Evaluation of the Multi-Attribute Prioritisation Tool for Total Joint Replacement.

RATIONALE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The demand for arthroplasty is increasing and will continue to rise with an ageing population. Obesity and lengthy waiting time for Total Joint Replacement (TJR) have been associated with poorer outcomes postoperatively. This study aimed to evaluate the Multi-Attribute Prioritisation Tool (MAPT) for TJR patients. The primary objective was to explore if patients prioritised by the MAPT had an improvement in score post-operative. Further to identify any relationship between MAPT score and length of time on the waiting list or obesity. METHOD: This retrospective cohort study included 308 patients undergoing total hip (n = 114) or total knee (n = 194) arthroplasty. We examined preoperative and postoperative MAPT scores of patients who had total hip or total knee arthroplasty. After assessing the difference between postoperative and preoperative MAPT scores, patients scores were compared to BMI and waiting time classes. BMI was allocated to less than 30, 30-35, 35-40 and greater than 40. Duration of time on the waiting list was allocated to less than 6 months and greater than 6 months. RESULTS: THA and TKA patients MAPT scores improved from a preoperative score of 71.39-5.26 postoperative and 54.11 to 7.13 respectively. Patients whose MAPT scores placed them in the high priority category had a significant relationship with length of time on the waiting list (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between length of time on the waiting list and improvement scores for low priority and middle priority patients. BMI had minimal effect on patients improvement score postoperative. CONCLUSION: TJR patients prioritised by the MAPT questionnaire do experience pain relief as portrayed by a reduction in postoperative MAPT score. A longer length of time on the waiting list seems to effect the improvement a high priority patient can have postoperative.

Shoulder impingement syndrome: a systematic review of clinical trial participant selection criteria.

BACKGROUND: Shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) is a common diagnosis for patients with pain and dysfunction of the shoulder. Variations in the signs and symptoms might lead to uncertainty regarding the definition of SIS. The aim of this review is to explore the participant selection criteria used in the literature when investigating SIS and to assess differences in criteria among treating professions. METHODS: This is a PRISMA systematic review of publications from 2009 to 2014 from MEDLINE, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus and CINAHL. RESULTS: Ninety-seven articles met inclusion criteria for this review. Twenty-five different surgical and nonsurgical treatments were investigated. Impingement-specific index tests were used in all studies. Exclusion index tests were used in 62% of studies. Twenty index tests were identified. Radiological investigations were reported in 53% of all studies, of which a further 53% reported using two or more radiological investigations. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review has illustrated that studies investigating SIS test for various signs and symptoms, which is in keeping with describing the condition as a 'syndrome'. However, there are inconsistencies in participant selection criteria between health disciplines, highlighting a need for harmonization of the selection criteria in the form of an international editorial consensus.

Educating for interprofessional practice: moving from knowing to being, is it the final piece of the puzzle?

BACKGROUND: Professional socialisation and identity arise from interactions occurring within university-based interprofessional education, and workplace-based interprofessional practice experience. However, it is unclear how closely language and concepts of academic learning situations align with workplace contexts for interprofessional learning. This paper reports on a study that brought together university-based educators responsible for teaching health professional students and health service-based practitioners who supervise students in the field. METHODS: Interviews and focus groups with university-based educators and health service-base practitioners were used to explore perceptions of capabilities required for interprofessional practice. The qualitative data were then examined to explore similarities and differences in the language used by these groups. RESULTS: This analysis identified that there were language differences between the university-based educators and health service based practitioners involved in the project. The former demonstrated a curriculum lens, focusing on educational activities, student support and supervision. Conversely, health service-based practitioners presented a client-centred lens, with a focus on communication, professional disposition, attitude towards clients and co-workers, and authenticity of practice. CONCLUSIONS: Building on these insights, we theorise about the need for students to develop the self in order to be an interprofessional practitioner. The implications for health professional education in both university and workplace settings are explored.

The Use of Scoring Systems in Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: The primary purpose of this systematic review was to clarify and quantify scoring system utilization in knee arthroplasty literature. In addition, the study considered the frequency and relationship of score use in articles published across a range of orthopedic journals, and the influence of study design, level of evidence, primary research topic, and study country of origin on the scoring system used. METHODS: A systematic search of 8 electronic databases was performed to identify publications of clinical studies involving knee arthroplasty, in which a scoring system was used to assess patient outcomes. RESULTS: Of the 1994 unique publications identified, 438 met the selection criteria. Identified articles reported a total of 86 scoring systems, 5 of which were reported in greater than 10.0% of included studies. The 1989 Knee Society Score was markedly the most utilized scoring system (58.7%). Use of the Knee Society Score was significantly associated with orthopedic journal impact factor (IF; P = .001), with greater use observed in journals of lower IF. Use of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index escalated with increasing IF; however, no statistically significant association was observed. A preference for scoring systems developed in the country of residence of the first author was also identified. CONCLUSIONS: A large number of scoring systems are used to assess knee arthroplasty patients; however, 5 scores are consistently reported. By identifying and quantifying scoring system use, this review hopes to stimulate regularity in score usage to allow for improvements in comparability of clinician and patient-reported outcome measures in the knee arthroplasty literature.

Improving clinical examination in acute tibial fractures by enhancing visual cues: the case for always 'cutting back' a tibial back-slab and marking the dorsalis pedis pulse.

Look, feel, move is a simple and widely taught sequence to be followed when undertaking a clinical examination in orthopaedics (Maher et al., 1994; McRae, 1999; Solomon et al., 2010). The splinting of an acute tibial fracture with a posterior back-slab is also common practice; with the most commonly taught design involving covering the dorsum of the foot with bandaging (Charnley, 1950; Maher et al., 1994; McRae, 1989). We investigated the effect of the visual cues provided by exposing the dorsum of the foot and marking the dorsalis pedis pulse. We used a clinical simulation in which we compared the quality of the recorded clinical examination undertaken by 30 nurses. The nurses were randomly assigned to assess a patient with either a traditional back-slab or one in which the dorsal bandaging had been cut back and the dorsalis pedis pulse marked. We found that the quality of the recorded clinical examination was significantly better in the cut-back group. Previous studies have shown that the cut-back would not alter the effectiveness of the back-slab as a splint (Zagorski et al., 1993). We conclude that all tibial back-slabs should have the bandaging on the dorsum of the foot cut back and the location of the dorsalis pedis pulse marked. This simple adaptation will improve the subsequent clinical examinations undertaken and recorded without reducing the back-slab's effectiveness as a splint.

Inter-observer and intra-observer reliability of mechanical axis alignment before and after total knee arthroplasty using long leg radiographs.

BACKGROUND: Long leg radiographs (LLRs) are commonly performed for assessment of mechanical alignment and operative planning in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The aim of this study was to determine the inter- and intra-observer reliability of alignment measured by observers of different levels of experience. METHODS: Forty patients on the waiting list for a TKA had pre- and post-operative standardised LLRs. We analysed the measurements of mechanical axis alignment between an orthopaedic surgeon, a senior orthopaedic registrar, a junior orthopaedic registrar, and a medical student. Reviewers performed blinded measurements on the same computer screen. These measurements were repeated three months later to assess intra-observer reliability. Furthermore high-resolution screens were compared with standard hospital computer screens to investigate whether monitoring quality influenced the accuracy of measurements of alignment. RESULTS: Inter-observer reliability was high for pre-operative LLRs with an intra-class correlation (ICC) of >0.9 at all experience levels. Post-operative ICC was lowest between the surgeon and the medical student at 0.7. Intra-observer reliability was high at all experience levels. Larger deformities appeared to have exaggerated measurements for both pre- and post-operative images. There appeared to be no effect of the monitor size and quality on the accuracy of measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Long leg radiographs can be used to measure mechanical axis alignment with strong reliability across different levels of experience. This information is important for the evaluation of knee alignment measurements in current clinical practice, to assess severity of deformity and to accompany pre-operative planning and post-operative evaluation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Hand infection patients presenting to an orthopaedic unit: An audit of incidence and demographics at a rural hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Hand infections are a common presentation to health services in the Northern Territory; however, little is known about these patients. This study aims to identify incidence, treatment and co-morbidities of hand infection patients and to pinpoint factors associated with poor outcome. DESIGN: A retrospective study of all patients presenting to Alice Springs Hospital with a hand infection during 2012. SETTING: Orthopaedic Unit at Alice Springs Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: All patients admitted with a hand infection were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Admission duration, duration waited before first presentation, re-admission rate, duration of re-admission and rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. RESULTS: One hundred fourteen cases of hand infections were admitted to Alice Springs Hospital during 2012, of which 87 (76%) were in Indigenous patients. Indigenous patients (P = 0.001) and older patients (P = 0.038) had significantly longer admissions. Indigenous patients were 9.52 times (P = 0.038) more likely to be re-admitted than non-Indigenous patients. The rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 24.6%, and this was associated with smoking (P = 0.049) and substance abuse (P = 0.036). Formal follow-up was not related to indirect measures of hand infection severity, such as admission duration or re-admissions. CONCLUSION: Hand infections are a common presentation to Alice Springs Hospital. Indigenous people are admitted 2.38 times longer after adjusting for age and alcohol abuse. They have a more than ninefold chance of being re-admitted to hospital than non-Indigenous people following a hand infection.

Hydrogen-rich saline attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury in skeletal muscle.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the potential beneficial effect of hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) in ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury of skeletal muscle. METHODS: Three experimental groups were established in male Sprague-Dawley rats: (1) sham group, (2) IR with normal saline group, (3) and IR with HRS group. A rat model of skeletal muscle IR injury was induced by 3-h tourniquet occlusion on its left hind limb and 4-h reperfusion. Normal saline and HRS (1.0 mL/100 g) were administered intraperitoneally at 10 min before reperfusion, respectively. Muscle and serum samples were analyzed for detecting the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydroxyl radical (•OH). Muscle samples were assessed by wet/dry rate, hematoxylin and eosin histologic assessment, Bcl2, Bax, cytochrome C, LC3B, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling, and electron microscopy. RESULTS: The wet/dry ratio increased significantly in the IR group (P < 0.01 compared with that in the sham group) and decreased significantly in IR with HRS groups (4.12 ± 0.14 versus 4.12 ± 0.14, P < 0.01 compared with that in the IR group). Muscle tissues and serum of the IR group had significantly increased levels of MPO, MDA, •OH content, and decreased SOD activities compared with the sham group (P < 0.01). The activity of SOD in the IR with HRS group was greatly elevated compared with that in the IR group (295.028 ± 9.288 versus 249.190 ± 5.450 in muscle tissues; 91.627 ± 2.604 versus 73.4045 ± 6.487 in serum; P < 0.01), whereas the levels of MPO, MDA, and •OH content were clearly reduced (MPO: 0.5649 ± 0.0724 versus 1.0984 ± 0.0824 in muscle tissues; 0.7257 ± 0.1232 versus 1.3147 ± 0.0531 in serum. MDA: 4.457 ± 0.650 versus 7.107 ± 0.597 in muscle tissues; 2.531 ± 0.434 versus 4.626 ± 0.237 in serum. •OH: 16.451 ± 0.806 versus 19.871 ± 0.594 in muscle tissues; 500.212 ± 7.387 versus 621.352 ± 7.591 in serum, P < 0.01). The integrated optical density of positive amethyst staining increased significantly in the IR group (P < 0.01 compared with that in the sham group) and decreased significantly in IR with HRS group (928.79 ± 234.537 versus 3005.972 ± 83.567, P < 0.01 compared with that in the IR group). Muscle tissues of the IR group had significantly increased levels of Bax, cytochrome C, LC3B content, and decreased Bcl2 activities compared with those in the sham group (P < 0.01). The activity of Bcl2 in the IR with HRS group was greatly elevated compared with that in the IR group (0.2635 ± 0.0704 versus 0.1242 ± 0.0662; P < 0.01), whereas the levels of Bax, cytochrome C, and LC3B content were clearly reduced (Bax: 0.3103 ± 0.0506 versus 0.5122 ± 0.0148; cytochrome C: 0.4194 ± 0.1116 versus 0.8127 ± 0.0166; LC3B: 0.5884 ± 0.0604 versus 1.3758 ± 0.0319; respectively, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: HRS seems to be effective in attenuating IR injury in skeletal muscle via its antioxidant, anti-apoptosis, and anti-autophagy effect.

Developing an interprofessional capability framework for teaching healthcare students in a primary healthcare setting.

This article is based on a partnership between a primary health service and a university whose shared goal was to prepare students and graduates for interprofessional practice (IPP). This collaborative process led to the development of consensus on an interprofessional capability framework. An action research methodology was adopted to study the development and progress of the partnership between university and health service providers. The initial aim was to understand their perceptions of IPP. Following this, the findings and draft capabilities were presented back to the groups. Finalisation of the capabilities took place with shared discussion and debate on how to implement them in the primary care setting. Several ideas and strategies were generated as to how to prepare effective interprofessional learning experiences for students in both environments (university and primary health care setting). Extensive stakeholder consultation from healthcare providers and educators has produced a framework, which incorporates the shared views and understandings, and can therefore be widely used in both settings. Development of a framework of capabilities for IPP, through a collaborative process, is a useful strategy for achieving agreement. Such a framework can guide curriculum for use in university and health service settings to assist incorporation of interprofessional capabilities into students' learning and practice.