Introduction:.
Purpose. Previous studies have demonstrated pronounced reduction of
Aims. Patient-reported outcome measures have become an important part of routine care. The aim of this study was to determine if Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures can be used to create patient subgroups for individuals seeking orthopaedic care. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of patients from Duke University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery clinics (14 ambulatory and four hospital-based). There were two separate cohorts recruited by convenience sampling (i.e. patients were included in the analysis only if they completed PROMIS measures during a new patient visit). Cohort #1 (n = 12,141; December 2017 to December 2018,) included PROMIS short forms for eight domains (Physical Function, Pain Interference, Pain Intensity, Depression, Anxiety,
Introduction. The Center for Medicare Services (CMS) recently proposed its phase 3 “Quality metrics” which include a section on patient engagement. CMS uses a fitness monitor as an example of an acceptable way for patients to contribute to the health record. Wearable technology allows measurement of activity, blood glucose, heart rate,
Introduction. Introduction: Pre-operative counselling to prepare patients for frame surgery is important to ensure expectations of recovery and rehabilitation are realistic and anxiety is reduced. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the current clinical nurse specialist frames counselling session (CNS FCS) prepared patients adequately for life with a frame as well as to explore information patients felt was missing. Materials & Methods. Materials and Method: Patient reported questions were used to assess frames patient views on the CNS FCS. Thirty frames patients were asked about the CNS FCS information, involvement in decision making, factors influencing frames surgery decision and patient experience. Results. Results: There were 27 patients who received CNS frames counselling and 82% of those (N=22) said they definitely received enough information to make a decision when faced with a choice of surgical plans. 85% (N=23) reported definitely feeling involved in the decision making process with factors contributing to choosing frame treatment being lower risk of deep infection, quicker / safer recovery and advice from the limb reconstruction team. 48% (N=13) definitely felt the CNS FCS gave them a realistic idea of what it's like to live with a frame and 52% (N=14) answered yes to some extent. Feedback on providing more information around
Survival of sepsis has been documented worldwide, but little is documented about the long-term health outcomes of multifocal sepsis from acute musculoskeletal infection - the first study of its kind in New Zealand. Children admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) from 1. st. January 2002 to 31. st. December 2017 with a musculoskeletal focus of infection were identified from hospital coding data. Notes review from discharge to present day determined survival and morbidity. Present-day clinical assessment of the musculoskeletal and respiratory systems along with questionnaires on health-related quality of life, mental health and
This study aimed to identify long-term physical and psychosocial health outcomes in children with overwhelming musculoskeletal sepsis. Children admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) from 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2017 with a musculoskeletal focus of infection were identified. A medical notes review was completed to determine survival and morbidity. Present-day clinical assessment of the musculoskeletal and respiratory systems along with questionnaires on health-related quality of life, mental health and
Abstract. Introduction. In our quality improvement project we implemented a novel pathway, performing acute fixation in mid-third clavicle fractures with >15% shortening. Patients with <15% shortening reviewed at 6 weeks, non-union risk identified as per Edinburgh protocol and decision to operate made accordingly. Methods. Retrospective pre-pathway analysis of patients presenting 04/2017–04/2019. Prospective post-pathway analysis of patients presenting 10/2020–10/2021. Fracture shortening measured using Matsumura technique. QuickDASH and recovery questionnaires posted to >15% shortening patients and done post-pathway at 3 months. Results. Pre-pathway retrospective cohort included 141 patients; 69 <15%, 72 >15% shortening. Acute ORIF performed in 15(22%) <15% and 34(47%) >15%. In those conservatively managed, non-union occurred in 2 patients with <15% shortening, and 5 with >15% shortening. Union time was significantly longer in >15% treated non-operatively compared to those requiring ORIF and <15% (18.4 vs 13.4 vs 12.0 weeks; p<0.05). QuickDASH significantly worse in >15% managed conservatively than operatively (17.6 vs 2.8; p<0.05). >15% ORIF had significantly fewer number of weeks until undisturbed
Hallux valgus surgery can result in moderate to severe post-operative pain requiring the use of narcotic medication. The percutaneous distal metatarsal osteotomy is a minimally invasive approach which offers many advantages including minimal scarring, immediate weight bearing and decreased post-operative pain. The goal of this study is to determine whether the use of narcotics can be eliminated using an approach combining multimodal analgesia, ankle block anesthesia and a minimally invasive surgical approach. Following ethics board approval, a total of 160 ambulatory patients between the ages of 18-70 with BMI ≤ 40 undergoing percutaneous hallux valgus surgery are to be recruited and randomized into Narcotic-free (NF) or Standard (S) groups. To date, 72 patients have been recruited (38 NF and 34 S). The NF group received acetaminophen, naproxen, pregabalin 75mg and 100mg Ralivia (tramadol extended release) before surgery and acetaminophen, naproxen, pregabalin 150mg one dose and Ralivia 100mg BID for five days, as well as a rescue narcotic (hydromorphone, 1mg pills) after surgery. The S group received acetaminophen and naproxen prior to surgery and acetaminophen, naproxen and hydromorphone (1mg pills) post-operatively, our current standard. Visual analog scales (VAS) were used to assess pain and narcotic consumption was recorded at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72 hours and seven days post-operatively. Patients wore a smart watch to record the number of daily steps and
Introduction. The purpose of this research is to compare the quality of life in children during gradual deformity correction using external fixators with intramedullary lengthening nails. Materials and Methods. Prospective analysis of children during lower limb lengthening. Group A included children who had external fixation, patients in group B had lengthening nails. Patients in each group were followed up during their limb reconstruction. CHU-9D and EQ-5DY instruments were used to measure quality of life at fixed intervals. The first assessment was during the distraction phase (1 month postop.), the second was during the early consolidation phase (3 months postop.) and the final one was late consolidation phase (6–9 months depends on the frame time). Results. Group B patients reported significantly better utility compared to Group A. This was observed during all the stages of the treatment. Group B children were less worried (P 0.004), less sad (P 0.0001), less pain (p <0.0001), less tired (P 0.0002), better school work (P0.0041), better
Introduction. W. ide . A. wake . L. ocal . A. naesthetic . N. o . T. ourniquet (WALANT) is a well- established day case procedure for carpal tunnel release with several advantages and enhanced post-operative recovery. Use of Local anaesthesia with Adrenaline using a 27G needle allows a bloodless field and distraction techniques achieve patient comfort during the procedure. Objectives. This retrospective, observational cohort study assesses patient satisfaction and undertakes functional evaluation using the validated Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) following WALANT technique for carpal tunnel release (CTR). The BCTQ has a symptom severity scale based on 11 items and a functional status scale of 8 elements. Further we compare surgical outcomes between techniques of WALANT and traditional CTR. Patient and Methods. We included 30 consecutive patients, 15 in each arm who either underwent traditional CTR with the use of Tourniquet or with the WALANTtechnique. Data was collected from Electronic Patient Records and hand therapy assessments. A satisfaction questionnaire and Visual Analogue Score (VAS) was utilized to evaluate subjective outcomes. Functional outcomes was assessed by BCTQ scoring system and clinical review. Microsoft Excel was used for analysis. Results. 100% of patients in the WALANT group stated they were satisfied with the operation. Relief from night pain and
Background. Opiate abuse is a rapidly growing epidemic in the US, and orthopaedic surgeons are among the highest prescribers. While surgeons have relied heavily on opiates after total hip replacement (THR), our goal was to determine whether a multimodal pain regimen could improve pain control and reduce or even obligate the need for opiates. Methods. In a cluster-randomised, crossover trial, we assigned 235 patients undergoing THR to receive either a multimodal pain regimen with a minimal opiate supply (Group A- 10 tablets only), a conventional multimodal regimen (Group B- 60 tablets), or a traditional opiate regimen without multimodal therapy (Group C- 60 tablets). Clusters were determined by surgeon, with each cluster alternating between regimens in 4-week intervals. The multimodal pain regimen comprised standing-dose acetaminophen, meloxicam, and gabapentin. Primary outcomes were VAS pain and daily opiate use for the first 30 days postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included daily assessments of satisfaction,
Introduction. A variety of patient reported outcome (PRO) surveys have been established and validated to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical interventions. The Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) has been validated as one method to evaluate the effectiveness of total hip arthroplasty patients and facilitates the assessment of factors that alter patient outcomes in hip arthroplasty. This retrospective study assesses the effect of psychological post-operative expectations on HOOS in total hip arthroplasty patients. In this pilot study, patient data was collected for 499 patients using the AAOS established Musculoskeletal Outcomes Data Evaluation and Management System (MODEMS) [1] and HOOS surveys. Method. Patient data was matched using similar preoperative HOOS scores to allow for comparable room for improvement in HOOS score postoperatively. Patients were placed into groups of high performers and low performers. HOOS is based on a 0 to 100 scale, 100 as the best possible outcome. High performers were defined as those with a HOOS growth ratio of 0.8 and above with the best performers reaching a ratio of 1. Low performers were defined as those with the aforementioned ratio below a value of 0.3. Using these defined groups, we were able to compare the summation of patient specific MODEMS scores using univariate regression. The HOOS growth ratio is calculated based on the following:. HOOS growth ratio = (HOOS postop – HOOS preop)/(100-HOOS preop). Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify the significant group of factors that could identify changes in the outcome of 41 patients (20 low performers and 21 high performers). Results and analysis. PCA was conducted on 5 items with orthogonal rotation (varimax). The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure verified the sampling adequacy for the analysis, KMO = .0.688, which is well above the acceptable limit of .5 (Field, 2009). Two components had eigenvalues over Kaiser's criterion of 1 and in combination explained 74.49% of the variance (see Fig. 1). The Scree plot demonstrated the two components that were retained in the final analysis. Component 1 represents expected outcome measured on household activity,
Introduction. A variety of patient reported outcome (PRO) surveys have been established and validated to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical interventions. The Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) has been validated as one method to evaluate the effectiveness of total hip arthroplasty patients. This PRO facilitates the assessment of factors that alter patient outcomes in hip arthroplasty. This retrospective study assesses the effect of psychological post-operative expectations on HOOS in total hip arthroplasty patients. In this pilot study, patient data was collected for 499 patients using the AAOS established Musculoskeletal Outcomes Data Evaluation and Management System (MODEMS) [1] and HOOS surveys. Method. Patient data was matched using similar preoperative HOOS scores to allow for comparable room for improvement in HOOS score postoperatively. These patients were placed into groups of high performers and low performers. HOOS is based on a 0 to 100 scale, 100 as the best. High performers were defined as those with a ratio of change in HOOS score between preoperative and postoperative over the highest difference in score possible (reaching a postoperative HOOS of 100) of 1. Low performers were defined as those with the aforementioned ratio, but under the value of 0.3. Using these defined groups we were able to compare the summation of patient specific MODEMS scores using a univariate regression. The HOOS growth ratio is calculated based on the following. HOOS growth ratio = (HOOS postop – HOOS preop)/(100-HOOS preop). A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify the significant group of factors that could identify changes in the outcome of 41 patients (20 low performers and 21 high performers). Results and analysis. PCA was conducted on 5 items with orthogonal rotation (varimax). The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure verified the sampling adequacy for the analysis, KMO = .0.688, which is well above the acceptable limit of 0.5. Two components had eigenvalues over Kaiser's criterion of 1 and in combination explained 74.487% of the variance. The scree plot demonstrate the two components that were retained in the final analysis. Component 1 represents expected outcome measured on Household activity,
Aims. The incidence of thigh pain with the short stem varies widely across different studies. We aimed to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of post-operative thigh pain after using a particular bladed short stem and its potential risk factors. Patients and Methods. We respectively reviewed 199 consecutive patients who underwent unilateral total hip replacement using the Tri-lock stem from 2013–2016, of which 168 patients were successfully followed up with minimum two year clinical follow-up. All information about thigh pain and pre- and postoperative HHS score were gathered and all preoperative and immediate postoperative radiographs were available for review. Any complications were recorded. Results. Of the 168 patients, 34 (20.2%) patients reported thigh pain at a mean 3.1 years after surgery. Of these, 2 (5.9%) reported severe pain (NRS 5 or more). The pain was persistent (from surgery to final follow-up) in 13 patients (38.2%) and subsided within 2 years in 10 cases (29.4%). The most common site of pain was the lateral thigh (70.6%). The HHS improved from a mean 54.2 points preoperatively to 79.8 postoperatively. In 123 cases with radiographs at more than 2 years follow-up, all femoral stems were well-fixed and no revision surgery was needed at the latest. BMI and CFI were found to be independent risk factors for thigh pain after using this particular stem component. Conclusions. The incidence of thigh pain in Chinese THA patients with a bladed short stem component design is as high as 20%. Among them, nearly 40% will have some disruption in
Introduction. Opioids are an integral part of pain management following total joint replacement procedures; however, to date, no evidence-based guidelines which regulate opioid prescribing practices exist. In order to determine an appropriate number of opioids required to control pain for post-arthroplasty patients, it is important to understand why patients are using them. We sought to identify the causes of pain which necessitated opioid consumption for patients following total knee (TKA) and total hip (THA) arthroplasty. Methods. The study cohort consisted of 55 patients (29 females, 26 males) who underwent either primary unilateral TKA (n=28) or THA (n=27). Prior to discharge, patients were provided with a pain diary in which to record details regarding the type of pain medication used, the time of use, pain score at the time of use, and the specific reason for use. Subjects returned the completed logs once they ceased opioid use post-operatively. Based on responses, we categorized reasons for use into either Activity, which was further classified into ADL and Exercise, or Rest, which was further classified into Sleeping, Sitting, and Laying Down. Average and frequency of opioid consumption was calculated for each category, along with the pain score at the time of use for each category. All dependent variables were compared between TKA and THA patients using separate independent samples t-tests or Chi-square tests. Results. Overall, 13 patients did not consume any opioids during the post-operative period, and data regarding the specific reason for opioid use were available for 33 patients (16 THA, 17 TKA). For THA patients, the most common reason for opioid consumption was Sleeping (47%), followed by Exercise (20%), Sitting (16%), ADL (10%), and Laying Down (7%). Conversely, TKA patients reported the most frequent opioid use for pain during Exercise (32%), Sitting (28%), ADL (14%), Sleeping (14%), and Laying Down (12%). The frequency of consumption was greater for THA patients during Sleeping (p<0.001), but reduced during Exercise (P<0.001) and Sitting (p<0.001) compared to TKA patients. The average number of opioid pills consumed during ADL (p=0.05) and Exercise (p=0.02) was greater for TKA patients compared to THA. Pain scores reported during Exercise (p=0.33) and Sleeping (p=0.08) were similar between groups; however, TKA patients reported higher pain scores during Resting (p=0.047). Conclusion. Our results demonstrate that the causes associated with opioid consumption following arthroplasty procedures differ between TKA and THA patients. Opioid use was most common at night during
Purpose. Patient expectations influence post-treatment outcomes, both surgical and non-surgical. Existing studies evaluate the technical aspects of interventions and functional outcomes but fail to take into account patient expectations. This retrospective analysis of prospectively collected multi-center data aims to explore the relationship between pre-operative expectations and post-operative outcomes and satisfaction in lumbar and cervical spine surgery. The authors hypothesized that expectations dramatically affect spine patient satisfaction independent of functional outcomes. Method. Patient data from lumbar and cervical spine patients collected prospectively using a patient health survey system was analyzed. The study included patients who underwent operative intervention (decompression with or without fusion) with at least a 3-month period of follow-up. Pre-operative expectations were measured using the MODEMS expectation survey. Post-operative satisfaction and fulfillment of expectations were measured using the MODEMS satisfaction survey. Post-operative functional outcomes were measured using the ODI and SF-36. Multi-variate ordinal logistic regression modeling was used to examine predictors of post-operative satisfaction. Multi-variate linear regression modeling was used to examine predictors of functional outcomes. Results. 402 patients were included in the study. Significant predictors of increased satisfaction include: higher fulfillment of expectations regarding work (p=0.003) and pain relief (p=0.008), greater post-operative SF-36 (p=0.04), and lower pre-operative expectations regarding ability to exercise (p=0.03). Lumbar spine patients were more satisfied than cervical-spine patients. Significant predictors of better post-operative function include: higher expectations regarding
The etiology of the flexion contracture is related to recurrent effusions present in a knee with end-stage degenerative joint disease secondary to the associated inflammatory process. These recurrent effusions cause increased pressure in the knee causing pain and discomfort. Patients will always seek a position of comfort, which is slight flexion. Flexion decreases the painful stimulus by reducing pressure in the knee and relaxing the posterior capsule. Unfortunately, this self-perpetuating process leads to a greater degree of contracture as the disease progresses. Furthermore, patients rarely maintain the knee in full extension. Even during the gait cycle the knee is slightly flexed. As their disease progresses, patients limit their ambulation and are more frequently in a seated position. Patients often report
The etiology of the flexion contracture is related to recurrent effusions present in a knee with end-stage degenerative joint disease secondary to the associated inflammatory process. These recurrent effusions cause increased pressure in the knee causing pain and discomfort. Patients will always seek a position of comfort, which is slight flexion. Flexion decreases the painful stimulus by reducing pressure in the knee and relaxing the posterior capsule. Unfortunately, this self-perpetuating process leads to a greater degree of contracture as the disease progresses. Furthermore, patients rarely maintain the knee in full extension. Even during the gait cycle the knee is slightly flexed. As their disease progresses, patients limit their ambulation and are more frequently in a seated position. Patients often report
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis following total joint arthroplasty (TJA) should be individualised in order to maximise the efficacy of prophylactic measures while avoiding the adverse events associated with the use of anticoagulants. At our institution, we have developed a scoring model using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, which is validated against our institutional data, to stratify patients into low- and high-risk groups for VTE. Low-risk patients are placed on aspirin 81 mg twice daily for four weeks post-operatively, and high-risk patients are placed on either a Vitamin K antagonist (warfarin), low molecular weight heparin, or other oral anticoagulants for four weeks post-operatively. All patients receive sequential pneumatic compression devices post-operatively, and patients are mobilised with physical therapy on the day of surgery. Patients who have a history of peptic ulcer disease or allergy to aspirin are also considered for other types of anticoagulation following surgery. Risk Stratification Criteria. Major comorbid risk factors utilised in our risk stratification model include history of hypercoagulability or previous VTE, active cancer or history of non-cutaneous malignancy, history of stroke, and pulmonary hypertension. We consider patients with any of these risk factors at elevated risk of VTE and therefore candidates for formal anticoagulation. Other minor risk factors include older age, bilateral surgery compared with unilateral, inflammatory bowel disease, varicose veins, obstructive