The Morbidity of Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome Versus That of Patients Awaiting Total Hip Replacement.

BACKGROUND: Greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) is a commonly diagnosed medical issue, yet there are little data assessing the relative morbidity of GTPS. We sought to characterize the morbidity on presentation of GTPS and compare it to that of patients with end-stage hip osteoarthritis awaiting total hip arthroplasty. We hypothesized that patients with GTPS would have morbidity similar to or worse than that of patients with osteoarthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective case-control study examined patient-reported outcome measures of 156 patients with GTPS (193 hips) and 300 patients with hip osteoarthritis before total hip arthroplasty (326 hips). Patients with secondary hip conditions or previous hip surgeries were excluded from the study. Patient-reported outcome measures were analyzed using an equivalence test and two one-sided t tests. RESULTS: Equivalence in mean visual analog scale pain scores between GTPS and osteoarthritis was established with a tolerance margin of ±10. The difference in mean visual analog scale pain scores was 0.35 (95% CI, -0.86 to 0.16; P=.02). The Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Quality of Life was much worse for patients with GTPS, placed well outside of the ±10 tolerance margin, and the difference in mean scores was 1.72 (95% Cl, -2.17 to -1.26; P=.99). Equivalence in mean UCLA Activity scores between GTPS and osteoarthritis was established with a tolerance margin of ±5. The difference in mean UCLA Activity scores was 0.002 (95% CI, -0.45 to 0.43; P<.01). CONCLUSION: The morbidity and functional limitations of patients with GTPS were similar to those of patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. GTPS remains a functional problem for patients, and clinicians and researchers should consider GTPS as seriously as hip osteoarthritis. [Orthopedics. 2024;47(4):205-210.].

Is Routine Hardware Removal Following Open Reduction Internal Fixation of Tarsometatarsal Joint Fracture/Dislocation Necessary?

Open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) is an accepted treatment for displaced tarsometatarsal joint (TMTJ) fracture dislocations. In general, hardware is routinely removed after 4 months to allow restoration of joint motion and avoid complications of hardware failure. Because few studies report outcomes of TMTJ fractures with retained hardware, there is little consensus regarding the optimal time for hardware removal or if hardware retention leads to adverse outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed the radiographic outcomes of retained hardware after ORIF of TMTJ fractures/dislocations in 61 patients. The mean age at the time of operation was 37.3 ± 14.9 years. ORIF was performed with 3.5 fully threaded cortical screws. Assessment of clinical and radiographic results was performed at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgical treatment. Out of the 61 patients that were included in this study, only 2 demographic variables demonstrated a trend for an adverse outcome. Older age correlated with lost reduction and elevated body mass index correlated with hardware failure. The presence of diabetes was correlated with an increased risk of postoperative infection but not hardware failure. During our follow-up period there were 49 patients (80.3 %) without failure of fixation. In conclusion, our study suggests that routine removal of hardware following open reduction and internal fixation of Lisfranc injuries in patients may not be necessary.

Magnetic resonance imaging identification of rotator cuff retears after repair: interobserver and intraobserver agreement.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most commonly used imaging modality to assess the rotator cuff. Currently, there are a limited number of studies assessing the interobserver and intraobserver reliability of MRI after rotator cuff repair. HYPOTHESIS: Fellowship-trained orthopaedic shoulder surgeons will have good inter- and intraobserver agreement with regard to features of the repaired rotator cuff (repair integrity, fat content, muscle volume, number of tendons involved, tear size, and retract) on MRI. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Seven fellowship-trained orthopaedic shoulder surgeons reviewed 31 MRI scans from 31 shoulders from patients who had previous rotator cuff repair. The scans were evaluated for the following characteristics: rotator cuff repair status (full-thickness retear vs intact repair), tear location, tendon thickness, fatty infiltration, atrophy, number of tendons involved in retear, tendon retraction, status of the long head of the biceps tendon, and bone marrow edema in the humeral head. Surgeons were asked to review images at 2 separate time points approximately 9 months apart and complete an evaluation form for each scan at each time point. Multirater kappa (κ) statistics were used to assess inter- and intraobserver reliability. RESULTS: The interobserver agreement was highest (80%, κ = 0.60) for identifying full-thickness retears, tendon retear retraction (64%, κ = 0.45), and cysts in the greater tuberosity (72%, κ = 0.43). All other variables were found to have fair to poor agreement. The worst interobserver agreement was associated with identifying rotator cuff footprint coverage (47%, κ = -0.21) and tendon signal intensity (29%, κ = -0.01). The mean intraobserver reproducibility was also highest (77%-90%, κ = 0.71) for full-thickness retears, quality of the supraspinatus (47%-83%, κ = 0.52), tears of the long head of the biceps tendon (58%-94%, κ = 0.49), presence of bone marrow edema in the humeral head (63%-87%, κ = 0.48), cysts in the greater tuberosity (70%-83%, κ = 0.47), signal in the long head of the biceps tendon (60%-80%, κ = 0.43), and quality of the infraspinatus (37-90%, κ = 0.43). The worst intraobserver reproducibility was found in identification of the location of bone marrow edema (22%-83%, κ = -0.03). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that there is substantial variability when evaluating MRI scans after rotator cuff repair. Intact rotator cuff repairs or full-thickness retears can be identified with moderate reliability. These findings indicate that additional imaging modalities may be needed for accurate assessment of the repaired rotator cuff.

Symptoms are a poor indication of severity of reflux in Barrett's oesophagus

AIMS: Patients with Barrett's oesophagus have increased acid and duodenogastric reflux and impaired motility compared with non-Barrett's patients with reflux disease. Impaired sensitivity to acid infusion and distension have also been described, but the relationship of this visceral response to symptoms is unclear. A symptom index was used to compare Barrett's and non-Barrett's patients with reflux. METHODS: Patients with reflux (DeMeester score above 14) were studied with 24-h pH monitoring and manometry. An event marker recorded symptom events. An event was positive if it corresponded to a period greater than 10 s within 2 min either side of the drop in pH. The symptom index was calculated as the number of symptoms with pH less than 4/total number of symptoms x 100. RESULTS: Eighteen patients with Barrett's oesophagus were compared with 58 non-Barrett's patients with significant reflux. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with Barrett's oesophagus have a low symptom index compared with non-Barrett's patients with reflux disease. This occurs despite a near 100 per cent increase in acid exposure in the Barrett's group. Symptoms are thus no guide to the severity of reflux in patients with Barrett's oesophagus. Proof of efficacy of therapeutic modalities may need physiological rather than symptom-based confirmation.

Specialized intestinal metaplasia: analysis of prevalence, risk factors and association with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease

AIMS: There is an increasing awareness that short (less than 3 cm) segments of Barrett's epithelium and macroscopically normal cardia epithelium may harbour specialized intestinal metaplasia (SIM), a premalignant phenotype. This was a prospective study of both the prevalence of SIM in an unselected population of patients attending for endoscopy, and the association of SIM with symptoms, lifestyle, medication, endoscopic oesophagitis and carditis. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive patients underwent endoscopy. Biopsies taken from just below the squamocolumnar junction were stained for SIM, and were analysed for carditis and Helicobacter pylori infection. A detailed questionnaire of symptoms, tobacco consumption and the use of proton pump inhibitors was completed. RESULTS: Forty-two patients (21 per cent) had SIM, 19 of 126 (15 per cent) in an endoscopically normal oesophagus, 15 of 63 (24 per cent) in a short segment of Barrett's epithelium and eight of 11 in classical Barrett's oesophagus. Comparative analysis between the SIM positive and negative groups with respect to potential risk factors is outlined below. Table 1. CONCLUSION: SIM is prevalent in patients undergoing endoscopy, does not correlate with symptoms or with H. pylori infection, but is significantly associated with endoscopic and pathological markers of gastro-oesophageal reflux.