Socioeconomic differences between medically and surgically treated prolactinomas: a retrospective review of 598 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Socioeconomic status (SES) is known to affect presentations and outcomes in pituitary neuroendocrine tumor resections, but there is a paucity of literature examining its impact specifically on patients with prolactinomas, who may be treated medically or surgically. The authors sought to determine whether SES was associated with differences in treatment choice or outcomes for prolactinoma patients. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed patient records at a high-volume academic pituitary center for prolactinoma diagnoses. Patients were split into medically and surgically treated cohorts. Race, ethnicity, insurance status, primary care physician (PCP) status, and zip code-based income data were collected and examined as socioeconomic covariates. Outcomes of interest included pretreatment likelihood of surgical cure, medical versus surgical treatment allocation, and posttreatment remission rates. RESULTS: The authors analyzed 568 prolactinoma patients (351 medically treated and 217 surgically treated). Patients receiving surgery were more likely to have Medicaid or private insurance (p < 0.001) and have lower incomes (p < 0.001) than medically treated patients. Lower-income surgical patients were more likely to require surgical intervention for an indication such as tumor decompression than higher-income patients (p = 0.023). Surgical patients with a PCP had a higher estimated likelihood of surgical cure (p = 0.008), while no SES-based differences in surgical remission likelihood existed in the medical cohort. After surgery, surgical patients who achieved remission had significantly higher income than those who did not (p < 0.001). Other SES factors were not associated with surgical remission, and among medically treated patients, remission rates were not affected by any SES factor. Income was inversely related to prolactinoma size in both cohorts (surgical, p < 0.001; medical, p = 0.005) but was associated more prominently in surgical patients (surgical, -0.65 mm per $10,000; medical, -0.37 mm per $10,000). CONCLUSIONS: While surgical prolactinoma patients were prone to income and PCP-related disparities, no SES disparities were found among medically treated patients. Income had a more pronounced association with tumor size in the surgical cohort and likely contributed to the increased need for surgical intervention seen in low-income surgical patients. Addressing socioeconomic healthcare disparities is needed among surgical prolactinoma patients to increase rates of early presentation and improve the outcomes of low-SES populations.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields Disrupt Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms and Enhance the Antibiofilm Efficacy of Antibiotics.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is implicated in a multitude of human infections and is one of the major causes of clinical infections in hospitals, especially at surgical sites and on indwelling medical devices, such as orthopedic implants. These infections are especially dangerous because of the S. epidermidis propensity to form biofilms, which increases resistance to antibiotics and the natural immune response. This study investigated pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) as a potential treatment to combat such infections, as PEMF exposure was expected to disrupt the electrostatic forces that adhere staphylococcal cells to surfaces and to one another. To test the effect of PEMF on biofilms, S. epidermidis cultures were exposed to PEMF at various durations either during the growth phase or after a full biofilm had formed. In addition, cells were exposed to PEMF and concomitant antibiotic treatment. Biofilm viability was quantified by both crystal violet and alamarBlue assays and scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that PEMF significantly inhibited biofilm formation and disrupted preformed biofilms in vitro while also showing synergistic biofilm inhibition when combined with antibiotics. These combined results indicate that PEMF should be considered a promising novel technique for treating S. epidermidis biofilm infections and undergo further testing in vivo. IMPORTANCE Antibiotic resistance and biofilm infections are major issues in health care because of the lack of a successful treatment modality and poor patient outcomes. These infections are a particular issue following orthopedic surgery or trauma wherein an infection may form on an orthopedic implant or patient's bone. The presented study demonstrates that pulsed electromagnetic fields may be a promising novel treatment for such infections and can overcome the medical challenges presented by biofilm formation. Furthermore, the effects demonstrated are even greater when combining pulsed electromagnetic field therapy with traditional antibiotics.

Neurostimulation as an Efficacious Nonpharmacologic Analgesic following Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair.

This case highlights the importance of pursuing nonpharmacologic analgesic modalities in orthopedic surgery to combat the current opioid epidemic. Presented is a patient who underwent an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and biceps tenodesis operation and through the use of neurostimulation (in the form of auricular electrostimulation), fully recovered from surgery without the usage of any opioid or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. The patient was fitted with a novel auricular electrostimulation device (DyAnsys Primary Relief) in the immediate postoperative period that provided constant neurostimulation for 10 days, this neurostimulator was the only analgesic modality used in this case, and the patient reported minimal postoperative pain. The utility of this case centers around the lack of postoperative opioid use, presenting the idea that postsurgical orthopedic pain can be managed in a nonpharmacologic capacity, combatting the fields' ongoing opioid epidemic.

Reduction in opioid use with perioperative non-pharmacologic analgesia in total knee arthroplasty and ACL reconstruction: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The world's opioid epidemic has gotten increasingly severe over the last several decades and projects to continue worsening. Orthopedic surgery is the largest contributor to this epidemic, accounting for 8.8% of postoperative opioid dependence cases. Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are commonly performed orthopedic operations heavily reliant on opioids as the primary analgesic in the peri- and immediate postoperative period. These downfalls highlight the pressing need for an alternate, non-pharmacologic analgesic to reduce postoperative opioid use in orthopedic patients. The presented systematic review aimed to analyze and compare the most promising non-pharmacologic analgesic interventions in the available literature to guide future research in such a novel field. METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science was performed for studies published before July 2020 based on the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) guidelines, and the obtained manuscripts were evaluated for inclusion or exclusion against strict, pre-determined criteria. Risk-of-bias and GRADE (grades of recommendation, assessment, development, and evaluation) assessments were then performed on all included studies. RESULTS: Six studies were deemed fit for inclusion, investigating three non-pharmacologic analgesics: percutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation, cryoneurolysis, and auricular acupressure. All three successfully reduced postoperative opioid use while simultaneously maintaining the safety and efficacy of the procedure. DISCUSSION: The results indicate that all three presented non-pharmacologic analgesic interventions are viable and warrant future research. That said, because of its slight advantages in postoperative pain control and operational outcomes, cryoneurolysis seems to be the most promising. Further research and eventual clinical implementation of these analgesics is not only warranted but should be a priority because of their vast potential to reduce orthopedics surgeries' contribution to the opioid epidemic.