Massachusetts General Hospital

Could an 'ankle hotline' relieve strain on health care demands?

New study suggests that precious ER resources could be spared by finding alternative ways to assess and treat lower leg injuries

10/Aug/2011

Should lower leg strains and sprains take up valuable ER time and resources? According to a new study by Kaj Lambers and colleagues, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA, strains and sprains account for over a third of lower extremity injuries treated at emergency departments. They reason that because these problems are not life-threatening, perhaps telephone triage and scheduled care appointments might be a better use of precious emergency healthcare resources. The work is published online in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research published by Springer.

Link to full journal release.