Obesity is associated with worse outcomes following total knee/hip arthroplasty (TKA/TKA). This study aimed to determine the feasibility of a dietitian-led low-inflammatory weight-loss program for people with obesity awaiting arthroplasty. Quasi-experimental pilot study enrolled people with obesity waitlisted for primary TKA/THA into ‘usual care’ (UC) or weight-loss (low-inflammatory diet) program (Diet). Recruitment occurred between July 2019 and February 2020 at Fairfield and Campbelltown Hospitals. Assessments at baseline, pre-surgery, time of surgery and 90-days following surgery included anthropometric measurements, patient-reported outcomes, serum biomarkers and 90-day postoperative complication rate. 97 people consented to the study (UC, n=47, mean age 67, BMI 37, TKA 79%; Diet, n=50, mean age 66, BMI 36, TKA 72%). Baseline characteristics indicated gross joint impairments and poor compliance with a low-inflammatory diet. Study feasibility criteria included recruitment rate (52%), proportion of diet patients that improved compliance to low-inflammatory diet by ≥10% (57%) and had ≥60% attendance of dietitian consultations (72%), proportion of patients who undertook serum biomarkers (55%). By presurgery assessments, the diet group had more patients who cancelled their surgery due to symptom improvement (4 vs 0), reduced waist-circumference measurements, increased compliance with the Low-Inflammatory diet and preservation of physical activity parameters. More usual care participants experienced at least one postoperative complication to 90-days (59% vs 47%) and were discharged to inpatient rehabilitation (21% vs 11%). There was no difference in weight change, physical function, and patient-reported outcome measures from pre-surgery to 90-days post-surgery, and length of hospital stay. Using pre-determined feasibility criteria, conducting a definitive trial is not feasible. However, intervention audit demonstrated high intervention fidelity. Pilot data suggest our program may promote weight loss but the clinical effects for most are modest. Further research utilising a stronger intervention may be required to assess the effectiveness of a pre-arthroplasty weight-loss intervention.
Obesity is a growing worldwide health issue! In my home country, the percentage of obese Canadians grew from 13.8% in 1979 to 23.1% in 2004. Interestingly, TKA rates have grown substantially during this time frame and obesity seems to have been a major contributor. In a large study, we found that increasing obesity had an exponential effect on TKA rates (i.e. patients with a body mass index >40 having a 33X greater relative risk of receiving a TKA compared to a normal weight patients). This is an important issue, as obese TKA patients have been shown to have greater pre-operative disability, have longer waits for surgery, be associated with greater technical difficulties (i.e. wound healing, infection, ligamentous injury, deep vein thrombosis and medical issues) and have more peri-operative complications. As a result, some countries have advocated deferring TKAs in obese patients until they have lost a substantial amount of weight despite the fact that many studies have demonstrated that the required weight reduction is seldom achieved. In an effort to understand this issue, we have conducted several studies. In a multicentre study, we could find no link between patient obesity and the level of patient satisfaction following a primary TKA. In another mid-term study, we found that obese patients had equal implant survivorship, but did note that obese patients had lower pre-operative and post-operative health-related quality of life outcome scores. However, in this manuscript we advocated determining the ‘improvement or delta score’ (i.e. difference between the pre-operative and post-operative scores) and found that when this was done, obese TKA patients actually demonstrated more improvement than normal and overweight patients!. Based on our research, we would make the following recommendations: (1) the public should be educated on the effect of obesity on TKA rates, (2)
Treatment of acute Achilles tendon rupture is based on obtaining and maintaining apposition of the ruptured tendon ends. Surgical treatment utilises direct suture repair to produce this objective, while conservative or non-surgical management achieves the same effect of closing the tendon gap by immobilisation of the ankle joint in a plantar flexed position within a plaster cast or POP. There is still variability in the conservative treatment practices and protocols of acute Achilles tendon ruptures. The purpose of this study is to examine the current practice trends in the treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures amongst orthopaedic surgeons in the UK. A postal questionnaire was sent to 221 orthopaedic consultants in 25 NHS hospitals in the Greater London area in June 2010. Type and duration of immobilisation were considered along with the specifics of the regime used. Ninety questionnaires were returned giving a 41% response rate. Conservative treatment methods were used by 72% of respondents. A below knee plaster was the top choice of immobilisation (83%) within this group. The mean period of immobilisation was 9.2 weeks (Range 4-36). Weight bearing was allowed at a mean of 5.3 weeks (range 0-12). The specific regime used by consultants was quite heterogeneous across the group, however the most used immobilisation regimen was a below knee plaster in equinus with 3 weekly serial plaster changes to a neutral position, for a total of nine weeks. A heel raise after plaster removal was favoured by 73% of respondents used for a mean period of 6.4 weeks (Range 2-36). In response to ultrasound use as a diagnostic tool, 42.4% of respondents would never use it, 7.6% would use it routinely, while 50% would use it only according to the clinical situation. Comparison of foot and ankle specialists with non-specialists did not reveal a significant difference in practice in duration of immobilisation or time to bearing
