Introduction. Many patients with obesity experience knee pain. Excess body weight is a modifiable risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) and weight loss is encouraged in patients with OA. Bariatric surgery could improve or limit the progression of these conditions through significant weight loss. The Oxford Knee Score (OKS) is a validated tool in the assessment of knee replacement surgery for OA. We present a novel application of the OKS to assess knee pain & function after weight loss surgery. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether there was a significant difference in mean OKS before and 24 months after weight loss surgery. Method. Eighteen female participants were included in this study. They underwent sleeve gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Patient demographics, body mass index (BMI) and OKS were collected pre- and 24 months post operatively. Result. There was an increase in the mean OKS from 31.8 (SD 11.8) pre surgery to 36.6 (SD 12.3) at 24 months. This was statistically significant (95% CI 0.99-10.5, p=0.02). Mean BMI reduced from 46.6 kg/m. 2. (SD 5.8) to 33.0 kg/m. 2. (SD 3.5). Conclusion. A significant improvement in mean OKS was seen after weight loss surgery. These findings demonstrate an improvement in knee pain & function with weight loss. This study contributes to a larger project evaluating the kinetic and kinematic changes to walking gait from weight loss

Introduction. Weight is a modifiable risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Despite the emphasis on weight loss, data quantifying the changes seen in joint biomechanics are limited. Bariatric surgery patients experience rapid weight loss. This provides a suitable population to study changes in joint forces and function as weight changes. Method. 10 female patients undergoing gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy completed 3D walking gait analysis at a self-selected pace, pre- and 6 months post-surgery. Lower limb and torso kinematic data for 10 walking trials were collected using a Vicon motion capture system and kinetics using a Kistler force plate. An inverse kinematic model in Visual 3D allowed for no translation of the hip joint centre. 6 degrees of freedom were allowed at other joints. Data were analysed using JASP with a paired samples t-test. Result. On average participants lost 28.8±7.60kg. No significant changes were observed in standing knee and hip joint angles. Walking velocity increased from 1.10±0.11 ms. -1. to 1.23±0.17 ms. -1. (t(9)=-3.060, p = 0.014) with no change in step time but a mean increase in stride length of 0.12m (SE: 0.026m; t(9)=-4.476, p = 0.002). A significant decrease of 21.5±4.2% in peak vertical ground reaction forces was observed (t(9)=12.863, p <0.001). Stride width significantly decreased by 0.04m (SE: 0.010m; t(9)=4.316, p = 0.002) along with a decrease in lateral impulse of 21.2Ns (SE: 6.977Ns; t(7), p = 0.019), but no significant difference in knee joint angles were observed. Double limb support time also significantly reduced by 0.02s (SE: 0.006s; t(9) = 3.639, p=0.005). Conclusion. The reduction in stance width and lateral impulse suggests a more sagittal compass-gait walk is being achieved. This would reduce valgus moments on the knee reducing loading in the medial compartment. The reduction in peak ground reaction force would reduce knee contact forces and again potentially slow OA progression

The development of an algorithm that provides accurate individualised estimates of revision risk could help patients make informed surgical treatment choices. This requires building a survival model based on fixed and modifiable risk factors that predict outcome at the individual level. Here we compare different survival models for predicting prosthesis survivorship after hip replacement for osteoarthritis using data from the National Joint Registry for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. In this comparative study we implemented parametric and flexible parametric (FP) methods and random survival forests (RSF). The overall performance of the parametric models was compared using Akaike information criterion (AIC). The preferred parametric model and the RSF algorithm were further compared in terms of the Brier score, concordance index (C index) and calibration. The dataset contains 327 238 hip replacements for osteoarthritis carried out in England and Wales between 2003 and 2015. The AIC value for the FP model was the lowest. The averages of survival probability estimates were in good agreement with the observed values for the FP model and the RSF algorithm. The integrated Brier score of the FP model and the RSF approach over 10 years were similar: 0.011 (95% confidence interval: 0.011–0.011). The C index of the FP model at 10 years was 59.4% (95% confidence interval: 59.4%–59.4%). This was 56.2% (56.1%–56.3%) for the RSF method. The FP model outperformed other commonly used survival models across chosen validation criteria. However, it does not provide high discriminatory power at the individual level. Models with more comprehensive risk adjustment may provide additional insights for individual risk

Introduction. Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is an uncommon but serious complication of hip replacement. A recent systematic review of patient risk factors for PJI identified male gender, smoking status, increasing BMI, steroid use, previous joint surgery and comorbidities of diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and depression as risk factors for developing PJI. Limitations of the current literature include the short term follow up of most published studies. We investigated the role of patient, surgical and healthcare factors on the risk of revision of a primary hip replacement for PJI at different time-points in the post-operative follow-up. It is important that those risk factors are identified so that patients can be appropriately counselled according to their individual risk profile prior to surgery and modifiable factors can be addressed to reduce the risk of PJI at an individual and healthcare system level. Materials and Methods. Primary hip replacements and subsequent revision procedures performed for PJI from 2003–2014 were identified from the National Joint Registry (NJR). Patient (age, gender, ASA grade, BMI), perioperative (surgical indication, type of anaesthesia, thromboprophylaxis regime, surgical approach, hip replacement and bearing surface and use of femoral or acetabular bone graft) and healthcare system characteristics (surgeon grade, surgical volume) were linked with data from Hospital Episode Statistics to obtain information on specific ethnicity and comorbidities (derived from the Charlson index). Multilevel piecewise exponential non-proportional hazards models were used to estimate their effects at different post-operative periods (0–3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, 12–24 and >24 months post-operation). Results. The index hip replacements consisted of 623,253 primaries with 2,705 subsequently revised for PJI, 14% within 3 months, 8% between 3–6 months, 14% between 6–12 months, 22% between 1–2 years and 42% ≥2 years after the index procedure. Risk factors for revision of PJI included male gender, high BMI, high ASA grade and younger age. Their effects were period-specific. Patients with chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes or dementia had high early risk of revision for PJI, as did patients operated for a fractured neck of femur (<3 months). Metal-on-metal bearings (>12 months) and lateral surgical approach (≥3 months) also influenced the mid- and long-term revision risk for PJI. No or modest associations were found with the operating surgeon grade, surgical volume and hospital surgical volume. Conclusion. The effects of patient, perioperative and healthcare system risk factors for PJI after primary hip replacement are time-dependent. Modifiable risk factors such as the type of surgical approach and bearing surface have also been found

Background. Total knee replacement (TKR) is an effective operation for many patients, however approximately 20% of patients experience chronic pain and functional limitations in the months and years following their TKR. If modifiable pre-operative risk factors could be identified, this would allow patients to be targeted with individualised care to optimise these factors prior to surgery and potentially improve outcomes. Psychosocial factors have also been found to be important in predicting outcomes in the first 12 months after TKR, however their impact on long-term outcomes is unknown. This study aimed to identify pre-operative psychosocial predictors of patient-reported and clinician-assessed outcomes at one year and five years after primary TKR. Patients and methods. 266 patients listed for a Triathlon TKR because of osteoarthritis were recruited from pre-operative assessment clinics at one orthopaedic centre. Knee pain and function were assessed pre-operatively and at one and five years post-operative using the WOMAC Pain score, WOMAC Function score and American Knee Society Score (AKSS) Knee score. Pre-operative depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, pain self-efficacy and social support were assessed using patient-reported outcome measures. Statistical analyses were conducted using multiple linear regression and mixed effect linear regression, and adjusted for confounding variables. Results. Higher anxiety was a predictor of worse self-reported pain at one year post-operative. Higher anxiety and catastrophizing were predictive of worse self-reported function at one year post-operative. No psychosocial factors were associated with any outcome measures at five years post-operative. Analysis of change over time found that patients with higher pain self-efficacy had lower pre-operative pain and experienced less improvement in pain up to one year. Higher pain self-efficacy was associated with less improvement in the AKSS up to one year post-operative but more improvement between one and five years post-operative. Conclusion. This study found that pre-operative anxiety and catastrophizing influence outcomes at one year after TKR, highlighting that some patients may benefit from targeted psychological interventions to reduce these risk factors and improve outcomes. However, none of the psychosocial variables assessed were predictors of outcomes at five years post-operative, suggesting that the negative effects of anxiety and catastrophizing on outcome do not persist in the longer term

Objectives

To review the current best surgical practice and detail a multi-disciplinary approach that could further reduce joint replacement infection.