The aim of this paper was to present the clinical features of
patients with musculoskeletal sources of methicillin-sensitive A total of 137 patients presented with MSSA septicaemia between
2012 and 2015. The primary source of infection was musculoskeletal
in 48 patients (35%). Musculoskeletal infection was considered the
primary source of septicaemia when endocarditis and other obvious
sources were excluded. All patients with an arthroplasty at the time
were evaluated for any prosthetic involvement. Aims
Patients and Methods
Enhanced recovery programmes have improved outcomes following elective arthroplasty surgery. Most studies assess whole advanced recovery programmes. There are few studies assessing the role of patient education. We therefore assessed our outcomes. As part of our enhanced recovery programme at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, all patients are offered the chance to attend ‘joint school’, a preoperative education class. Not all patients attend these sessions allowing comparison of outcomes in these two groups using our prospectively collected database of outcome measures. Between April 2009 and March 2013, 915 patients underwent elective hip or knee arthroplasty. Revision cases were excluded, leaving 567 knee replacements, 315 hip replacements and 27 unicompartmental knee replacements. In patients undergoing knee replacement, those attending joint school had shorter length of stay (4.38 vs 4.85 days, p=0.145) and better Oxford Knee Score at 6 months (p=0.026) and two years (p=0.035). Patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty had a statistically significantly shorter length of stay (3.64 vs 4.54 days, p=0.011); increased frequency of mobilising on the day of surgery (28.1% vs 22.6%, p=0.203) and higher Oxford Hip Scores (non-significant) if they attended joint school. Our retrospective analysis demonstrates that preoperative education for patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty produces significantly shorter lengths of stay. There are also effects on mobilisation and outcome scores. These effects are also seen in knee arthroplasty. These results will have clinical and financial implications. Assessing cost of saved bed days alone, joint school saves the trust over £10,000 per year.
Literature in respect to the MRI appearances of surgically confirmed spring ligament pathology is sparse. The authors conducted a retrospective review of MRI examinations comprising 13 patients with surgically proven spring ligament abnormality. Records for operations performed for planovalgus foot deformity with operation notes confirming presence of spring ligament abnormality were obtained for patients treated 2010–11. Of 32 procedures 13 patients (3 male, 10 female) mean age 48.5 (range, 21–86 years) underwent preoperative MRI scanning using a standard musculoskeletal protocol on a T1.5 unit. Scans were retrospectively reviewed by one of the senior authors and consultant musculoskeletal radiologist for pathological findings.Introduction
Methods
At the Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre in Plymouth some of the surgeons are UK trained and some trained elsewhere in Europe. This paper examines the outcomes of a large series of joint replacements from 2006 to 2008 at a minimum of one year follow up to determine whether the place of orthopaedic specialist training makes any difference to the outcome. The same implants were used by all surgeons and the anaesthetic technique and post-operative management was identical. 1700 patients were interviewed by a structured telephone questionnaire with over 92% follow-up and the results entered into a joint replacement database. Additional data about length of stay and blood transfusion was added. Results will be presented about length of stay, transfusion requirements, any further treatment or hospital attendance relating to the new joint, reoperation, deep or superficial infection, hip dislocation, VTE and patient satisfaction. The surgeon's place of orthopaedic training was found to make no difference to the surgical outcome.
