standards that bridge the gap between evidence and routine.

https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jbjsjournal/abstract/10.2106/jbjs.26.00940~global-perspectives-on-the-care-gap-in-fragility-fracture?redirectionsource=fulltextview

09/09/2026

FFN European Congress
Only one month to go!
There's still time to submit your poster. Deadline: September 11
https://ffn.edinburgh2026.co.uk/abstracts
Get a sneak peek at 2 more of the exciting symposia of the congress.

08/09/2026

FFN for WPD.mp4

https://fragilityfracturenetwork.org/world-physiotherapy-day/