Nonoperative or Surgical Treatment of Acute Achilles' Tendon Rupture.

BACKGROUND: Whether surgical repair of an acute Achilles' tendon rupture by an open-repair or minimally invasive approach is associated with better outcomes than nonsurgical treatment is not clear. METHODS: We performed a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial that compared nonoperative treatment, open repair, and minimally invasive surgery in adults with acute Achilles' tendon rupture who presented to four trial centers. The primary outcome was the change from baseline in the Achilles' tendon Total Rupture Score (scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of tendon rerupture. RESULTS: A total of 554 patients underwent randomization, and 526 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean changes in the Achilles' tendon Total Rupture Score were -17.0 points in the nonoperative group, -16.0 points in the open-repair group, and -14.7 points in the minimally invasive surgery group (P = 0.57). Pairwise comparisons provided no evidence of differences between the groups. The changes from baseline in physical performance and patient-reported physical function were similar in the three groups. The number of tendon reruptures was higher in the nonoperative group (6.2%) than in the open-repair or minimally invasive surgery group (0.6% in each). There were 9 nerve injuries in the minimally invasive surgery group (in 5.2% of the patients) as compared with 5 in the open-repair group (in 2.8%) and 1 in the nonoperative group (in 0.6%). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with Achilles' tendon rupture, surgery (open repair or minimally invasive surgery) was not associated with better outcomes than nonoperative treatment at 12 months. (Funded by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority and Akershus University Hospital; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01785264.).

Acute versus delayed reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for proximal humeral fractures: a consecutive cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of displaced proximal humeral fractures (PHFs) remains controversial. Open reduction-internal fixation (ORIF) can be challenging, especially in elderly patients with poor bone quality, whereas hemiarthroplasty has had unpredictable outcomes. Conservative treatment may result in severe fracture sequelae with poor outcomes, requiring late reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) in many cases. The past few years have seen a shift toward the use of RTSA for the treatment of PHFs. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of RTSA between patients with acute fractures and patients who underwent delayed RTSA for fracture sequelae. Our hypothesis was that the outcomes of RTSA for acute PHFs would be better than those of delayed RTSA for fracture sequelae. METHODS: We followed up 36 patients with a mean age of 79.1 years who underwent primary RTSA for acute PHFs and 56 patients with a mean age of 72.1 years who underwent RTSA in delayed fashion for fracture sequelae, including failed ORIF. The minimum follow-up period was 24 months. The mean follow-up period was 39.3 months in the acute RTSA group and 56.6 months in the delayed RTSA group. Demographic data, radiographs, and surgery data were prospectively collected and analyzed. At final follow-up, range of motion and radiographic analysis findings, as well as the Subjective Shoulder Value (SSV) and Constant score (CS), were recorded. RESULTS: The clinical results favored the group undergoing acute RTSA for acute PHFs, with a mean SSV of 8.3 of 10 and adjusted CS of 88.9% compared with a mean SSV of 8.0 of 10 and adjusted CS of 77.6% in the group undergoing late RTSA for fracture sequelae-but without statistically significant differences between the groups. Although the acute RTSA group showed slightly better range-of-motion values, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups. No intraoperative complications occurred. The time from injury to the regaining of good pain-free function was significantly shorter in the acute RTSA group. CONCLUSION: Although there were no statistically significant differences in outcomes between early RTSA for acute PHFs and late RTSA for fracture sequelae, the time from injury to the regaining of good pain-free function was significantly shorter in the acute RTSA group. Therefore, we advocate early RTSA for acute PHFs in elderly patients to provide a quicker recovery and an early return to good predictable outcomes with a much shorter period of pain and discomfort. In cases of failed conservative treatment, malunion, or failed ORIF, salvage RTSA has the potential to provide a good outcome.

Impact of agile management on project performance: Evidence from I.T sector of Pakistan.

Over the past several years, global project management teams have been facing dynamic challenges that continue to grow exponentially with the increasing number of complexities associated with the undertaken tasks. The ever-evolving organizational challenges demand project managers to adapt novel management practices to accomplish organizational goals rather than following traditional management practices. Considering which, the current study aims to explain the effect of agile management practices upon project performance directly as well as while being mediated through project complexity. Furthermore, the aforementioned mediatory relationship is evaluated in terms of the moderating effect of leadership competencies. The current study utilized the survey approach to collect the data from registered I.T firms deployed in the potential metropolitans of each province of Pakistan including, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, and Karachi. A total of 176 responses were utilized for statistical evaluations. As result, it was observed that the negative influence anticipated by project complexity on project performance was compensated by the agile management practices. Further, the leadership competencies played a pivotal role in managing project complexity while implementing agile management practices and therefore enhancing project performance. The current study abridges the potential knowledge gap conceptually by evaluating the direct impact of agile management upon project performance while considering all of its aspects, exploring the mediatory role of project performance and evaluating the moderating role of leadership competencies in attaining optimum project performance. In contextual terms, the current study fills the knowledge gap by gauging the implications of agile management practices within the I.T sector of Pakistan. The results of the current study can be a potential guide for both the academicians and the industry professionals.

Early Peri-Prosthetic Joint Infection after Hemiarthroplasty for Hip Fracture: Outcomes of Debridement, Antibiotics, and Implant Retention.

Background: There are currently no treatment algorithms specifically for early peri-prosthetic joint infection (PJI) after hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture. Commonly, debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) is attempted as first-line management, despite lack of evidence supporting this strategy in this patient group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes of DAIR for early PJI after hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture in our unit. Methods: The departmental database from December 2008 to January 2019 was searched to identify all patients in our unit who were treated for early PJI after hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture. Data for included patients were collected from electronic healthcare records and analyzed. Primary outcome measure was treatment success, defined as patient survival to discharge, with eradication of infection and implant retention. Results: Twenty-six patients were identified and included in the study. Mean age was 84.7 years. All except one patient were American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 3 or 4. All patients were McPherson host grade B or C. Twenty-three of 26 patients underwent DAIR and three of 26 proceeded directly to excision arthroplasty. Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention was successful in three of 23 patients (13%) after a single procedure, with success in two additional patients after a second procedure, giving overall success rate of five of 23 patients (22%). Conclusions: Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention has a high failure rate in treating early PJI after hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture. These patients are generally elderly and frail with multiple host and wound compromising factors. Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention should not be recommended as first-line management for the majority of these patients, for whom getting it right the first time is of vital importance to avoid consequences associated with failed surgical procedures. Further multicenter studies that also explore alternate treatment strategies are required to devise an algorithm specifically for hip fracture patients, to aid decisions on treatment and improve outcomes.

Artificial Intelligence based accurately load forecasting system to forecast short and medium-term load demands.

An efficient management and better scheduling by the power companies are of great significance for accurate electrical load forecasting. There exists a high level of uncertainties in the load time series, which is challenging to make the accurate short-term load forecast (STLF), medium-term load forecast (MTLF), and long-term load forecast (LTLF). To extract the local trends and to capture the same patterns of short, and medium forecasting time series, we proposed long short-term memory (LSTM), Multilayer perceptron, and convolutional neural network (CNN) to learn the relationship in the time series. These models are proposed to improve the forecasting accuracy. The models were tested based on the real-world case by conducting detailed experiments to validate their stability and practicality. The performance was measured in terms of squared error, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). To predict the next 24 hours ahead load forecasting, the lowest prediction error was obtained using LSTM with R2 (0.5160), MLP with MAPE (4.97), MAE (104.33) and RMSE (133.92). To predict the next 72 hours ahead of load forecasting, the lowest prediction error was obtained using LSTM with R2 (0.7153), MPL with MAPE (7.04), MAE (125.92), RMSE (188.33). Likewise, to predict the next one week ahead load forecasting, the lowest error was obtained using CNN with R2 (0.7616), MLP with MAPE (6.162), MAE (103.156), RMSE (150.81). Moreover, to predict the next one-month load forecasting, the lowest prediction error was obtained using CNN with R2 (0.820), MLP with MAPE (5.18), LSTM with MAE (75.12) and RMSE (109.197). The results reveal that proposed methods achieved better and stable performance for predicting the short, and medium-term load forecasting. The findings of the STLF indicate that the proposed model can be better implemented for local system planning and dispatch, while it will be more efficient for MTLF in better scheduling and maintenance operations.

Medium Term Outcome For A Constrained Acetabular Component At A Single Institution: What Is Important For Success?

BACKGROUND: The use of constrained Total Hip Replacements (THR) is controversial due to lack of definite indications and potentially high failure rates because of mechanical loosening or component failure. A review was performed to assess a departmental use of a single constrained acetabular component over a ten years period. METHODS: Patient demographics, operative indications, complications and patient follow-up were recorded. Post-operative Oxford Hip Scores (OHS) were obtained via a combination of New Zealand Joint Registry interrogation and telephonic questioning. Cup version and inclination angles were obtained from standardised anteroposterior radiographs using established techniques. RESULTS: Forty-four constrained components (in 39 patients) were implanted between 2005 and 2014. The mean age was 78 years with mean ASA 2.7 and mean follow-up 37.2 months (range 13-116). The mean post-operative OHS was 36 (SD 9.25), and there were 4 failures (3 dislocations and 1 peri-prosthetic fracture). The 3 dislocations had either cup ante version (AV) or inclination angles (IA) outside the data set interquartile range (AV 13-24°, IA 40-50°). The cup inclination was significantly lower (p<0.01) in patients with pain on sitting. At post-operative follow-up, 14/39 patients had died from unrelated causes, with only 1 patient surviving beyond 6 years. CONCLUSIONS: Constrained acetabular components offer a solution to hip instability in a difficult group of patients. This study has shown good medium-term outcomes of a single component type in a predominantly frail group of low demand patients. Despite constraint, correct cup placement (particularly inclination) remains important to prevent dislocation or poor reported outcome.

Effectiveness Of Plain Shoulder Radiograph In Detecting Degenerate Rotator Cuff Tears.

BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated radiographic findings of sclerosis and cortical irregularity at the greater tuberosity can suggest a rotator cuff tear. Plain radiographs are the most easily attainable first-line investigations in evaluating shoulder injuries. This study determines the effectiveness in predicting degenerate rotator cuff tears by detecting radiographic changes on shoulder x-rays. METHODS: Retrospective cross-sectional study with a consecutive series of patients conducted in Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon, United Kingdom from January 2015 to June 2017. Anteroposterior shoulder radiographs of 150 symptomatic patients who underwent shoulder arthroscopy were independently analysed by surgeons who were blinded from the arthroscopic results. Patients aged fewer than 30 and over 70 years were excluded. Patients with advanced osteoarthritis and cuff tear arthropathy evident on x-rays were also excluded. Sixty-five patients included in the study had rotator cuff tears on arthroscopy. Radiographic changes were correlated with arthroscopic findings to determine this test's ability to predict degenerate rotator cuff tears. RESULTS: When both cortical irregularity and sclerosis were present on the plain radiograph, these signs had a sensitivity of 78.8% [95% CI 65.7, 87.8%] and specificity 77.4% [95% CI 67.2, 85.0%] with a positive predictive value of 68.3%, using contingency table analysis. The presence of cortical irregularity was found to be a better predictor of a tear as compared to sclerosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study concludes that plain radiograph are good modality for initial evaluation of rotator cuff tears and detecting when both cortical irregularity and sclerosis. Consideration of these radiographic findings serves as a useful adjunct in diagnostic workup and can guide subsequent investigations and treatment when evaluating rotator cuff tears of the shoulder.

Implants For Extracapsular Neck Of Femur Fracture Dynamic Hip Screw Versus Intramedullary Nailing.

Neck of femur fractures are the most prevalent type of injury in elderly trauma patients. Both intra and extra capsular type of fractures are equally distributed in the given population. Traditionally, Extra capsular fractures are fixed with Dynamic Hip screw or Intra medullary nailing based on the type of fracture. NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) recommends fixing 31-A1 and 31-A2 fractures with DHS (Dynamic Hip Screw) whereas AO recommends fixing 31-A1 with DHS and 31-A2.1 subtype with DHS and 31-A2.2 and 31-A2.3with IMN (Intra medullary nail). In regional trauma centre 178 patients, 125 females and 53 males with extra capsular neck of femur fractures fixed were selected in a retrospective study. The data was spanning over a period of 1 year. Fractures were classified as per AO classification by two registrars. The implant selection was analysed in terms of the short term out come to find out the cost effectiveness of one over the other. The quality of reduction was assessed as per standard criteria and consideration of lateral femoral wall thickness was taken into account to assess the stability of fracture. The study found more risk of peri prosthetic fractures associated with Intra medullary nailing as compared to Dynamic Hip screw and more risk of Varus collapse was found to be associated with DHS as compared to IM Nail. Moreover, despite of Nail being costly as compared to DHS, the study did not reveal its superiority in terms of inpatient hospital stay. In appropriately selected patient DHS provides results in terms of hospital stay, revision rate and wound complications comparable to IM Nail in the short term justifying its use in the above-mentioned fracture patterns as per the standard National Institute of clinical Excellence guidelines.