Tosounidis T, Manouras L, Chalidis B. Osteosarcopenia and geriatric hip fractures: Current concepts. World J Orthop 2025; 16(3): 102930 [PMID: 40124726 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i3.102930]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Byron Chalidis, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, First Academic Orthopaedic Department, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Exohi, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece. byronchalidis@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Theodoros Tosounidis, Academic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Heraklion University Hospital, University of Crete, Heraklion 71500, Greece
Lefteris Manouras, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital Heraklion, Heraklion 71500, Greece
Byron Chalidis, First Academic Orthopaedic Department, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece
Author contributions: Tosounidis T and Chalidis B designed the research; Manouras L and Tosounidis T analyzed the data and wrote the paper; Tosounidis T and Chalidis B critically revised the manuscript.; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have nothing to disclose.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Byron Chalidis, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, First Academic Orthopaedic Department, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Exohi, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece. byronchalidis@gmail.com
Received: November 4, 2024 Revised: February 9, 2025 Accepted: February 19, 2025 Published online: March 18, 2025 Processing time: 130 Days and 10.6 Hours
Abstract
According to World Health Organization, one in six people will be older than 60 by 2030. The rising life expectancy is anticipated to contribute to a subsequent increase of geriatric fractures worldwide. Osteosarcopenia, which is the coexistence of osteoporosis and sarcopenia, greatly affects older people. Recent studies have tried to identify the prevalence of osteosarcopenia in older populations as well as its correlation with fragility fractures such as hip fractures. The latter pose a major burden on both health loss and costs worldwide. Increasing amount of evidence suggests that osteosarcopenia in patients with hip fractures contributes to higher rates of mortality and complications. At the same time, research focuses on the molecular basis of the interplay between osteoporosis and sarcopenia by utilizing genomic or proteomic approaches. These promising studies could reveal potential preventive or diagnostic biomarkers to optimize the management of osteosarcopenia in hip fractures patients. The fact that bones and muscle can also function as endocrine organs further highlights the complex relationship between osteoporosis and sarcopenia, underscoring the need for a better understanding of the role of myokines and osteokines in osteosarcopenia. Finally, the impact of osteosarcopenia on pain management and rehabilitation after hip fracture surgery, requires further assessment.
Core Tip: Osteosarcopenia is a major geriatric issue affecting hip fracture patients. Its true prevalence is unknown whilst it is associated with increased mortality. Future research should focus on the exploration of the molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of osteosarcopenia and the development of recommendations regarding the prevention, pharmacological treatment and optimal management of the syndrome.
