In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that proceeding with elective surgery was restricted to minimise exposure on the wards. In order to maintain throughput of elective cases, our hospital was forced to convert as many cases as possible to same day procedures rather than overnight admission. In this retrospective analysis we review the cases performed as same day arthroplasty surgeries compared to the same period 12 months previous. We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing total hip and knee arthroplasties in a three month period between October and December in 2019 and again in 2020, in the middle of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Patient demographics, number of out-patient primary arthroplasty cases, length of stay for admissions, 30-day readmission and complications were collated. In total, 428 patient charts were reviewed for the months of October-December of 2019 (n=195) and 2020 (n=233). Of those, total hip arthroplasties comprised 60% and 58.8% for 2019 and 2020, respectively. Demographic data was comparable with no statistical difference for age, gender contralateral joint replacement or BMI. ASA grade I was more highly prevalent in the 2020 cohort (5.1x increase, n=13 vs n=1). Degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia were less significantly prevalent in the 2020 cohort. There was a significant increase in same day discharges for non-DAA THAs (2x increase) and TKA (10x increase), with a reciprocal decrease in next day discharges. There were significantly fewer reported superficial wound infections in 2020 (5.6% vs 1.7%) and no significant differences in readmissions or emergency department visits (3.1% vs 3.0%). The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic meant that hospitals and patients were hopeful to minimise the exposure to the wards and to not put strain on the already taxed in-patient beds. With few positives during the Coronavirus crisis, the pandemic was the catalyst to speed up the outpatient arthroplasty program that has resulted in our institution being more efficient and with no increase in readmissions or early complications.
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the most successful surgical procedures. The objectives of this study were to define whether there is a correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and surgical complications after elective primary unilateral THA, and investigate whether access to elective THA differs within SES groups. We conducted a retrospective, population-based cohort study involving 202 hospitals in Ontario, Canada, over a 17-year period. Patients were divided into income quintiles based on postal codes as a proxy for personal economic status. Multivariable logistic regression models were then used to primarily assess the relationship between SES and surgical complications within one year of index THA.Aims
Methods
The rate of dislocation when traditional single bearing implants are used in revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been reported to be between 8% and 10%. The use of dual mobility bearings can reduce this risk to between 0.5% and 2%. Dual mobility bearings are more expensive, and it is not clear if the additional clinical benefits constitute value for money for the payers. We aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of dual mobility compared with single bearings for patients undergoing revision THA. We developed a Markov model to estimate the expected cost and benefits of dual mobility compared with single bearing implants in patients undergoing revision THA. The rates of revision and further revision were calculated from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales, while rates of transition from one health state to another were estimated from the literature, and the data were stratified by sex and age. Implant and healthcare costs were estimated from local procurement prices and national tariffs. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were calculated using published utility estimates for patients undergoing THA.Aims
Methods
Over 300,000 total hip arthroplasties (THA) are performed annually in the USA. Surgical Site Infections (SSI) are one of the most common complications and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and cost. Risk factors for SSI include obesity, diabetes and smoking, but few studies have reported on the predictive value of pre-operative blood markers for SSI. The purpose of this study was to create a clinical prediction model for acute SSI (classified as either superficial, deep and overall) within 30 days of THA based on commonly ordered pre-operative lab markers and using data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. All adult patients undergoing an elective unilateral THA for osteoarthritis from 2011–2016 were identified from the NSQIP database using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Patients with active or chronic, local or systemic infection/sepsis or disseminated cancer were excluded. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine coefficients, with manual stepwise reduction. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were also graphed. The SSI prediction model included the following covariates: body mass index (BMI) and sex, comorbidities such as congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), smoking, current/previous steroid use, as well as pre-operative blood markers, albumin, alkaline phosphate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, hematocrit, international normalized ratio (INR), platelets, prothrombin time (PT), sodium and white blood cell (WBC) levels. Since the data met logistic assumption requirements, bootstrap estimation was used to measure internal validity. The area under the ROC curve for final derivations along with McFadden's R-squared were utilized to compare prediction models. A total of 130,619 patients were included with the median age of patients at time of THA was 67 years (mean=66.6+11.6 years) with 44.8% (n=58,757) being male. A total of 1,561 (1.20%) patients had a superficial or deep SSI (overall SSI). Of all SSI, 45.1% (n=704) had a deep SSI and 55.4% (n=865) had a superficial SSI. The incidence of SSI occurring annually decreased from 1.44% in 2011 to 1.16% in 2016. Area under the ROC curve for the SSI prediction model was 0.79 and 0.78 for deep and superficial SSI, respectively and 0.71 for overall SSI. CHF had the largest effect size (Odds Ratio(OR)=2.88, 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI): 1.56 – 5.32) for overall SSI risk. Albumin (OR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.37 – 0.52, OR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.25 – 0.39, OR=0.48, 95% CI: 0.41 – 0.58) and sodium (OR=0.95, 95% CI: 0.93 – 0.97, OR=0.94, 95% CI: 0.91 – 0.97, OR=0.95, 95% CI: 0.93 – 0.98) levels were consistently significant in all clinical prediction models for superficial, deep and overall SSI, respectively. In terms of pre-operative blood markers, hypoalbuminemia and hyponatremia are both significant risk factors for superficial, deep and overall SSI. In this large NSQIP database study, we were able to create an SSI prediction model and identify risk factors for predicting acute superficial, deep and overall SSI after THA. To our knowledge, this is the first clinical model whereby pre-operative hyponatremia (in addition to hypoalbuminemia) levels have been predictive of SSI after THA. Although the model remains without external validation, it is a vital starting point for developing a risk prediction model for SSI and can help physicians mitigate risk factors for acute SSI post THA.
Distracted driving is now the number one cause of death among teenagers in the United States of America according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, the risks and consequences of driving while distracted spans all ages, gender, and ethnicity. The Distractions on the Road: Injury eValuation in Surgery And FracturE Clinics (DRIVSAFE) Study aimed to examine the prevalence of distracted driving among patients attending hospital-based orthopaedic surgery fracture clinics. We further aimed to explore factors associated with distracted driving. In a large, multi-center prospective observational study, we recruited 1378 adult patients with injuries treated across four clinics (Hamilton, Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Calgary, Alberta, Halifax, Nova Scotia) across Canada. Eligible patients included those who held a valid driver's license and were able to communicate and understand written english. Patients were administered questions about distracted driving. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Patients average age was 45.8 years old (range 16 – 87), 54.3% male, and 44.6% female (1.1% not disclosed). Of 1361 patients, 1358 self-reported distracted driving (99.8%). Common sources of distractions included talking to passengers (98.7%), outer-vehicle distractions (95.5%), eating/drinking (90.4%), music listening/adjusting the radio (97.6%/93.8%), singing (83.2%), accepting phone calls (65.6%) and daydreaming (61.2%). Seventy-nine patients (6.3%), reported having been stopped by police for using a handheld device in the past. Among 113 drivers who disclosed the cause of their injury as a motor vehicle crash (MVC), 20 of them (17%) acknowledged being distracted at the time of the crash. Of the participants surveyed, 729 reported that during their lifetime they had been the driver in a MVC, with 226 (31.1%) acknowledging they were distracted at the time of the crash. Approximately, 1 in 6 participants in this study had a MVC where they reported to be distracted. Despite the overwhelming knowledge that distracted driving is dangerous and the recognition by participants that it can be dangerous, a staggering amount of drivers engage in distracted driving on a fairly routine basis. This study demonstrates an ongoing need for research and driver education to reduce distracted driving and its devastating consequences.
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most commonly performed elective orthopaedic procedure. With an increasingly aging population, the number of TKAs performed is expected to be ∼2,900 per 100,000 by 2050. Surgical Site Infections (SSI) after TKA can have significant morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to construct a risk prediction model for acute SSI (classified as either superficial, deep and overall) within 30 days of a TKA based on commonly ordered pre-operative blood markers and using audited administrative data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. All adult patients undergoing an elective unilateral TKA for osteoarthritis from 2011–2016 were identified from the NSQIP database using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Patients with active or chronic, local or systemic infection/sepsis or disseminated cancer were excluded. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to estimate coefficients, with manual stepwise reduction to construct models. Bootstrap estimation was administered to measure internal validity. The SSI prediction model included the following co-variates: body mass index (BMI) and sex, comorbidities such as congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), smoking, current/previous steroid use, as well as pre-operative blood markers, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, hematocrit, international normalized ratio (INR), platelets, prothrombin time (PT), sodium and white blood cell (WBC) levels. To compare clinical models, areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and McFadden's R-squared values were reported. The total number of patients undergoing TKA were 210,524 with a median age of 67 years (mean age of 66.6 + 9.6 years) and the majority being females (61.9%, N=130,314). A total of 1,674 patients (0.8%) had a SSI within 30 days of the index TKA, of which N=546 patients (33.2%) had a deep SSI and N=1,128 patients (67.4%) had a superficial SSI. The annual incidence rate of overall SSI decreased from 1.60% in 2011 to 0.68% in 2016. The final risk prediction model for SSI contained, smoking (OR=1.69, 95% CI: 1.31 – 2.18), previous/current steroid use (OR=1.66, 95% CI: 1.23 – 2.23), as well as the pre-operative lab markers, albumin (OR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.37 – 0.56), blood urea nitrogen (BUN, OR=1.01, 95% CI: 1 – 1.02), international normalized ratio (INR, OR=1.22, 95% CI:1.05 – 1.41), and sodium levels (OR=0.94, 95% CI: 0.91 – 0.98;). Area under the ROC curve for the final model of overall SSI was 0.64. Models for deep and superficial SSI had ROC areas of 0.68 and 0.63, respectively. Albumin (OR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.37 – 0.56, OR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.27 – 0.40, OR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.59 – 0.95) and sodium levels (OR=0.94, 95% CI: 0.91 – 0.98, OR=0.96, 95% CI: 0.93 – 0.99, OR=0.97, 95% CI: 0.96 – 0.99) levels were consistently significant in all prediction models for superficial, deep and overall SSI, respectively. Overall, hypoalbuminemia and hyponatremia are both significant risk factors for superficial, deep and overall SSI. To our knowledge, this is the first prediction model for acute SSI post TKA whereby hyponatremia (and hypoalbuminemia) are predictive of SSI. This prediction model can help fill an important gap for predicting risk factors for SSI after TKA and can help physicians better optimize patients prior to TKA.
The purpose of this investigation is to assess the rate of wear the effect once the “bedding in period”/ poly creep had been eliminated. Creep is the visco-elastic deformation that polyethylene exhibits in the first 6–12 weeks. We also assessed the wear pattern of four different bearing couples in total hip arthroplasty (THA): cobalt-chrome (CoCr) versus oxidized zirconium (OxZir) femoral heads with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) versus highly-crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) acetabular liners. This was a randomized control study involving 92 patients undergoing THA. They were randomized to one of four bearing couples: (1) CoCr/UHMWPE (n= 23), (2) OxZir/UHMWPE (n=21), (3) CoCr/XLPE (n=24), (4) OxZir/XLPE (n=24). Patients underwent a posterior approach from one of three surgeons involved in the study. All patients received a porous-coated cementless acetabular shell and a cylindrical proximally coated stem with 28 mm femoral heads. Each patient was reviewed clinically and radiographically at six weeks, three and 12 months, two, five and 10 years after surgery. Standardized anteroposterior and lateral radiographs were taken. All polyethylene wear was measured by an independent blinded reviewer. Linear and volumetric wear rates were measured on radiographs using a validated computer software (Polyware Rev. 5). Creep was defined as the wear at 6 or 12 weeks, depending on if there was a more than 10% difference between both measurements. If a greater than 10% difference occurred than the later period's wear would be defined as creep. 72 hips were included in analysis after exclusion of seven revisions, three deaths and 10 losses to follow-up. The annual linear wear rates (in mm/y) at 10 years were (1) 0.249, (2) 0.250, (3) 0.074 and (4) 0.050. After adjusting for creep these rates become were (1) 0.181, (2) 0.142, (3) 0.040 and (4) 0.023. There is statistical differences between raw and adjusted linear wear rates for all bearing couples. The percentage of the radiographically measured wear at 10 years due to creep is (1) 30% (2) 44%, (3) 58.5% and (4) 51.5% with significant differences in couples with XLPE versus those with UHMWPE. There was no significant correlation between age, gender, cup size, tilt, planar anteversion and the linear or volumetric wear rates. The linear wear rate of both UHMWPE and XLPE are even lower thxdsxzan previously described when creep is factored out. XLPE has again demonstrated far superior linear wear rates at 10 years than UHMWPE. There were no significant differences in wear rate at 10 years between CoCr and OxZir, this may be due to an underpowered study. XLPE exhibits proportionally more creep than UHMWPE within the first 6–12 weeks and accounts for more of the total wear at 10 years as measured radiographically at the end period.
A randomized trial was designed to compare the outcome of ceramic-on-ceramic with ceramic on conventional polyethylene. These patients have been followed for 15 years. 58 hips in 57 patients under 60 years of age were randomized into one of two groups. Patients were blinded to the type of hip they received. Both groups of patients were treated routinely with prophylactic peri-operative antibiotics and low molecular weight Heparin. All patients were seen at six weeks, three months and annually after surgery. Clinical and radiologic assessment was carried out at each visit. Fifty-eight hips were available for analysis, 28 in the CoP group and 29 patients in the CoC group. Mean age of both groups was less than 45 years. There were seven revisions (16%) among the 58 patients enrolled in the study. In the CoP group four patients underwent revision with head and liner exchange for eccentric polyethylene wear 16 years post-implantation. In the CoC group one patient had a cup revision at 15 years for acute aseptic instability of the acetabulum; two additional patients in the CoC group had femoral head exchange, one for fracture and one for trunnion corrosion. Both occurred 14 years after the index surgery. Functional outcome scores showed no difference between the two groups at 15 years. Radiographically there was a statistically difference in wear between the two groups. This study demonstrates that both ceramic-on-ceramic and ceramic-on-polyethylene produce satisfactory functional results with low revision rates in young patients.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate functional outcome following supracondylar femur fractures using patient-based outcome measures. Patients having sustained supracondylar femur fractures between 1990 and 2004 were identified from the fracture databases of two level-one trauma centres. Three patient-based outcome measures, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Version two, the Short Musculoskeletal Functional Scale (SMFA), and the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) were used to evaluate functional outcome. Each patient’s medical record was also reviewed to obtain information regarding potential predictors of outcome, including age, gender, fracture type (AO classification), presence of comorbidities, smoking status, open vs. closed fracture, and occurrence of complications. Univariate and multivariate models were then used to identify significant predictors of outcome, as reflected in the SMFA bother and dysfunction scores. Sixty-one patients (thirty-five males and twenty-six females) with an average age (at time of injury) of 53 ± 18 years consented to participate. The average length of follow-up was 64 ± 34 months from the time of injury. Mean SF-36 V2 scores were lower than Canadian population norms indicating decreased function or greater pain, while mean SMFA scores were higher than published population norms indicating greater impairment and bother. The mean LEFS score was 40.78 ± 15.90 out of a maximum score of eighty. At the univariate level, the presence of complications was a significant predictor of both the SMFA bother (p=0.002) and dysfunction scores (p=0.015), while positive smoking status was a significant predictor of the bother score (p=0.002). Based on a multivariate linear regression model, the presence of complications (p=0.013) and positive smoking status (p=0.011) were both significant predictors of a higher SMFA bother score. In the multivariate model for SMFA dysfunction score, the presence of complications (p=0.014) and the presence of comorbidities (p=0.017) were significant predictors of a higher score. Comparing SF-36 and SMFA scores with published population norms, supracondylar femur fractures were associated with residual impact. Based on our analysis, smoking, the presence of medical comorbidities at the time of fracture, and the occurrence of complications following fracture repair were the main predictors of poorer patient outcomes following supracondylar femur fracture.
