The primary aim of this study was to develop
a patient-reported Activity &
Participation Questionnaire (the
OKS-APQ) to supplement the Oxford knee score, in order to assess
higher levels of activity and participation. The generation of items
for the questionnaire involved interviews with 26 patients. Psychometric
analysis (exploratory and confirmatory
There is concern that aggressive target pricing in the new Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A) penalizes high-performing groups that had achieved low costs through prior experience in bundled payments. We hypothesize that this methodology incorporates unsustainable downward trends on Target Prices and will lead to groups opting out of BPCI Advanced in favour of a traditional fee for service. Using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data, we compared the Target Price factors for hospitals and physician groups that participated in both BPCI Classic and BPCI Advanced (legacy groups), with groups that only participated in BPCI Advanced (non-legacy). With rebasing of Target Prices in 2020 and opportunity for participants to drop out, we compared retention rates of hospitals and physician groups enrolled at the onset of BPCI Advanced with current enrolment in 2020.Aims
Methods
The aims of this study were to determine the proportion of patients
with outlier varus or valgus alignment in kinematically aligned
total knee arthroplasty (TKA), whether those with outlier varus
or valgus alignment have higher forces in the medial or lateral
compartments of the knee than those with in-range alignment and
whether measurements of the alignment of the limb, knee and components
predict compartment forces. The intra-operative forces in the medial and lateral compartments
were measured with an instrumented tibial insert in 67 patients
who underwent a kinematically aligned TKA during passive movement.
The mean of the forces at full extension, 45° and 90° of flexion
determined the force in the medial and lateral compartments. Measurements
of the alignment of the limb and the components included the hip-knee-ankle
(HKA) angle, proximal medial tibial angle (PMTA), and distal lateral
femoral angle (DLFA). Measurements of the alignment of the knee
and the components included the tibiofemoral angle (TFA), tibial
component angle (TCA) and femoral component angle (FCA). Alignment was
measured on post-operative, non-weight-bearing anteroposterior (AP)
scanograms and categorised as varus or valgus outlier or in-range
in relation to mechanically aligned criteria.Aims
Patients and Methods
We compared the incidence and severity of complications during and after closing- and opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy used for the treatment of varus arthritis of the knee, and identified the risk factors associated with the development of complications. In total, 104 patients underwent laterally based closing-wedge and 90 medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy between January 1993 and December 2006. The characteristics of each group were similar. All the patients were followed up for more than 12 months. We assessed the outcome using the Hospital for Special Surgery knee score, and recorded the complications. Age, gender, obesity (body mass index >
27.5 kg/m2), the type of osteotomy (closing The mean Hospital for Special Surgery score in the closing and opening groups improved from 73.4 (54 to 86) to 91.8 (81 to 100) and from 73.8 (56 to 88) to 93 (84 to 100), respectively. The incidence of complications overall and of major complications in both groups was not significantly different (p = 0.20 overall complication, p = 0.29 major complication). Logistic regression analysis adjusting for obesity and the pre-operative mechanical axis showed that obesity remained a significant independent risk factor (odds ratio = 3.23) of a major complication after high tibial osteotomy. Our results suggest that the opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy can be an alternative treatment option for young patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis and varus deformity.
In Scotland, the number of primary total knee replacements performed annually has been increasing steadily. The price of the implant is fixed but the length of hospital stay is variable. We prospectively investigated all patients who underwent primary unilateral total knee replacement in the Scottish region of Fife, between December 1994 and February 2007 and assessed their recorded pre-operative details. The data were analysed using univariate and multiple linear regression statistical analysis. Data on the length of stay were available from a total of 2106 unilateral total knee replacements. The median length of hospital stay was eight days. The significant pre-operative risk factors for an increased length of stay were the year of admission, details of the consultant looking after the patient, the stair score, the walking-aid score and age. Awareness of the pre-operative factors which increase the length of hospital stay may provide the opportunity to influence them favourably and to reduce the time in hospital and the associated costs of unilateral total knee replacement.
