Introduction. On-call orthopedic clinicians have long speculated that daily consult volume is closely correlated with weather.While\nprior studies have demonstrated a relationship betweenweather and certain fracture types, the effect ofweather on total orthopaedic\nconsult volume has not yet been examined.The aim of this study was to investigate this relationship. Methods. We retrospectively\nreviewed orthopaedic consult data from 405 consecutive days at an urban, level one trauma center.The number, mechanism of\ninjury, and type of consult were collected, along with daily weather data (temperature, wind, and precipitation). Statistical analysis\nwas then performed to determine the relationship between weather and orthopaedic trauma consults. Results. A total of 4543\nconsults were received during the study period. There was a significant difference in total number of consults between months of\nthe year (p<0.001). A post hoc analysis revealed that this was due to increased volume in the summer months relative to the winter\nmonths (i.e.,August 13.7 consults/day; January 9.3 consults/day). Average daily temperature and consult volumewere also positively\ncorrelated (p<0.001, r= 0.30).While there was no significant association between precipitation and total consult volume, when there\nwas over 0.25 inches of rain, there were less penetrating trauma (p=0.034) and motorcycle collision consults (p=0.013). Conclusion.\nWeather parameters, specifically average temperature and precipitation, were found to be associated with daily orthopedic consult\ntype and volume. Additionally, consult volume varies significantly between months of the year. Because trauma centers are often\nresource scarce, this is an important relationship to understand for proper resource allocation.
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