Aims

The aim of this study was to characterize the relationship between pre- and postoperative opioid use among patients undergoing common elective orthopaedic procedures

Little information is available about several important aspects of the treatment of melioidosis osteomyelitis and septic arthritis.

We undertook a retrospective review of 50 patients with these conditions in an attempt to determine the effect of location of the disease, type of surgical intervention and duration of antibiotic treatment on outcome, particularly complications and relapse.

We found that there was a 27.5% risk of osteomyelitis of the adjacent bone in patients with septic arthritis in the lower limb. Patients with septic arthritis and osteomyelitis of an adjacent bone were in hospital significantly longer (p = 0.001), needed more operations (p = 0.031) and had a significantly higher rate of complications and re-presentation (p = 0.048).

More than half the patients (61%), most particularly those with multifocal bone and joint involvement, and those with septic arthritis and osteomyelitis of an adjacent bone who were treated operatively, needed more visits to theatre.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2015;97-B:277–82.

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a seven-step checklist that could help in minimising the risk of PJI. The check list includes strategies that can be implemented pre-operatively such as medical optimisation, and reduction of the bioburden by effective skin preparation or actions taking during surgery such as administration of timely and appropriate antibiotics or blood conservation, and finally implementation of post-operative protocols such as efforts to minimise wound drainage and haematoma formation.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B(1 Suppl A):18–22.

Osteoporosis is common and the health and financial cost of fragility fractures is considerable. The burden of cardiovascular disease has been reduced dramatically by identifying and targeting those most at risk. A similar approach is potentially possible in the context of fragility fractures. The World Health Organization created and endorsed the use of FRAX, a fracture risk assessment tool, which uses selected risk factors to calculate a quantitative, patient-specific, ten-year risk of sustaining a fragility fracture. Treatment can thus be based on this as well as on measured bone mineral density. It may also be used to determine at-risk individuals, who should undergo bone densitometry. FRAX has been incorporated into the national osteoporosis guidelines of countries in the Americas, Europe, the Far East and Australasia. The United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence also advocates its use in their guidance on the assessment of the risk of fragility fracture, and it may become an important tool to combat the health challenges posed by fragility fractures.

Drug therapy forms an integral part of the management of many orthopaedic conditions. However, many medicines can produce serious adverse reactions if prescribed inappropriately, either alone or in combination with other drugs. Often these hazards are not appreciated. In response to this, the European Union recently issued legislation regarding safety measures which member states must adopt to minimise the risk of errors of medication.

In March 2014 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NHS England released a Patient Safety Alert initiative focussed on errors of medication. There have been similar initiatives in the United States under the auspices of The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error and The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. These initiatives have highlighted the importance of informing and educating clinicians.

Here, we discuss common drug interactions and contra-indications in orthopaedic practice. This is germane to safe and effective clinical care.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2015;97-B:434–41.

Fresh-frozen allograft bone is frequently used in orthopaedic surgery. We investigated the incidence of allograft-related infection and analysed the outcomes of recipients of bacterial culture-positive allografts from our single-institute bone bank during bone transplantation. The fresh-frozen allografts were harvested in a strict sterile environment during total joint arthroplasty surgery and immediately stored in a freezer at -78º to -68º C after packing. Between January 2007 and December 2012, 2024 patients received 2083 allografts with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. The overall allograft-associated infection rate was 1.2% (24/2024). Swab cultures of 2083 allografts taken before implantation revealed 21 (1.0%) positive findings. The 21 recipients were given various antibiotics at the individual orthopaedic surgeon’s discretion. At the latest follow-up, none of these 21 recipients displayed clinical signs of infection following treatment. Based on these findings, we conclude that an incidental positive culture finding for allografts does not correlate with subsequent surgical site infection. Additional prolonged post-operative antibiotic therapy may not be necessary for recipients of fresh-frozen bone allograft with positive culture findings.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2015;97-B:427–31.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly described infectious disease caused by the SARS coronavirus which attacks the immune system and pulmonary epithelium. It is treated with regular high doses of corticosteroids. Our aim was to determine the relationship between the dosage of steroids and the number and distribution of osteonecrotic lesions in patients treated with steroids during the SARS epidemic in Beijing, China in 2003.

We identified 114 patients for inclusion in the study. Of these, 43 with osteonecrosis received a significantly higher cumulative and peak methylprednisolone-equivalent dose than 71 patients with no osteonecrosis identified by MRI. We confirmed that the number of osteonecrotic lesions was directly related to the dosage of steroids and that a very high dose, a peak dose of more than 200 mg or a cumulative methylprednisolone-equivalent dose of more than 4000 mg, is a significant risk factor for multifocal osteonecrosis with both epiphyseal and diaphyseal lesions. Patients with diaphyseal osteonecrosis received a significantly higher cumulative methylprednisolone-equivalent dose than those with epiphyseal osteonecrosis. Multifocal osteonecrosis should be suspected if a patient is diagnosed with osteonecrosis in the shaft of a long bone.

We have conducted a case-control study over a period of ten years comparing both deep infection with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and colonised cases with a control group.

Risk factors associated with deep infection were vascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, admission to a high-dependency or an intensive-care unit and open wounds. Those for colonisation were institutional care, vascular diseases and dementia. Older age was a risk factor for any MRSA infection. The length of hospital stay was dramatically increased by deep infection.

These risk factors are useful in identifying higher-risk patients who may be more susceptible to MRSA infection. A strategy of early identification and isolation may help to control its spread in trauma units.

Bone-marrow oedema can occur both in isolation and in association with necrosis of bone, but it has not been shown whether each respond to the same methods of treatment.

We treated 16 patients with isolated oedema and 17, in which it was associated with necrosis of the proximal femur, with the prostacyclin derivative iloprost, which has been shown to be effective in the idiopathic form. The Harris hip score, the range of movement, the extent of the oedema as measured by MRI, pain on a visual analogue scale and patient satisfaction were recorded before and subsequent to treatment.

In both groups, we were able to show a significant improvement (p < 0.001) in these observations during the period of follow-up indicating that iloprost will produce clinical improvement in both circumstances.

National guidelines state that in patients undergoing operations the site of the procedure should be marked. In clinical practice the same marker is used repeatedly. We are not aware of any investigation regarding the theoretical risk of transferring organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA) between patients by a skin marker.

In an experimental setting, Penflex and Viomedex skin markers were tested 30 times each after contaminating them with a standard inoculum of MRSA. The survival of the organism on the tip of the markers was assessed by culture on MRSA-indicator nutrient agar plates at 0, 5, 15 and 60 minutes, 24 and 48 hours and at 1, 2, and 3 weeks after contamination.

There was a significant difference between the markers, with the Penflex showing no survival of MRSA after 15 minutes whereas the Viomedex product continued to produce MRSA cultures for up to three weeks.