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High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital
Background: The deleterious effects of hypoalbuminaemia in the peri-operative period are well documented. We aimed to review serum albumin levels in a cohort of orthopaedic trauma patients to determine the prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia. Secondarily, we aimed to identify factors associated with an i...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Division of General Surgery
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613217867431936 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Maimin, Dane Gary |
| author2 | Laubscher, Maritz |
| author_browse | Laubscher, Maritz Maimin, Dane Gary |
| author_facet | Laubscher, Maritz Maimin, Dane Gary |
| author_sort | Maimin, Dane Gary |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Background: The deleterious effects of hypoalbuminaemia in the peri-operative period are well documented. We aimed to review serum albumin levels in a cohort of orthopaedic trauma patients to determine the prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia. Secondarily, we aimed to identify factors associated with an increased risk of hypoalbuminaemia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed of data collected prospectively at a regional hospital serving primarily a rural population in South Africa. Results Two hundred ninety-five patients were included in the study. Twenty-nine per cent of the cohort was found to have hypoalbuminaemia. Femur neck fractures (p < 0.001), intertrochanteric fractures (p = 0.004), tibial plateau fractures (p = 0.034) and polytrauma (p = 0.013) were associated with hypoalbuminaemia. The mean albumin level was lower in HIV-positive patients when compared to HIV-negative patients (35.7 g/L vs 37.5 g/L, p = 0.007). The presence of comorbidities other than HIV, like diabetes mellitus (p = 0.001), previous pulmonary tuberculosis (p = 0.034) and chronic renal failure (p = 0.007) was associated with hypoalbuminaemia. Conclusion: In this cohort of orthopaedic trauma patients from rural South Africa, we found a 29% prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia at the time of presentation. High-risk subgroups include patients with pre-existing comorbidities and increased age, as well as patients presenting with polytrauma, femoral neck, intertrochanteric femur or tibial plateau fractures. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41754 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:38.580Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Division of General Surgery |
| publisherStr | Division of General Surgery |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41754 High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital Maimin, Dane Gary Laubscher, Maritz Trauma Albumin Hypoalbuminaemia Rural Global Surgery Background: The deleterious effects of hypoalbuminaemia in the peri-operative period are well documented. We aimed to review serum albumin levels in a cohort of orthopaedic trauma patients to determine the prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia. Secondarily, we aimed to identify factors associated with an increased risk of hypoalbuminaemia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed of data collected prospectively at a regional hospital serving primarily a rural population in South Africa. Results Two hundred ninety-five patients were included in the study. Twenty-nine per cent of the cohort was found to have hypoalbuminaemia. Femur neck fractures (p < 0.001), intertrochanteric fractures (p = 0.004), tibial plateau fractures (p = 0.034) and polytrauma (p = 0.013) were associated with hypoalbuminaemia. The mean albumin level was lower in HIV-positive patients when compared to HIV-negative patients (35.7 g/L vs 37.5 g/L, p = 0.007). The presence of comorbidities other than HIV, like diabetes mellitus (p = 0.001), previous pulmonary tuberculosis (p = 0.034) and chronic renal failure (p = 0.007) was associated with hypoalbuminaemia. Conclusion: In this cohort of orthopaedic trauma patients from rural South Africa, we found a 29% prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia at the time of presentation. High-risk subgroups include patients with pre-existing comorbidities and increased age, as well as patients presenting with polytrauma, femoral neck, intertrochanteric femur or tibial plateau fractures. 2025-09-10T12:54:05Z 2025-09-10T12:54:05Z 2025 2025-09-10T12:51:42Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41754 en eng application/pdf Division of General Surgery Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Trauma Albumin Hypoalbuminaemia Rural Global Surgery Maimin, Dane Gary High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| title_full | High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| title_fullStr | High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| title_short | High rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| title_sort | high rates of undiagnosed hypoalbuminaemia in orthopaedic trauma patients at a rural hospital |
| topic | Trauma Albumin Hypoalbuminaemia Rural Global Surgery |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41754 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maimindanegary highratesofundiagnosedhypoalbuminaemiainorthopaedictraumapatientsataruralhospital |