Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery in Colombia

Abstract

➢ The Colombian health-care system ensures universal health-care coverage, but access to timely orthopaedic and trauma care remains fragmented and unevenly distributed. ➢ The country faces a high burden of musculoskeletal injuries resulting from interpersonal violence and traffic accidents, the latter of which primarily involve motorcycles ➢ The main high-complexity hospitals and subspecialty services are centralized in major urban centers, which generates persistent inequities tied to geographic factors. ➢ Colombia has a well-established orthopaedic community, university residency programs, subspecialty societies, international academic partnerships, and a growing educational infrastructure. ➢ Future priorities include tiered referral pathways with defined transfer criteria, regional workforce distribution, national orthopaedic injury registries, digital integration, and locally led international collaboration.