Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), in December 2019 in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China, has developed into an unprecedented pandemic with enormous pressure on health-care providers around the world. A higher mortality rate has been described in older infected individuals. Patients with hip fracture are a particularly vulnerable population during this pandemic because older age is associated with a higher mortality rate. Our aim was to describe the early mortality rate and demographic variables in a hip fracture sample population in Spain during the coronavirus pandemic. Methods: This is a multicenter, observational, retrospective, descriptive study. We collected data from 13 major hospitals in Spain from the beginning of the national state of alarm (declared on March 14, 2020, by the Spanish government) until the end of our study period on April 4, 2020. All patients who were ≥65 years of age, presented to the Emergency Department of the participating hospitals during this period with a diagnosis of proximal femoral fracture, and had a minimum follow-up of 10 days were included in the cohort. In addition to mortality, demographic and other potential prognostic variables were also collected. Results: In this study, 136 patients with a hip fracture were included. Of these patients, 124 underwent a surgical procedure and 12 were managed nonoperatively. The total mortality rate was 9.6%. Sixty-two patients were tested for COVID-19, with 23 patients being positive. The mortality rate for these 23 patients was 30.4% (7 of 23 patients) at a mean follow-up of 14 days. The mortality rate was 10.3% (4 of 39) for patients who had been tested and had a negative result and 2.7% (2 of 74) for patients who had not been tested. Of the 12 patients who were managed nonoperatively, 8 (67%) died, whereas, of the 124 patients who were surgically treated, 5 (4%) died. Results differed among centers. Conclusions: There is a higher mortality rate in patients with a hip fracture and an associated positive test for COVID-19. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

In 1975, Blake and McBryde established the concept of ‘floating knee’ to describe ipsilateral fractures of the femur and tibia.1 This combination is much more than a bone lesion; the mechanism is usually a high-energy trauma in a patient with multiple injuries and a myriad of other lesions. After initial evaluation patients should be categorised, and only stable patients should undergo immediate reduction and internal fixation with the rest receiving external fixation. Definitive internal fixation of both bones yields the best results in almost all series. Nailing of both bones is the optimal fixation when both fractures (femoral and tibial) are extra-articular. Plates are the ‘standard of care’ in cases with articular fractures. A combination of implants are required by 40% of floating knees. Associated ligamentous and meniscal lesions are common, but may be irrelevant in the case of an intra-articular fracture which gives the worst prognosis for this type of lesion. Cite this article: Muñoz Vives K, Bel J-C, Capel Agundez A, Chana Rodríguez F, Palomo Traver J, Schultz-Larsen M, Tosounidis, T. The floating knee. EFORT Open Rev 2016;1:375-382. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.1.000042.

Background: The Trauma Expectation Factor Trauma Outcomes Measure (TEFTOM) questionnaire is a self-administered, patient-rated outcome measurement questionnaire designed to measure both ‘expectation’ and ‘outcome’ in orthopaedic trauma patients using two subsets of 10 items. We aimed to validate this instrument in a culturally diverse cohort of patients recruited from Asian and European regions. Methods: A total of 193 adult patients with surgically treated AO Foundation/Orthopaedic Trauma Association types 43 and 44 ankle malleolar and distal tibia fractures were recruited with 158 followed up till 1 year. Expectations were assessed prior to surgery, at 2 weeks and after 6 months using the trauma expectation factor (TEF) score. Outcomes were evaluated at 2 weeks, 6 and 12 months using the trauma outcome measure (TOM), American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), foot and ankle outcome score (FAOS) and short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaires. Psychometric properties of TEFTOM were assessed. Results: TEF and TOM demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.87) and reliability at all time points (intra-class correlation coefficients > 0.90). TOM showed strong correlations ( R ² ≥ 0.60) with the AAOS foot and ankle score, all FAOS subscales, except ‘symptoms’ and SF-36 physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, social functioning and the physical component summary at 6 and 12 months. Effect sizes for TOM were 2.30 and 0.74 from 2 weeks to 6 months and from 6 months to 12 months, respectively. The baseline patient TEF was predictive for the 1-year TOM score. Conclusions: TEFTOM demonstrated good psychometric properties in this cohort of patients with ankle fractures. The TEF ‘expectation’ score was predictive of the TOM ‘outcome’ score. We recommend researchers and clinicians to utilize TEFTOM when patient expectation measurement is concerned for orthopaedic trauma patients.