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Spontaneous or minimal trauma fractures have been associated primarily with pathologic conditions such as cancer or Paget's disease. This prospective study from the University of Wisconsin indicates that elderly patients without predisposing disease are also at risk for spontaneous fractures. Researchers followed patients in 11 skilled nursing facilities with 2020 beds for one year and collected data on all fractures of the radius, ulna, humerus, femur, tibia, and fibula. Sixty-eight fractures were reported (overall incidence, 3.52 per 100 patient-years); 51 were traumatic fractures primarily in the hip, and 16 were minimal trauma fractures (0.84 per 100 patients-years). Over half the spontaneous fractures were in the lower extremity, and a…