【Objective】The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of cancer patients who had suffered a fall and the conditions of their injury and treatment from a literature review.
【Methods】 The literature was searched for case reports of cancer patients from the database of ICHUSHI-Web (Japan Medical Abstract Society)Ver. 5. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 95 original papers and 100 case reports, 104 cases of fall were included in the analysis.
【Results】Among the cancer patients who fall, 78 patients(78.0%)were under 75 years of age. Patients with breast cancer accounted for 26 patients(26.0%). The number of patients with metastasis was 70 patients(70.0%);among these, 44 patients(44.0%)had bone metastasis. Injuries occurred in 97 cases(93.3%)of patients;among these, 71 cases(68.3%)were fractures, and 52 cases(50.0%)were femur fractures. There were 18 cases(17.3%)of atypical femur fractures, which showed a higher tendency than pathological fractures, with 13 cases(12.5%). Osteosynthesis is and hip replacement were performed for femur fractures in 47 cases(45.3%)of the patients. Tumor resection for pathological fracture in 10 cases(9.6%)was performed concurrently.
【Conclusions】 Falls in cancer patients tended to occur in those with metastases. About half of the injuries in cancer patients who fell were femur fractures. Pathological fractures related to bone metastases and atypical femur fractures affected by drug use were characteristic of injuries from falls by cancer patients. Tumor resection was performed concurrently for pathological fractures.
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