Limited Health Literacy Among Patients With Orthopedic Injuries: A Cross-sectional Survey of Patients Who Underwent Orthopedic Trauma Surgery in a County Hospital Setting.

BACKGROUND: Patients with limited health literacy have difficulty understanding their injuries and postoperative treatment, which can negatively affect their outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of 103 adult patients sought to quantify patients' health literacy at a single county hospital's orthopedic trauma clinic and to examine their ability to understand injuries and treatment plans. Demographics, Newest Vital Sign (NVS) health literacy assessment, and knowledge scores were used to assess patients' comprehension of their injuries and treatment plan. Patients were grouped by NVS score (NVS <4: limited health literacy). Fisher's exact tests and t tests were used to compare demographic and comprehension scores. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association among low health literacy, sociodemographic variables, and knowledge scores. RESULTS: Of the 103 patients, 75% were determined to have limited health literacy. Patients younger than 30 years were more likely to have adequate literacy (50% vs 23%, P=.01). Patients who spoke Spanish as their primary language were 8.77 times more likely to have limited health literacy with respect to sociodemographic factors (odds ratio, 8.77; 95% CI, 1.03-76.92; P=.04). Low health literacy was 3.52 and 4.14 times more likely to predict discordance in answers to specific bone fractures and the narcotics prescribed (P=.04 and P=.02, respectively). CONCLUSION: Spanish-speaking patients have demonstrated limited health literacy and difficulty understanding their injuries and postoperative treatment plans compared with English-speaking patients. Patients with low health literacy are more likely to be unsure regarding which bone they fractured or their prescribed opiates. [Orthopedics. 2024;47(4):249-255.].

Reverse Obliquity Intertrochanteric Femur Fractures: Technical Tips to Avoid Failure.

SUMMARY: Reverse obliquity intertrochanteric femur fractures represent a substantial proportion of all trochanteric hip fractures. These challenging fracture patterns are unique, with their primary fracture plane from distal-lateral to proximal-medial. The use of modern cephalomedullary fixation has yielded successful results, although technical factors including avoiding malreduction and preventing collapse remain challenging. The use of adjunctive techniques including cerclage wires, colinear clamps, and mini-fragment plates can facilitate reduction efforts. The purpose of this article was to review technical tips and common pitfalls in the operative treatment of reverse obliquity intertrochanteric femur fractures.

Characterizing Intraoperative Vasopressor Use in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Preoperative optimization and protocols for joint replacement care pathways have led to decreased length of stay (LOS)and narcotic use, and are increasingly important in delivering quality, cost savings, and shifting appropriate cases to an outpatient setting. The intraoperative use of vasopressors is independently associated with increased LOS and risk of adverse postoperative events including death, and in total hip arthroplasty, there is an increased risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Our aim is to characterize the patient characteristics associated with vasopressor use specifically in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of a cohort of patients who underwent inpatient primary TKA at a single academic hospital from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018. Demographics, comorbidities, perioperative factors, and intraoperative medication administration were compared with multivariate regression to identify patients who may require intraoperative vasopressors. Out of these, 748 patients underwent TKA, 439 patients required intraoperative vasopressors, while 307 did not. Significant independent predictors of vasopressor use were older age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.08) and history of a prior cerebrovascular accident (CVA; OR = 11.80, CI: 1.48-93.81). While not significant, male sex (OR = 0.72, CI: 0.50-1.04) and regional anesthesia (OR = 0.64, CI: 0.40-1.05) were nearing significance as negative independent predictors of vasopressor use. In a secondary analysis, we did not observe an increase in complications attributable to vasopressor administration intraoperatively. In conclusion, nearly 59% of patients undergoing TKA received intraoperative vasopressor support. History of stroke and older age were significantly associated with increased intraoperative vasopressor use. As the first study to examine vasopressor usage in a TKA patient population, we believe that understanding the association between patient characteristics and intraoperative vasopressor support will help orthopaedic surgeons select the appropriate surgical setting during preoperative optimization.

Arthroscopic Subscapularis Repair Using a Clever Hook and Lasso Loop Technique in the Beach Chair Position: A Simple and Reproducible Guide.

Addressing subscapularis tendon pathology has garnered increased attention during shoulder arthroscopy in attempt to adequately restore glenohumeral force couples. The appropriate rebalancing of force couples of the rotator cuff musculature by repairing subscapularis tendon tears in patients with large rotator cuff tears has been shown to improve functional outcomes while decreasing retear rates. However, subscapularis tendon tears may be particularly challenging to diagnose and present a significant degree of technical difficulty with the description of multiple arthroscopic and open surgical techniques. In this comprehensive guide, we put forth a simple, concise, and reproducible arthroscopic technique using a Clever Hook and Lasso Loop stitch technique for repairing both high-grade partial and full-thickness tears of the subscapularis tendon.

Survivorship of Megaprostheses in Revision Hip and Knee Arthroplasty for Septic and Aseptic Indications: A Retrospective, Multicenter Study With Minimum 2-Year Follow-Up.

BACKGROUND: The use of megaprostheses in nononcologic patients has been associated with complication rates greater than 50%. In patients with prior periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) with subsequent two-stage reimplantation, this complication rate may be even higher. This study was to investigate the outcomes of megaprostheses in nononcologic patients undergoing revision hip/knee arthroplasty. METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients who underwent megaprosthesis replacements from 1999 to 2017 at 5 hospitals with minimum 24 months of follow-up. Patients were stratified based on history of prior PJI (septic vs aseptic) and location of the megaprosthesis (the hip or knee). Postoperative complications were classified as soft-tissue failure, aseptic loosening, structural failure, and infection. RESULTS: Of the 42 patients, 19 were in the septic cohort and 23 were in the aseptic cohort. The overall complication rate was 28.6%. Complication rates for the septic and aseptic cohorts were 32% and 26%, respectively (P = .74). By anatomic location, there were 2 of 13 (15%) and 10 of 29 (34%) complications in the hip and knee groups, respectively (P = .28). In the septic cohort, there were no (0%) complications in the hip group and 6 of 14 (43%) complications in the knee group (P = .13), all due to infection. In the aseptic cohort, there were 2 of 8 (25%) and 4 of 15 (27%) complications in the hip and knee groups, respectively (P = 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: There is no difference in the postoperative complication rates between the septic or aseptic cohorts undergoing revision hip or knee megaprosthesis replacements. In patients with prior PJI, proximal femoral replacements have improved short-term survivorship compared with distal femoral or proximal tibial replacements.

Sustained Ca2+ mobilizations: A quantitative approach to predict their importance in cell-cell communication and wound healing.

Epithelial wound healing requires the coordination of cells to migrate as a unit over the basement membrane after injury. To understand the process of this coordinated movement, it is critical to study the dynamics of cell-cell communication. We developed a method to characterize the injury-induced sustained Ca2+ mobilizations that travel between cells for periods of time up to several hours. These events of communication are concentrated along the wound edge and are reduced in cells further away from the wound. Our goal was to delineate the role and contribution of these sustained mobilizations and using MATLAB analyses, we determined the probability of cell-cell communication events in both in vitro models and ex vivo organ culture models. We demonstrated that the injury response was complex and represented the activation of a number of receptors. In addition, we found that pannexin channels mediated the cell-cell communication and motility. Furthermore, the sustained Ca2+ mobilizations are associated with changes in cell morphology and motility during wound healing. The results demonstrate that both purinoreceptors and pannexins regulate the sustained Ca2+ mobilization necessary for cell-cell communication in wound healing.