The Fragility Fracture Network (FFN’s) mission is to promote globally the optimal multidisciplinary management of the patients with a fragility fracture, including secondary prevention. FFN is a fast growing organisation with global reach and a multidisciplinary membership. FFN will play a vital role in sharing of best practice worldwide and support efforts to prioritise fragility fracture care and prevention in healthcare policy.
Please take a look at the website and share it with your colleagues who are interested in fragility fracture care and prevention. Members have a reduced registration fee for the Congress, access to all Congress presentations and access to the Members only fracture care resources area of the website. This provides a comprehensive suite of resources centred upon the 6 themes of the FFN, which are:
- Peri-operative care: Improving the peri-operative care of fragility fracture sufferers has, and will continue to be a major focus for FFN members and a theme of FFN Congresses. The two key components of peri-operative care are anaesthesiology and orthopaedic-geriatric co-care (otherwise none as orthogeriatrics).
- Surgical treatment: The primary challenge facing surgeons is how to obtain secure fixation of an implant to osteoporotic bone. Leading initiatives from the AO Foundation and Osteosynthesis and Trauma Care Foundation have identified and disseminated best practice.
- Rehabilitation: Returning hip fracture sufferers to their pre-fracture level of function and independence is a major challenge. In this regard, provision of effective rehabilitation is a vital component of any system of care for fragility fracture sufferers.
- Secondary prevention: Effective secondary prevention must urgently be established as a standard part of post-fracture care throughout the world. The International Osteoporosis Foundation Capture the Fracture Campaign and U.S. National Bone Health Alliance Fracture Prevention CENTRAL website provide extensive resources for those seeking to eliminate the secondary prevention care gap.
- Research and education: FFN Special Interest Groups are active in establishing a minimum dataset for hip fracture audit, developing evidence-based pathways for vertebral fracture patients and defining key questions in rehabilitation research.
- Changing healthcare policy: Driving policy change that will raise fragility fracture care up the healthcare agenda across the world is a major aim of the FFN. FFN Congresses and the FFN website provide a platform for sharing success in the policy arena.