Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery最新文献

Background: Due to the increasing burden on the heatlhcare system the usefulness of the routinely planned 6-week outpatient visit and radiograph in patients treated surgically for the most common upper extremity fractures, including clavicle, proximal humerus, humeral shaft, olecranon, radial shaft, and distal radius, should be investigated.

Method: This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients treated surgically for the most common upper extremity fractures between 2019 and 2022 in a level 1 trauma center. The first outcome of interest was the incidence of abnormalities found on the radiograph taken at the 6-week outpatient visit. Abnormalities were defined as all differences between the intraoperative (or direct postoperative) and 6-week radiograph. In case an abnormality was detected, the hospital records were screened to determine its clinical consequence. The clinical consequences were categorized into requiring either additional diagnostics, additional interventions, change of standard postoperative immobilization, weightbearing, or allowed range of motion (ROM). The second outcome of interest was the incidence of deviations from the local standard postoperative treatment and follow-up protocol based on the 6-week outpatient visit as a whole. Deviations were also categorized into either requiring additional diagnostics, additional interventions, change of standard postoperative immobilization, weightbearing, or allowed ROM.

Results: A total of 267 patients were included. Abnormalities on radiograph at 6 weeks postoperatively were found in only 10 (3.7%) patients, of which only 4 (1.5%) had clinical implications (in 3 patients extra imaging was required and in 1 patient it was necessary to deviate from standard weightbearing/ROM limitation regimen). The clinical/radiologic findings during the 6-week outpatient visit led to a deviation from standard in only 8 (3.0%) patients. Notably, the majority of these patients experienced symptoms suggestive of complications.

Conclusion: The routine 6-week outpatient visit and radiograph, after surgery for common upper extremity fractures, rarely has clinical consequences. It should be questioned whether these routine visits are necessary and whether a more selective approach should be considered.

Background: After shoulder surgery, infection is often diagnosed in the absence of an inflammatory host response (purulence, sepsis). In the absence of inflammation, the more appropriate diagnoses may be colonization or contamination. We reviewed the available data regarding culture of Cutibacterium acnes during primary and revision shoulder surgery and asked; 1) what is the prevalence of air, skin, and deep tissue colonization? 2) How often is an inflammatory host response associated with diagnosis of postoperative shoulder infection diagnosed on the basis of culture of C. acnes? 3) Is there any relation between culture of C. acnes and outcomes of shoulder surgery?

Methods: Three databases were searched for studies that address C. acnes and colonization or infection related to shoulder surgery. We analyzed data from 80 studies addressing the rates of C. acnes colonization/infection in patients undergoing shoulder surgery, evidence of an inflammatory host response, and relationship of C. acnes culture to surgery outcomes.

Results: C. acnes is often cultured in the air in the operating room (mean 10%), the skin before preparation (mean 47%), and deep tissue in primary shoulder arthroplasty (mean 29%), arthroscopy (mean 27%), and other shoulder surgery (mean 21%). C. acnes was cultured from a mean of 39% of deep tissue samples during revision arthroplasty. C. acnes was believed to be the causative organism of a high percentage of the infections diagnosed after surgery, 39% in primary shoulder arthroplasties, 53% in revisions, 55% in arthroscopic surgeries, and 44% in a mixture of shoulder surgeries. Infection was nearly always diagnosed in the absence of an inflammatory host response. Documented purulence and sepsis were not specifically ascribed to C. acnes (rather than more virulent organisms such as S. aureus). Diagnosis of infection, or unexpected positive culture, with C. acnes during shoulder surgery is associated with outcomes comparable to shoulders with no bacterial growth.

Conclusions: The evidence to date supports conceptualization of C. acnes as a common commensal (colonization), and perhaps a frequent contaminant, and an uncommon cause of an inflammatory host response (infection). This is supported by the observations that 1) unexpected positive culture for C. acnes is not associated with adverse outcomes after shoulder surgery, and 2) diagnosed infection with C. acnes is associated with outcomes comparable to noninfected revision shoulder arthroplasty. We speculate that diagnosis of C. acnes infection might represent an attempt to account for unexplained discomfort, incapability or stiffness after technically sound shoulder surgery. If so, the hypothesis that stiffness and pain are host responses to C. acnes needs better experimental support.

Background: As orthopedic surgery becomes increasingly competitive, orthopedic surgeons are now pursuing advanced degrees more frequently to enhance their resumes or gain additional expertise. The specific impact of this additional training and education on a surgeon's career trajectory is not well defined. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of an advanced degree on the academic career of orthopedic shoulder and elbow surgeons.

Methods: Orthopedic shoulder and elbow fellowship-trained surgeons were identified using the directory listed on the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons website. Demographics, education, and current professional roles were obtained. Research productivity was obtained using SCOPUS and Google Scholar. Advanced degrees were defined as those additional to the primary medical degree (Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). Outcome measures collected included timing of advanced degree obtainment, current academic and leadership roles, leadership on journal editorial boards, and research productivity. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test to determine the association of advanced degrees on outcome measures.

Results: In total, 893 orthopedic shoulder and elbow surgeons were identified, of whom 129 had advanced degrees. Most common advanced degrees included Master of Science (43%), Master of Business Administration (23%), and Doctor of Philosophy (13%). The most common period of degree obtainment was before medical school (35%) with the least common times being after medical school/before residency (0.9%) and between residency and fellowship training (0.9%). Surgeons who held advanced degrees demonstrated greater research productivity, with a higher h-index (P < .001), a greater number of citations (P < .001), and more publications (P < .001). Of the 523 shoulder and elbow surgeons who worked at an academic institution, those holding advanced degrees were more likely to serve as orthopedic department chair (P < .001) and serve an editorial board position (<0.001).

Conclusion: This study found that having an advanced degree as an orthopedic shoulder and elbow surgeon was linked to higher research impact and productivity and an increased likelihood of becoming a department chair and holding an editorial position. These significant findings can help future trainees and department leadership in understanding the importance and impact of additional training on career trajectories for academic faculty.

Background: Total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) is an effective treatment for a wide range of shoulder pathologies. Literature investigating the impact of COVID-19 diagnosis on outcomes following TSA is limited. The objective of this study was to perform a retrospective multi-institutional database analysis to investigate the association between preoperative COVID-19 diagnosis and 60-day complications following TSA.

Methods: We queried the TriNetX database using Current Procedural Terminology and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes for patients who underwent a TSA from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2023. Patients were categorized by those who had and those who did not have a diagnosis of COVID-19 within 30 days prior to surgery. The cohorts were matched based on age, gender, ethnicity, race, and past medical history. Chi-square analysis was performed to determine the relationship between COVID-19 diagnosis and 60-day postoperative complications including pneumonia, sepsis, emergency department (ED) visit, hospital admission, mortality, periprosthetic fracture, superficial wound infection, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), acute myocardial infarction, and revision surgery. The search results identified a total 63,768 patients who met study criteria. Of these patients, 7118 (11.08%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 within 30 days prior to their TSA procedure. Propensity score matching resulted in 6982 patients in each of the 2 cohorts.

Results: Patients with a recent COVID-19 diagnosis prior to surgery had 1.96 (P = .0005) times the odds of sepsis, 1.42 (P = .0032) times the odds of superficial wound infections, 1.42 (P < .0001) times the odds of DVT, 1.52 (P = .0001) times the odds of PE, 1.10 (P = .0249) and 1.79 (P < .0001) times the odds of ED visits and hospital admissions, respectively, and 3.10 (P < .0001) and 2.87 (P < .0001) times the odds of periprosthetic fracture and revision surgery within 60 days of TSA.

Conclusions: Our study suggests an increased risk of sepsis, ED visits, hospital admissions, periprosthetic fracture, superficial wound infection, DVT, PE, and revision surgery in TSA patients with a recent COVID-19 diagnosis. There may be significant benefit to closer monitoring and greater preventive measures to reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications in this setting. In addition, patients may benefit from postponing elective TSA procedures in the setting of a recent COVID-19 infection.

Background: Coronal shear fractures of the capitellum are rare injuries which can be challenging to treat. The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical properties of different internal screw fixation techniques for Dubberley type IA fractures of the capitellum.

Methods: In this biomechanical study, Dubberley type IA fractures of the capitellum were created in 30 human fresh-frozen humeri. The specimens were then divided into 3 groups: fixation was either performed with 3 × 3.0 mm headless cannulated compression screws (HCCSs) in anteroposterior (AP) orientation (AP group), 3 × 3.0 mm HCCSs in posteroanterior (PA) orientation (PA group) or with 2 × 3.0 mm HCCSs in PA orientation and 1 × 3.0 mm HCCS in lateral orientation (LAT) group. Displacement under cyclic loading and ultimate load-to-failure were evaluated in all specimens.

Results: There was no significant difference in fragment displacement after 2000 cycles between AP and PA groups (0.8 ± 0.5 mm vs. 0.8 ± 0.6 mm; P = .987) or PA and LAT groups (0.8 ± 0.6 mm vs. 0.8 ± 0.3 mm; P = .966). LAT group showed the highest load-to-failure (548 ± 250 N) without reaching statistically significant difference to AP group (388 ± 173 N; P = .101). There was also no significant difference between AP and PA groups (388 ± 173 N vs. 422 ± 114 N; P = .649).

Conclusions: Variations in screw placement had no statistically significant influence on cyclic displacement or load-to-failure in Dubberley Type IA fractures. However, fracture fixation in 2 planes-both the coronal and the sagittal plane-by adding a screw in a lateral to medial direction may be beneficial to increase primary stability.

Background: The treatment of complex radial head fractures remains controversial with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), radial head arthroplasty, and radial head excision being the most common treatment options. While ORIF is the preferred treatment strategy for Mason type II fractures, the optimal treatment of Mason type III fractures is debated. The purpose of this study was to report minimum 10-year outcomes after ORIF of Mason type II and type III radial head fractures. We hypothesized that both Mason Type II and Type III fracture patients would demonstrate satisfactory clinical outcomes at minimum 10-year follow-up.

Methods: All patients with Mason type II or III radial head fractures who were treated with ORIF by a single surgeon between 2005 and 2010 were included. Fractures with significant bone defects were treated with bone grafts and elbow ligament injuries were treated with either primary ligament repair or reconstruction. Patient reported outcome questionnaires were administered at the time of last clinical follow-up and at a minimum of 10 years postoperatively.

Results: Twenty-four patients, including 13 male and 11 female patients with an average age of 39 (range 19-60) at the time of surgery met inclusion criteria. Thirteen patients suffered from Mason type II and 11 patients from Mason type III fractures. At initial follow-up, 21 out of 24 fractures (88%) demonstrated radiographic union. Three nonunions, 2 of which were Mason type III fractures, were treated with revision ORIF and iliac crest bone grafting. 11 patients developed postoperative elbow stiffness and required capsular release surgery. At last clinical follow-up, average flexion was 139°, average extension was 4°, average supination was 77°, and average pronation was 81°. The median Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score was 7 (ranging from 0 to 32). Minimum 10-year follow-up (mean: 14.6 years) was collected on 18 of 24 (75%) of the patients. At a minimum of 10 years postoperatively, the median QuickDASH score was 4.5 (range: 0 to 25) and the median SANE score was 96.5 (range: 75-100). Median satisfaction with the surgical outcome was 10 of 10 (range: 3-10).

Conclusion: ORIF of Mason type II and III radial head fractures results in high union rates with good functional outcomes at a mean of 14.6 years postoperatively. The study results suggest that ORIF of Mason type II and III radial head fractures leads to long-term positive functional outcomes.

Background: The Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) has demonstrated strong correlation with adverse outcomes in various joint replacement surgeries, yet its applicability in total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) remains unexplored. The purpose of this study is to assess the association between HFRS and postoperative complications following elective primary TEA.

Methods: The Nationwide Readmissions Database was queried to identify patients undergoing primary TEA from 2016-2020. The HFRS was used to compare medical, surgical, and clinical outcomes of frail vs. nonfrail patients. Mean and relative costs, total hospital length of stay, and discharge disposition for frail and nonfrail patients were also compared.

Results: We identified 2049 primary TEA in frail patients and 3693 in nonfrail patients. Frail patients had increased complication rates including acute respiratory failure (13.6% vs. 1.1%; P < .001), urinary tract infections (12.3% vs. 0.0%; P < .001), transfusions (3.9% vs. 1.1%; P < .001), pneumonia (1.1% vs. 0.2%; P < .001), acute respiratory distress syndrome (3.2% vs. 0.6%; P < .001), sepsis (0.7% vs. 0.1%; P < .001), and hardware failure (1.2% vs. 0.1%; P < .001). Frail patients also experienced higher rates of readmission (37% vs. 25%; P < .001) and death (1.7% vs. 0.2%; P < .001), while being less likely to undergo revision (6.5% vs. 17%; P < .001). Frail patients incurred higher health-care costs ($28,497 vs. $23,377; P < .001) and longer length of stay (5.3 days vs. 2.6 days; P < .001), with reduced likelihood of routine hospital stays (36% vs. 71%; P < .001) and increased utilization of short-term hospitalization (P < .001), care facilities (P < .001), and home health-care services (P < .001).

Conclusion: HFRS is a validated indicator of frailty and is strongly associated with increased rates of complications in patients undergoing elective primary TEA. These findings should be considered by orthopedic surgeons when assessing surgical candidacy and discussing treatment options in this at-risk patient population.

Background: Shoulder arthroplasty revision is associated with a high prevalence of prosthetic infection, and diagnosis remains difficult. The primary aim of the study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous synovial biopsy (PSB) and joint aspiration compared with open culture results in detecting infection in revision shoulder arthroplasty. The second aim was to determine whether biopsy location within the shoulder was associated with culture status.

Methods: This was a multicenter prospective cohort study involving 4 sites and 69 patients undergoing revision shoulder arthroplasty. The cohort was 57% female with a mean age of 64 years. Preoperative fluoroscopic-guided PSBs and aspirations were carried out by a musculoskeletal radiologist before revision shoulder arthroplasty. The original prostheses consisted of hemiarthroplasties, total shoulder arthroplasties (TSAs), resurfacing TSA, reverse shoulder arthroplasties (RSAs), and antibiotic spacers. Six synovial tissue biopsies from separate regions in the shoulder were obtained both preoperatively and intraoperatively. The shoulder joint was aspirated, and synovial fluid collected, if available. Infection was considered positive in the setting of 2 or more matching positive cultures. The PSB cultures were considered "true positive" if the PSB cultures matched the open biopsy cultures.

Results: Nineteen percent had positive infection based on PSB, and 23% had confirmed culture-positive infections based on intraoperative biopsy. The diagnostic accuracy of PSB compared with open biopsy was as follows: sensitivity 0.37 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13-0.61), specificity 0.81 (95% CI 0.7-0.91), positive predictive value 0.37 (95% CI 0.13-0.61), negative predictive value 0.81 (95% CI 0.70-0.91), positive likelihood ratio 1.98, and negative likelihood ratio 0.77. Of the 71 patients from whom aspirates were collected, aspiration yielded synovial fluid in 33 patients. Preoperative aspiration detected no infections confirmed positive by open biopsy and correctly identified 81% of absent infections. The diagnostic accuracy of aspiration compared with open biopsy was as follows: sensitivity 0%, specificity 0.81 (95% CI 0.66-0.96), positive predictive value 0%, and negative predictive value 0.78 (95% CI 0.63-0.93). Biopsy location within the shoulder was not associated with infection status.

Discussion: Preoperative aspiration detected none of the infections proven positive via open biopsy. Although PSB was superior to synovial fluid aspirate, poor likelihood ratios suggest that PSB is not useful as an isolated test in the preoperative workup of the potentially infected patient. Biopsy location was not associated with culture status suggesting that the capsule is uniformly infected, and the location of tissue biopsies does not appear to matter.

Background: Technological advancements in implant design and surgical technique have focused on diminishing complications and optimizing performance of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA). Despite this, there remains a paucity of literature correlating prosthetic features and clinical outcomes. This investigation utilized a machine learning approach to evaluate the effect of select implant design features and patient-related factors on surgical complications after rTSA.

Methods: Over a 16-year period (2004-2020), all primary rTSA performed at a single institution for elective and traumatic indications with a minimum follow-up of 2 years were identified. Parameters related to implant design evaluated in this study included inlay vs. onlay humeral bearing design, glenoid lateralization (medialized or lateralized), humeral lateralization (medialized, minimally lateralized, or lateralized), global lateralization (medialized, minimally lateralized, lateralized, highly lateralized, or very highly lateralized), stem to metallic bearing neck shaft angle, and polyethylene neck shaft angle. Machine learning models predicting surgical complications were constructed for each patient and Shapley additive explanation values were calculated to quantify feature importance.

Results: A total of 3837 rTSA were identified, of which 472 (12.3%) experienced a surgical complication. Those experiencing a surgical complication were more likely to be current smokers (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.71; P = .003), have prior surgery (OR = 1.60; P < .001), have an underlying diagnosis of sequalae of instability (OR = 4.59; P < .001) or nonunion (OR = 3.09; P < .001), and required longer OR times (98 vs. 86 minutes; P < .001). Notable implant design features at an increased odds for complications included an inlay humeral component (OR = 1.67; P < .001), medialized glenoid (OR = 1.43; P = .001), medialized humerus (OR = 1.48; P = .004), a minimally lateralized global construct (OR = 1.51; P < .001), and glenohumeral constructs consisting of a medialized glenoid and minimally lateralized humerus (OR = 1.59; P < .001), and a lateralized glenoid and medialized humerus (OR = 2.68; P < .001). Based on patient- and implant-specific features, the machine learning model predicted complications after rTSA with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.61.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that patient-specific risk factors had a more substantial effect than implant design configurations on the predictive ability of a machine learning model on surgical complications after rTSA. However, certain implant features appeared to be associated with a higher odd of surgical complications.

Background: There has been a recent push to transition procedures previously performed at hospital-based outpatient surgical departments (HOPDs) to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). However, limited data regarding differences in early postoperative complications and care utilization (eg, emergency department visits and unplanned admissions) may drive increased overall costs or worse outcomes.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in early 90-day adverse outcomes and postoperative emergency department visits associated with shoulder surgeries excluding arthroplasties that were performed in HOPDs and ASCs in a closed military health care system. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in outcomes between treatment settings.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the records for 1748 elective shoulder surgeries from 2015 to 2020. Patients were considered as 1 of 2 cohorts depending on whether they underwent surgery in an ASC or HOPD setting. We evaluated groups for differences incomplexity, surgical time, and medical risk. Outcome measures were emergency department visits, unplanned hospital admissions, and complications within the first 90 days after surgery.

Results: There was no difference in 90-day postoperative emergency department visits between procedures performed at HOPDs (n = 606) and ASCs (n = 1142). There was a slight increase in rate of unplanned hospital admission within 90 days after surgery in the HOPD cohort, most commonly for pain or overnight observation. The surgical time was significantly shorter (105 vs. 119 minutes, P < .01) at the ASC, but there was no difference in case complexity between the cohorts (P = .28).

Discussion/conclusion: Our results suggest that in appropriate patients, surgery in ASCs can be safely leveraged for its costs savings, efficiency, patient satisfaction, decreases in operative time, and potentially decreased resource utilization both during surgery and in the early postoperative period.