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Improving healthcare requires appropriate community involvement supported by appropriate partner engagement methods. This research aims to develop a complex tool for evaluating the social responsibility of health facilities regarding community involvement and development. We developed areas of a new reference framework for the sustainability of healthcare organizations, which includes the area of community involvement and expansion. It is made up of nine indicators. These were designed using the most representative activities reported by hospitals around the world. Their testing was conducted in an orthopedic emergency hospital. The designed indicators are community engagement actions; the interventions' content adapted to the community; partnership and networking; the involvement of volunteers and training networks; the involvement and participation of professional associations; community-involved local opinion leaders; satisfaction with partnerships; initiatives together with the community; and educational visits. The testing and validation of health practices of the indicators highlighted their adequacy with the proposed purpose of the research and the promotion of sustainable development. We have also verified their compatibility with the requirements of national hospital accreditation legislation and the European framework for quality assurance in hospitals.
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Background: Treatment of pelvic injuries poses serious problems for surgeons due to the difficulties of the associated injuries. The objective of this research is to create a clinical workflow that integrates three-dimensional technologies in preoperative planning and performing surgery for the reduction and stabilization of associated acetabular fractures. Methods: The research methodology consisted of integrating the stages of virtual preoperative planning, physical preoperative planning, and performing the surgical intervention in a newly developed clinical workflow. The proposed model was validated in practice in a pilot surgical intervention. Results: On a complex pelvic injury case of a patient with an associated both-column acetabular fracture (AO/OTA-62C1g), we presented the results obtained in the six stages of the clinical workflow: acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) images, creation of the virtual model of the pelvis, creation of the physical model of the pelvis, preoperative physical simulation, orthopedic surgery, and imaging validation of the intervention. The life-size 3D model was fabricated based on computed tomography imagistics. To create the virtual model, the images were imported into Invesalius (version 3.1.1, CTI, Brazil), after which they were processed with MeshLab (version 2023.12, ISTI-CNR, Italy) and FreeCAD (version 0.21.2, LGPL, FSF, Boston, MA, USA). The physical model was printed in 21 h and 37 min using Ultimaker Cura software (version 5.7.2), on an Ultimaker 2+ printing machine through a Fused Deposition Modeling process. Using the physical model, osteosynthesis plate dimensions and fixation screw trajectories were tested to reduce the risk of neurovascular injury, after which they were adjusted and resterilized, which enhanced preoperative decision-making. Conclusions: The life-size physical model improved anatomical appreciation and preoperative planning, enabling accurate surgical simulation. The tools created demonstrated remarkable accuracy and cost-effectiveness that support the advancement and efficiency of clinical practice.
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The treatment for humeral shaft fractures (HSFs) is still controversial, consisting of a wide variety of orthopedic osteosynthesis materials that imply different grades of invasiveness. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between inflammatory blood-derived markers and the magnitude of the surgical procedure in young and middle-aged patients who sustained these fractures. Observational, retrospective research was conducted between January 2018 and December 2023. It followed patients diagnosed with recent HFSs (AO/OTA 12-A and B) and followed operative treatment. They were split in two groups, depending on the surgical protocol: group A, operated by closed reduction and internal fixation (CRIF) with intramedullary nails (IMNs), and group B, operated by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with dynamic compression plates (DCPs). Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the two groups could be observed in injury on the basis of surgery durations, surgical times, pre- and postoperative neutrophil-per-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), postoperative platelet-per-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-per-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic inflammatory index (SII), systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) and aggregate inflammatory systemic index (AISI). The multivariate regression model proposed revealed that NLR > 7.99 (p = 0.007), AISI > 1668.58 (p = 0.008), and the surgical times (p < 0.0001) are strongly correlated to the magnitude of the surgical protocol followed. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, a balanced reliability was determined for both postoperative NLR > 7.99 (sensitivity 75.0% and specificity 75.6) and AISI > 1668.58 (sensitivity 70.6% and specificity 82.2%). Postoperative NLR and AISI as inflammatory markers are highly associated with the magnitude of surgical trauma sustained during humeral shaft fracture osteosynthesis in a younger population.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A sustainability-oriented hospital governance has the potential to increase the efficiency of healthcare services and reduce the volume of expenses. The objective of this research is to develop a new complex tool for evaluating healthcare facility governance as a component of social responsibility, integrated into sustainability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed the research to develop the domains of a new reference framework for evaluating healthcare facility governance. The methodology for designing the indicators that make up the new reference framework consists of collecting and processing the most recent and relevant practices regarding the governance of healthcare facilities that have been reported by representative hospitals around the world. RESULTS: We designed eight indicators that are brought together in the healthcare facility governance indicators matrix. They have descriptions and qualitative and quantitative rating scales with values from 0 to 5 that allow the degree of fulfillment to be quantified. The importance of the indicators is evaluated on a specific scale described qualitatively and quantitatively by values from 0 to 5. The values of the degree of achievement-importance couples of the indicators allow the development of improvement measures with priority according to the results revealed by the Eisenhower-type assessment diagram. CONCLUSIONS: Validation in practice of the system of indicators at an emergency hospital in an orthopedic profile highlighted the fact that they can be integrated into other national and international reference frameworks implemented in the hospital. The added value of the implementation consists of the facilitation of sustainable development and the orientation of health personnel, patients, and interested parties toward sustainability.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ensuring the sustainability of healthcare facilities requires the evaluation of patient matters with appropriate methods and tools. The objective of this research is to develop a new tool for assessing patient matters as a component of social responsibility requirements that contribute to the sustainability of healthcare facilities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out an analytical observational study in which, starting from the domains of the reference framework for the sustainability of health facilities (economic, environmental, social, provision of sustainable medical care services and management processes), we designed indicators that describe patient matters. To achieve this, we extracted from the scientific literature the most recent data and aspects related to patient matters that have been reported by representative hospitals from all over the world. These were organized into the four sequences of the quality cycle. We designed the method of evaluating the indicators based on the information couple achievement degree-importance of the indicator. In the experimental part of the study, we validated the indicators for the evaluation of patient matters and the evaluation method at an emergency hospital with an orthopedic profile. RESULTS: We developed the patient matters indicator matrix, the content of the 8 indicators that make it up, questions for the evaluation of the indicators, and the evaluation grids of the indicators. They describe five levels for each variable of the achievement degree-importance couple. The practical testing of the indicators at the emergency hospital allowed the calculation of sustainability indicators and the development of a prioritization matrix for improvement measures. CONCLUSIONS: Indicators designed in this research cover social responsibility requirements that describe patient matters. They are compatible and can be used by health facilities along with other implemented national and international requirements. Their added value consists in promoting social responsibility and sustainable development of healthcare facilities.
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Sterile inflammation is a natural response of the organism in the absence of microorganisms, which is triggered in correspondence with the degree of tissue damage sustained after a surgical procedure. The objective of this study was to explore the values of postoperative hematological-derived biomarkers in assessing the sterile inflammatory response magnitude related to the invasiveness of the surgical reduction technique used for subtrochanteric fractures (STFs) treatment. A retrospective, observational cohort research was conducted between January 2021 and October 2023 that included a total of 143 patients diagnosed with acute subtrochanteric fractures who underwent long Gamma Nail (LGN) fixation. According to the surgical reduction technique used, they were divided into two groups: group 1, which consisted of those with a closed reduction and internal fixation (CRIF); and group 2, which consisted of those with an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). Between groups, statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in relation to days to surgery, length of hospital stay (LOHS), duration of surgery, postoperative hemoglobin (HGB) levels, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate inflammation systemic index (AISI). The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis revealed that all ratios presented a high diagnostic ability (p < 0.0001) with NLR > 6.95 being the most reliable (sensitivity 94.8% and specificity 70.6%). Moreover, the multivariate regression model confirmed that sterile immune response after orthopedic interventions can be assessed in an almost equal and non-dependent manner using these biomarkers. Postoperative NLR, PLR, MLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI ratios are closely correlated to the sterile inflammatory response magnitude, due to the extent of surgical dissection performed during internal fixation procedures of subtrochanteric femur fractures.
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Background and Objectives: Healthcare systems are supported by the European ideology to develop their egalitarian concerns and to encourage the correct and fair behavior of medical staff. By integrating fair healthcare practices into sustainability, this requirement is addressed. In this research, our objective is to develop and validate, in the current activity of healthcare facilities, a new instrument for evaluating fair healthcare practices as a component of social responsibility integrated into sustainability. Materials and Methods: The research methods consist of deciding the domains of a new framework that integrates fair healthcare practices; the collection of the most recent fair healthcare practices reported by healthcare facilities around the world; elaboration of the contents and evaluation grids of the indicators; the integration of indicators related to fair healthcare practices in the matrix of the new framework for sustainable development; validation of the theoretical model at an orthopedic hospital. Results: The theoretical model of the new framework is composed of five domains: organizational management, provision of sustainable medical care services, economic, environmental, and social. The last domain is developed on the structure of the seven subdomains of the social responsibility standard ISO 26000. The seven indicators that describe fair healthcare practices are attitudes of the profession towards accreditation, effective intervention application, promoting a culture of patient safety, characteristics that affect the effectiveness of transfers, effective healthcare practices, feedback to medical staff, safety checklists. The new reference framework was implemented and validated in practice at an emergency hospital with an orthopedic profile. Conclusions: The practical implementation highlighted the usefulness of the new reference framework, its compatibility, and the possibility of integration with the reference frameworks for the evaluation of European hospitals, with the national legislation for the accreditation of hospitals and outpatient units, as well as with the ISO 9001 standard regarding the implementation of quality management systems. Its added value consists in promoting sustainable development by orienting staff, patients, and interested parties towards sustainability.
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Severe symptoms such as hypoxemia, hypotension, and unexpected loss of consciousness may develop during surgical interventions that use polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or as it is commonly known, bone cement. Physicians recognize this amalgam of clinical manifestations more and more as a distinct entity that bears the name of bone cement implantation syndrome (BCIS). Trauma cases, especially hip fractures, are seen to have a higher incidence of developing this complication compared to orthopedic elective ones. This research aims to present a detailed description of six severe BCIS cases in order to raise awareness and to emphasize its importance. Five of them had fatal outcomes, which demonstrate the necessity of future research on this topic, as little is known about it presently. In the Discussion section, a narrative overview from the scientific literature is performed on potential risk factors, prevention measures, and management strategies. The experience gathered through this case series may aid medical staff in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic protocols, thus improving safety when cemented surgical techniques are used on a high-risk group of patients.
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The treatment for hip fractures consists of a wide variety of orthopedic implants ranging from prosthesis to intramedullary nails. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between blood-count-derived biomarkers such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and the level of aggression sustained by elderly patients during these surgical procedures. A total of 129 patients aged over 70 and diagnosed with acute hip fractures who underwent surgical treatment between November 2021 and February 2023 were included in our observational retrospective cohort study. Two groups were formed depending on the anatomic location of the fracture for statistical comparison: group 1 with extracapsular fractures, who received a closed reduction internal fixation (CRIF) with a gamma nail (GN) as treatment, and group 2 with intracapsular fractures, who received a bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BHA) as treatment. The length of hospital stay (LHS), duration of surgery, preoperative days, pre- and postoperative red blood count (RBC) and hemoglobin (HGB) levels and postoperative NLR, PLR and SII were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the multivariate analysis indicated that the postoperative NLR (p = 0.029), PLR (p = 0.009), SII (p = 0.001) and duration of surgery (p < 0.0001) were independently related to the invasiveness of the procedures. The ROC curve analysis demonstrated that a postoperative SII > 1564.74 is a more reliable predictor of surgical trauma in terms of specificity (58.1%) and sensitivity (56.7%). Postoperative SII as a biomarker appears to be closely correlated with surgical trauma sustained by an older population with hip fractures.
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Accurate knowledge of the prevalence and trends of orthopedic surgeries can facilitate the design of medical plans for effective treatments. The National Endoprosthetic Registry (NER) in Romania provides statistics on endoprosthetic activity (hip, knee), cases of fractures and bone tumors as a result of the legal obligations to report interventions performed by all orthopedic traumatology hospitals/wards in the country. The aim of this study is to describe the annual volumes of orthopedic surgeries between 2001 and 2022 in Romania and analyze the current and future evolution trends of the studied surgeries, gender differences and regional differences based on a complete survey carried out at a national level. For the period 2001-2022, we extracted from the NER the annual volumes of orthopedic interventions performed. With these data, we studied the prevalence and estimated, with the support of an original calculation methodology, the variation trends of orthopedic surgeries in two situations: over the entire 21-year period, respectively, and over the period 2001-2020, which does not include the pandemic period. For hip replacement surgery and knee replacement surgery, we showed the prevalence by subcategory of interventions, gender distribution, regional prevalence and regional density calculated by the annual averages of the total number of cases reported per 100,000 people in the 40 counties of the country and the capital, Bucharest. We also determined the variations in hip and knee arthroplasty revision burdens, calculated as a percentage between the number of revisions and the number of primary interventions in the same period. We determined the regional densities of revision burdens. The total number of orthopedic surgeries in the period 2001-2022 was 1,557,247, of which 189,881 were hip replacement surgeries; 51,035 were knee replacement surgeries; 11,085 were revision hip arthroplasty; 1497 were revision knee arthroplasty; 541,440 were operated fractures; and 16,418 were operated bone tumors. The growth rates of surgical interventions are hip replacement surgery, +8.19%; knee replacement surgery, +19.55%; revision hip arthroplasty, +9.43%; and revision knee arthroplasty, +28.57%. With these data, we have estimated a doubling of the volume of primary and revision interventions of the hip until 2034 and the knee until 2027, respectively. Operated bone tumors register an annual decrease of -4.52% thanks to modern treatments. There are clear gender differences; for primary hip interventions, the proportion of women is 58.82%, and for knee interventions, the proportion of women is 76.42%. This is the first research that, with the support of exhaustive data from the NER, analyzes for the period 2001-2022 the annual number of orthopedic surgeries in Romania. It allows knowledge of the large, anticipated increases in orthopedic surgery and provides a quantitative basis for future policy decisions related to the need for medical personnel and material resources.
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Background and Objectives: The concept of sustainability in healthcare is poorly researched. There is a perceived need for new theoretical and empirical studies, as well as for new instruments to assess the implementation of new labor practices in the field. Such practices address unmet social needs and consolidate the sustainable development systems which promote health equity. The objective of the research is to design an innovative reference framework for sustainable development and health equity of healthcare facilities, and to provide a practical validation of this framework. Materials and Methods: The research methods consist of designing the elements of the new frame of reference, designing an indicator matrix, elaborating indicator content, and assessing the reference framework. For the assessment stage, we used sustainable medical practices reported in the scientific literature as well as a pilot reference framework that was implemented in healthcare practice. Results: The new reference framework suggested by the present study is composed of 57 indicators organized in five areas: environmental responsibility, economic performance, social responsibility, institutional capacity, and provision of sustainable healthcare services. These indicators were adapted and integrated into the seven basic topics of the social responsibility standard. The study presents the content of the indicators in the field of labor practices, as well as their evaluation grids. The innovative format of the evaluation grids aims to describe achievement degrees, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The theoretical model was validated in practice through its implementation at the Emergency Hospital in Targu Mures. Conclusions: The conclusions of the study reflect the usefulness of the new reference framework, which is compatible with the requirements in the healthcare field, but differs from other existing frameworks, considering its objective regarding the promotion of sustainable development. This objective facilitates the continuous quantification of the sustainability level, the promotion of sustainable development strategies, and sustainability-oriented approaches on the part of interested parties.
Subject(s)
Delivery of Health Care , Health Promotion , HumansABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: Elective arthroplasty in Romania has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects are not quantified so far. The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of COVID-19 on arthroplasty interventions and how they varied in Romania. Materials and Methods: We performed a national retrospective analysis of patients who underwent primary and revision elective hip and knee interventions at the 120 orthopedic-traumatology hospitals in Romania that are registered in the National Endoprosthesis Registry from 1 January 2019 to 1 September 2022. First, we examined the monthly trend in the number of surgeries for seven categories of arthroplasties. We calculated the percentage change in the average number of cases per month and compared them with other types of interventions. We then examined the percentage change in the average monthly number of arthroplasty cases, relative to the number of COVID-19 cases reported nationwide, the influence of the pandemic on length of hospital stay, and the percentage of patients discharged at home who no longer follow recovery protocols. Finally, we calculated the impact of the pandemic on hospital revenues. Results: There was an abrupt decrease in the volume of primary interventions in hip and knee patients by up to 69.14% with a low degree of patient care, while the average duration of scheduled hospitalizations increased. We found a 1-2-day decrease in length of hospital stays for explored arthroplasties. We saw an increasing trend of home discharge, which was higher for primary interventions compared to revision interventions. The total hospital revenues were 50.96% lower in 2020 compared to 2019, and are currently increasing, with the 2022 estimate being 81.46%. Conclusions: The conclusion of this study is that the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the volume of arthroplasty of the 120 hospitals in Romania, which also had unfavorable financial implications. We proposed the development of new procedures and alternative clinical solutions, as well as personalized home recovery programs, to be activated if necessary, for possible future outbreaks.
Subject(s)
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip , COVID-19 , Humans , Pandemics , Retrospective Studies , RomaniaABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges, with a potential stress which might affect the education of resident doctors in the field of orthopedics and traumatology. Its repercussion on the residents' strain and training routes is not well known. After two years of pandemic, this paper aims to analyze the repercussion of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on education, medical training, and the mental well-being of Romanian resident doctors in orthopedics and traumatology. In January-February 2022, an electronic questionnaire was distributed to all orthopedic resident doctors in the 12 residential training centers in Romania. Participants (n = 236) were resident doctors with an employment contract and professional activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resident doctors who did not work during this period were excluded. An online survey generator was used to electronically create the questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed in Matlab version R2022a, with the support of Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox Version 12.3. Descriptive statistics were performed for the standardized questions, while for the open questions, answers were collected by topic. The results of the Chi-square test indicate that there is a statistically significant association regarding the prevalence of infection among residents involved in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 (p = 0.028), and the influence of secondment in COVID-19 sections (p = 0.0003). The infection of residents is not related to their affiliation with a particular medical training center (p = 0.608), gender (p = 0.175), the year of study in residency (p = 0.733), the age group (p = 0.178), and the secondment period (p = 0.114). Residents who participated in the study had an overall well-being index of 13.8 ± 5.7, which indicates a low level of well-being for a large number of residents. Residents who would like to choose a new residency specialization, or would choose a non-medical career, had reduced average WHO wellness rates, as the risk of infection is associated with the treatment of patients with COVID-19 and secondment in COVID-19 sections. The findings of this study may help residency training centers to develop robust programs that can alleviate the impact of this pandemic. Some major changes will be needed to be integrated into residency training programs around the world. Emphasis should be placed on electronic educational portfolios, simulation of surgical processes, and distance learning, all of which have a high potential for health and safety, as well as for the moral support of residents.
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COVID-19 , Internship and Residency , COVID-19/epidemiology , Humans , Pandemics , Romania/epidemiology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Healthcare providers are investing considerable resources for the development of quality management systems in hospitals. Contrary to these efforts, the number of tools that allow the evaluation of implementation efforts and the results of quality, security and sustainable development is quite limited. The purpose of the study is to develop a reference framework for quality and sustainable development in healthcare, Sanitary-Quality (San-Q) at the micro system level, which is compatible with applicable national and international standards in the field. The research method consisted of the study of literature, identification and analysis of good sustainability practices in healthcare, which allowed identification of the areas of the new San-Q framework: quality, economic, environmental, social, institutional and healthcare. These areas are incorporated into the core topics of social responsibility mentioned by ISO26000. A total of 57 indicators have been defined that make up the new reference framework. The evaluation format of the indicators is innovative through a couple of values: completion degree-significance. In the experimental part of the research, a pilot implementation of the San-Q framework at an emergency hospital was performed, the results recorded in terms of responsibility for human rights being presented. The conclusions of the study reveal the innovative aspects of the framework that facilitate the development of a sustainability strategy promoted through performance indicators, the results obtained after evaluation being useful in establishing a reference level of sustainability but also in developing sustainability policies.
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Delivery of Health Care , Sustainable Development , Hospitals , Human Rights , Humans , Social ResponsibilityABSTRACT
The planning of the surgical treatment in orthopedics, with the help of three-dimensional (3D) technologies, arouses an increasing scientific interest. Scientific literature describes some semi-automatic reconstructive attempts at fragmented bone fractures, but the matching algorithms presented are likely to improve. The aim of this paper is to develop a new method of aligning fragments of comminutive fractures. We have created a structured integration process and an alignment algorithm integrated in a clinical workflow for personalized surgical treatment of fractures. The provided solution is able to align the surfaces of bone fragments derived from the segmentation process of volumetric tomographic data. Positional uncertainties are eliminated interactively by the user, who selects the corresponding pairs of fracture surfaces. The final matching and the right alignment are performed automatically by the innovative alignment algorithm. The paper solves a challenging problem for the reconstruction of fractured bones, namely the choice of the optimal matching option from the situation in which surface portions of a fracture fragment correspond to multiple high fragments. The method is validated in practice for preoperative planning of a 49-year-old male patient who had a tibial plateau fracture of Schatzker type VI.
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BACKGROUND: There is a growing scientific interest in the use of three-dimensional (3D) technologies in orthopedic surgery. Digitalization makes research in orthopedics more accurate and quantitative. Scientific literature describes an overview of current 3D technologies applications in orthopedics, without any emphasis on integrating available technologies as a clinical workflow. OBJECTIVE: To develop a clinical workflow integrating 3D technologies for patient-specific applications in orthopedics validated in practice by employment of a free 3D software solution with the aim of minimizing the intervention. METHOD: By exploring the applications of 3D technologies in orthopedic surgery, we have created a clinical workflow integrating 3D technologies for patient-specific applications in orthopedics. It is validated in practice for preoperative planning of a 49-year-old male patient who had a tibial plateau fracture of Schatzker type VI in his right leg. The software solution we have used is Democratiz3D, from Embodi3d platform, which allows patient-specific modeling and surgical planning. RESULTS: By using the proposed methodology we obtained the model of the tibial plateau fracture Schatzker type VI, as a "solid" representation in stl type files, which represents a numerically defined geometry of the bones fragments. It helps surgeons in planning the surgical approach. The time from the beginning to the end of the analysis was 193 min, which is 15% lower than times reported in similar studies. CONCLUSION: The planning potential of the 3D solution is a valuable instrument for surgeons in exploring the nature of tibial plateau fractures and the formulation of a suitable surgical plan for surface alignment, design and screw fixation guides, strength calculations of bone fragments, and printing surgical objects.