Background: Musculoskeletal injuries are common in developing countries, but access to high quality
orthopedic care is not. Traditional bone setters (TBS) serve to fill the gap, but the nature and quality
of their treatment are largely understudied. Traditional bone setting in Idunmunkpaghan clan of Ogwa
community, Edo State, Nigeria, was founded by Odion Ekhimere between about 1680 and 1705. The TBS
practice in this community is studied to find out the complications and co-morbidities associated with it.
Methods: A prospective community-based study of the patients admitted in the traditional bone setters’
homes was done at Ogwa over a -2-year period by studying the admission and discharge radiographs of
patients treated in the community and by interviewing the TBS and patients.
Result: Ninety patients with radiographs of the lesion sites were followed up from admission to discharge
at the TBS homes, comprising 53 males (53.89%) and 37 females (41.11%) with a male to female ratio of
1.4:1. Sixty five patients (72.2%) had fracture or dislocation. Forty four of the 65 patients (67.7%) with
fracture/dislocation had complications includingmal-union 31(70.4%), secondary osteoarthritis 8 (18.2%),
non-reduction of dislocation 7 (11.9%), non-union 8 (18.2%), and others 12 (27.2%). Co-morbidities were
identified in 15 patients (16.7%) and included severe osteoarthritis 7 (46.7%), diabetic foot ulcer 4 (26.7%),
severe hypertension with cardiomegaly 4 (26.7%), metastatic carcinoma of the prostate 3 (20.0%), septic
arthritis 2 (13.3%), pulmonary tuberculosis 1 (6.7%) and others 3 (20.0%).
Conclusion: The practice of traditional bone setting is well established in Idunmunkpaghan clan in Ukpogo
quarter of Ogwa. Education and training of the TBS is the key to reduction of complications and comorbidities
seen in their practices as they have high patronage and the patients have high regards for
them and will continue to patronize them