DOI: 10.3390/medicina62112106 ISSN: 1648-9144

Correctness and Completeness of a Multimodal Large Language Model in the Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendations for Proximal Femoral Fractures

Marco Maestri, Francesco Castagnini, Nicola Valerio Capitaneo, Giovan Battista Scimeca, Rosalinda Ventimiglia, Serena Santoro, Francesco Traina

Background and Objectives: To compare the diagnostic and therapeutic performance of a multimodal large language model (GPT) with that of two human evaluators in proximal femoral fracture (PFF) assessment, focusing on correctness and completeness. Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 250 PFFs was reconstructed into standardized clinical scenarios including radiographs and structured clinical data. Each case was independently evaluated by a trauma fellow, a second-year orthopaedic resident, and GPT. Responses were scored for diagnostic and treatment correctness and completeness. Severe treatment errors were predefined as category-changing mismatches, failure to recognize an existing implant, or incorrect laterality. Results: Fully correct diagnoses were achieved in 97.2% of cases by the fellow, 44.8% by the resident, and 14.0% by GPT (p < 0.001). GPT showed lower odds of correct diagnosis compared with the resident (matched OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.14–0.37) and fellow (OR 0.005, 95% CI 0.0001–0.03), with clustering of errors in extracapsular fractures. Diagnostic completeness also differed significantly (p < 0.001), with GPT providing fully complete assessments in 60.4% of the cases (151/250). Fully correct treatment recommendations were provided in 98.8%, 81.2%, and 36.4% of cases, respectively (p < 0.001). Severe treatment errors occurred in 58.8% of GPT outputs versus 2.0% and 0% for the resident and fellow (OR vs. resident 36.5, 95% CI 13.95–135.75). Although treatment completeness was high (93.2%), 58.8% (147/250) of GPT responses were complete but incorrect. Conclusions: GPT demonstrated substantial limitations in both diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning for PFF, with frequent pattern-dependent errors and a high rate of clinically consequential treatment mismatches.

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