Epidemiology of Orthopaedic Trauma Admissions From the Emergency Department of a Major Trauma Centre in Rural North India

Orthopaedic trauma remains a major public health problem, particularly in rural India, where preventive strategies and trauma-care resources are often limited. This single‑centre descriptive observational study aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of orthopaedic trauma patients admitted to a major trauma centre in rural North India, with emphasis on age, sex, mechanism of injury, and pattern of skeletal involvement. This observational study included 2,340 consecutive patients of all ages admitted under orthopaedics with acute traumatic injuries after initial presentation to the emergency department between December 2022 and December 2024. Repeat admissions for the same injury episode were excluded, and polytrauma patients were included if they had at least one orthopaedic injury. Data were collected prospectively from patient interviews and direct observation, and supplemented by the hospital medical record system. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the demographic characteristics, mechanisms of injury, injury types, and anatomical fracture sites; age‑group differences in selected injury categories were analysed using chi‑square tests. Out of 2,340 patients, the study population consisted of 1,760 (75.21%) male and 580 (24.79%) female patients. The most common age group was 20-29 years (480; 20.51%), followed by 30-39 years (419; 17.91%) and 10-19 years (390; 16.67%). Road traffic accidents were the leading mechanism of injury (1,242; 53.08%), followed by slip-and-fall on the ground (394; 16.84%) and falls from height (385; 16.45%). Other mechanisms included mechanical injury (98; 4.19%), hit by animal (88; 3.76%), assault (67; 2.86%), fall of heavy object (32; 1.37%), railway injury (18; 0.77%), and sports injury (16; 0.68%). Fractures were the most common injury type (2,182; 93.25%), followed by dislocations (80; 3.42%) and soft tissue injuries (78; 3.33%). Limb amputation/crush injury was recorded in 80 patients (3.42%). Single-bone involvement was seen in 2,006 patients (85.73%), while 176 (7.52%) had more than one fractured bone. Open fractures were 445 (19.02%) cases, and closed fractures were 1,737 (74.23%). The commonly involved anatomic sites included femur, distal radius, both-bone leg, ankle region, and foot. The number of recorded fracture sites exceeded the number of fracture patients because some patients had bilateral or multi-site injuries. In age-wise analysis, dislocations were most frequent in the 20-39-year group, while limb amputation/crush injuries and open fractures were most common in the 40-59-year group. There was no significant overall association between age group and selected injury categories. Most patients of orthopaedic trauma in rural North India are young adult males, most commonly injured in road traffic accidents. Fractures remain the leading injury pattern, with the femur and distal radius among the most commonly involved sites. Preventive strategies should focus on road safety, occupational protection, and strengthening trauma-care services.