A concern of metal on metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty is long term exposure to Cobalt (Co) and Chromium (CR) wear debris from the bearing. This study compares whole blood metal ion levels from patients drawn at one-year following Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) to levels taken at a minimum 10-year follow-up.

A retrospective chart review was conducted to identify all patients who underwent a BHR for osteoarthritis with a minimum 10-year follow-up. Whole blood metal ion levels were drawn at final follow-up in June 2019. These results were compared to values from patients with one-year metal ion levels.

Of the 211 patients who received a BHR, 71 patients (54 males and 17 females) had long term metal ion levels assessed (mean follow-up 12.7 +/− 1.4 years). The mean Co and Cr levels for patients with unilateral BHRs (43 males and 13 females) were 3.12 ± 6.31 ug/L and 2.62 ± 2.69 ug/L, respectively, and 2.78 ± 1.02 ug/L and 1.83 ± 0.65 ug/L for patients with bilateral BHRs (11 males and 4 females). Thirty-five patients (27 male and 8 female) had metal-ion levels tested at one-year postoperatively. The mean changes in Co and Cr levels were 2.29 ug/l (p = 0.0919) and 0.57 (p = 0.1612), respectively, at one year compared to long-term. These changes were not statistically significant.

This study reveals that whole blood metal ion levels do not change significantly when comparing one-year and ten-year Co and Cr levels. These ion levels appear to reach a steady state at one year.

Our results also suggest that regular metal-ion testing as per current Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidelines may be impractical for asymptomatic patients. Metal-ion levels, in and of themselves, may in fact possess little utility in determining the risk of failure and should be paired with radiographic and clinical findings to determine the need for revision.

Despite recent advances in the management of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), controversy remains about the treatment of choice for unstable slips. Surgical dislocation and open reduction has the advantage of identifying and preserving the blood supply of femoral head thereby potentially reducing the risk of avascular necrosis, (AVN). There is large variation in the literature from several small series about reported AVN rates ranging from two to 66% for unstable SCFE treated with surgical dislocation. The aim of our study was to analyze our experience with acute open reduction and internal fixation of unstable acute and unstable acute on chronic slips using the technique of surgical dislocation described by Professor Reinhold Ganz.

A retrospective review of 11 patients (12 hips) treated by surgical dislocation, reduction and pinning as the primary procedure for unstable acute and unstable acute on chronic SCFE in a tertiary referral children's hospital was undertaken. This represents the entire series treated in this manner from September 2007 to January 2018. These procedures were performed by a team of Orthopaedic surgeons with significant experience performing surgical dislocation of the hip including patients with chronic SCFE, Perthes' disease, impingement and acetabular fractures. Demographic data, intraoperative records, postoperative notes and radiographs including details of subsequent surgery were reviewed.

There were seven boys and four girls with mean age of 13.4 years, range 11 to 15 years at the time of surgical dislocation. Out of 12 hips, two had acute unstable slip while the remaining 10 had acute on chronic unstable slip. Six patients had good or excellent results. The remaining six patients developed AVN of which three patients had total hip replacement at six months, 17 months and 18 months following primary procedure. Seven patients required more than one operation. Three patients lost their correction and required re fixation despite surgical dislocation, reduction and fixation being their primary procedure.

This series demonstrates a high percentage of AVN (50%) in severe unstable SCFE treated with surgical dislocation despite careful attention to retinacular flap development and intra operative doppler studies. This is in direct contrast to our experience with subcapital reorientation with surgical dislocation in stable slips where excellent results were achieved with a low rate of AVN. Pre-operative imaging with MRI and perfusion studies may identify where ischemia has occurred and might influence operative treatment. Based on our results, we do not recommend routine use of surgical dislocation in unstable SCFE. This technique requires further scrutiny to define the operative indications in unstable SCFE.

Patients undergoing Joint Arthroplasty received a significant proportion of blood transfusions. In this study, we compared the risk of Deep Infection, and Superficial Infection post operation following Primary Total Hip or Knee replacement in blood-transfused and non-blood-transfused patients.

Cohort of patients who underwent primary total Hip or Knee Arthroplasty from April 2012 to March 2015 in Alberta. Patient characteristics, comorbidity, received blood transfusion were collected from electronic medical records, operating room information systems, discharge abstract database, provincial clinical risk grouper data. Deep Infection and Superficial Infection were captured from Provincial Surgical Site Infection Surveillance data. Deep Infection include deep incisional and organ/space infections. Logistic regression analysis were used to compare Deep Infection and Superficial Infection in blood-transfused and non-blood-transfused cohorts, and risk-adjusted for age, gender, procedure type, and co-morbidities.

Our study cohort contains 27891 patients, with mean of age at admission was 66.3±10.4, 57.5% female, 49.3% had 1 or more comorbidities. 58.8% underwent Knee Replacement. 11.1% received blood transfusion during hospital stay (Total Hip Replacement (THR) =13.1% and Total Knee Replacement (TKR) =9.7%,). 1.1% had Deep Infection (THR=1.4% and TKR=0.9%) and 0.5% had Superficial Infection (THR=0.5% and TKR=0.5%). Blood-transfused patients got 1.7% Deep Infection and 1.0% Superficial infection. Non-blood-transfused patients got 1.0% Deep Infection and 0.5% Superficial infection. Controlling for age, gender, procedure type, and co-morbidities, the odds of Deep Infection were 1.6 times higher for blood-transfused patients than for non-blood-transfused patients (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.2–2.2], p=0.004). The odds of Superficial Infection were 2.0 times higher for transfused patients (adjusted OR=2.0, 95% CI [1.3–3.0], p=0.002).

Blood transfusion increases Deep Infection and Superficial Infection post-surgery following Primary Total Knee or Hip Replacement. This finding suggests to reduce the unnecessary blood transfusion for patients considering Joint Arthroplasty. Reducing the blood transfusion will save the inpatient cost and decrease the infective complications post-surgery in Hip or Knee Arthroplasty patients.