The relationship between acute intra-articular fracture severity and the risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis

Fracture energy was computed as an objective measure of intra-articular fracture (IAF) severity across multiple joints. Energies were normalized by contact areas to enable comparison of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) rates across joints. There was a highly significant relationship between contact area-normalized fracture energy and PTOA rates (R²=0.92). These results suggest that unaccounted-for-variation in acute severity may explain joint-specific PTOA risk after IAF.