CHU Carémeau

The Carémeau Hospital is a public University Hospital located in Nîmes, France. The fracture liaison service (FLS) was initiated in 2018 as a cooperative effort between rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons and geriatric physicians. This intervention is dedicated to inpatients.

The FLS was implemented for the management of patients with fragility fractures (mainly hip fractures but also vertebral and non-vertebral major osteoporotic factures). These patients come for a one-day hospitalization in order to perform a blood test, a bone densitometry and spine x-rays and to be assessed by nurses, rheumatologists, pharmacists and nutritionists.

The assessment of these patients allows us to:

• determine osteoporosis risk factors
• measure bone mineral density
• identify vertebral fractures and secondary causes of osteoporosis
• initiate antiosteoporotic treatment if necessary
• determine falls risk factors and prevent falls.
• evaluate the good adherence and persistence to pharmacological (medication) and non-pharmacological treatment (prevention of falls).

The coordinator of our FLS is Dr Charlotte Hua, rheumatologist (charlotte.hua@chu-nimes.fr).