Clinical Profile and Etiological Pattern of Pathological Fractures in Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh

Open Access

Abstract

Introduction: Pathological fractures, which are fractures that take place in bones that have been weakened by some kind of disease, constitute an important clinical problem that might lead to serious morbidity and loss of function. Such fractures can be caused by cancer, metabolic bone diseases, infections, or benign bone lesions, and usually happen after a very minor or no trauma at all. Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Orthopaedics at 250-Bed Sadar Hospital, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, over the period from January 2025 to December 2025. 104 patients who came with pathological fractures were the subject of this study. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Result: The most common cause was metastatic malignancy (38, 36.5%), followed by osteoporosis/metabolic bone disease (28, 26.9%), primary bone tumors (16, 15.4%), infection (12, 11.5%), and benign lesions (10, 9.6%). Breast (10, 26.3%), lung (8, 21.1%), and prostate (7, 18.4%) were the top three cancers in the metastatic cases. The femur (42, 40.4%) was the bone most commonly involved, followed by the humerus (18, 17.3%), vertebrae (16, 15.4%), and tibia/fibula (14, 13.5%). Most patients (56, 53.8%) came after minor trauma. There were spontaneous fractures in 28 (26.9%), pain before fracture in 16 (15.4%), and incidental findings in 4 (3.9%). Conclusion: Pathological fractures in an advanced care hospital were mostly observed in middle-aged and elderly individuals with a predominant male ratio. The primary cause was metastatic malignancy, followed by osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, and the femur was the most common site of involvement. Generally, most patients came after suffering from minor or no trauma.