Fracture Liaison Services for Patients with Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures: a Scoping Review

Osteoporotic fractures occur globally every 3 seconds. Among these, osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVF) are the earliest and most common type; however, only one-third of OVF patients receive a clinical diagnosis. Following a vertebral fracture, the risk of any subsequent fracture increases by 200%. These fractures are characterized by high incidence, high treatment costs, high mortality, high re-fracture rates, and low quality of life. Timely preventive measures are essential to reduce medical costs and mortality while improving patients' quality of life. Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) were formally proposed in 2012 as part of the "Capture the Fracture" campaign launched by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) to break the cycle of fragility fractures. FLS is a system-level, multidisciplinary collaborative model primarily focused on the management of osteoporosis and related fractures. It aims to provide systematic, standardized, and规范 (standardized) medical support to patients with fragility fractures, thereby reducing the incidence of recurrent fractures worldwide. Although numerous studies have confirmed the positive role of FLS in preventing secondary osteoporotic fractures, research on FLS in China is still in the exploratory stage. Currently, it is mainly applied to hip fragility fractures, whereas studies focusing on its application in OVF are relatively scarce. Furthermore, there is a lack of unified FLS management protocols and dedicated FLS databases regarding team composition, follow-up timing, follow-up duration, outcome measures, and management across different fracture types. Therefore, this study employs a scoping review methodology to examine existing research on the application of FLS in patients with OVF. The aim is to provide a reference for future research and the development of clinical protocols in this field.