Process BOASts
Mobilisation and weightbearing after orthopaedic surgery / musculoskeletal injury
- August 2024
- All clinical stakeholders and patient representatives participated in a consensus exercise1 to establish recommendations for weightbearing terminology and instructions after orthopaedic surgery or musculoskeletal injury. The aim is to provide an agreed lexicon with precise definitions that can be used by all care providers involved in a patient’s rehabilitation pathway.
The Safe Use of Intraoperative Tourniquets
- October 2021
- Local tissue damage is a significant potential consequence of tourniquet use, particularly in vulnerable patients. All users should be aware of strategies for the prevention, diagnosis and management of tourniquet related injuries and that their early appreciation is imperative. This may be particularly challenging in patients undergoing regional anaesthesia and in patients unable to communicate adequately.
Providing a Continuous Safe Elective Orthopaedic Environment
- February 2021
- This is the BOA's first elective care BOAST: we know that a sufficient and stable bed base is essential for effective year round orthopaedic care and minimising adverse events which can have catastrophic consequences. ‘Providing a Continuous Safe Elective Orthopaedic Environment’ discusses the principles underlying our need for resources often called ‘Ring-fenced beds’ and highlights the standards we expect to deliver. As such, this BOAST is relevant for much of our elective work load and we intend for this to be shared amongst departments and with managers.
The Care of the Older or Frail Orthopaedic Trauma Patient
- May 2019
- The care of orthopaedic trauma in the older or frail patient is dependent on coordinated multidisciplinary working to manage the physical injury, co-morbidities and rehabilitation, including measures to prevent further injury.
Rehabilitation and Communication with Trauma Patients
- August 2016
- Rehabilitation is the process of restoration of a patient to their pre-injury state. A rehabilitation Prescription starts by identifying the components of the injury and the interventions required. These interventions may include acute management, surgery and therapies. Trauma can be a sudden and life changing event that may have a devastating effect on patients, their families and friends. Since the advent of trauma networks, the most appropriate care may require transfer and treatment away from the nearest hospital. It is recognised that recovery from injury requires multidisciplinary coordinated care including good communication and rehabilitation from the time of injury.
Fracture Liaison Services
- April 2014
- Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) provide secondary prevention for fragility fractures (defined as a fracture following a fall from standing height or less). These services systematically and proactively identify patients in secondary and/or primary care who have suffered a fragility fracture and assess the patient’s risk of future fragility fracture in a timely fashion. FLS then provide advice and/or therapy to reduce that risk. There is now good evidence that these services are cost-effective and can result in a reduction in the incidence of fragility fractures in the local population.
Fracture Clinic Services
- August 2013
- These guidelines are for the standard of care patients should expect following significant, acute soft tissue or bone injury that requires specialist treatment from a Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon in the outpatient setting (fracture clinic). They provide standards that can be audited to evaluate the quality of an outpatient fracture service. They cannot be comprehensive as local facilities and geography will require variation in the configuration of these services. However, the British Orthopaedic Association believes that these are the care standards that all patients in the United Kingdom can expect.