Surgical costs are a major component of healthcare expenditures in the USA. Intraoperative communication is a key factor contributing to patient outcomes. However, the effectiveness of communication is only partially determined by the surgeon, and understanding how non-surgeon personnel affect intraoperative communication is critical for the development of safe and cost-effective staffing guidelines. Operative efficiency is also dependent on high-functioning teams and can offer a proxy for effective communication in highly standardized procedures like primary total hip and knee arthroplasty. We aimed to evaluate how the composition and dynamics of surgical teams impact operative efficiency during arthroplasty. We performed a retrospective review of staff characteristics and operating times for 112 surgeries (70 primary total hip arthroplasties (THAs) and 42 primary total knee arthroplasties (TKAs)) conducted by a single surgeon over a one-year period. Each surgery was evaluated in terms of operative duration, presence of surgeon-preferred staff, and turnover of trainees, nurses, and other non-surgical personnel, controlling cases for body mass index, presence of osteoarthritis, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score.Aims
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Surgical treatment for osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) includes both joint-preserving techniques and joint replacement. Joint preservation is more effective in early-stage ONFH; thus, prompt diagnosis when the femoral head is still salvageable is an important clinical goal. We report a 20-year retrospective study that summarizes the proportion of patients diagnosed with early-stage versus late-stage ONFH at initial presentation to our practice. Our institutional database was reviewed to identify patients 18–65 years of age who were diagnosed with atraumatic ONFH in our clinic between 1998–2018. The Association Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO) system was used to stage ONFH, based on available imaging. Patients with prior surgical treatment for ONFH were excluded.Background
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