Risk of Acute Compartment Syndrome in Pediatric Patients With Tibial Tubercle Avulsion Fractures: A Retrospective Review.

OBJECTIVE: Tibial tubercle avulsion fractures (TTAFs) represent 0.4% to 2.7% of pediatric physeal injuries. These injuries are thought to confer a risk of acute compartment syndrome (ACS), and these patients are often admitted for compartment monitoring and, in many cases, undergo prophylactic fasciotomy. This study sought to review our institution's experience with TTAF and associated compartment syndrome in pediatric patients. METHODS: All patients aged 8 to 18 years with TTAF at our institution from January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, fracture morphology, and postinjury course were reviewed. ACS was diagnosed by clinical exam or necessitating therapeutic compartment fasciotomy. RESULTS: A total of 49 TTAFs in 47 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 14.5 ± 1.2 years (range: 11 to 17), and males were significantly older than females (14.6 ± 1.1 vs 13.3 ± 1.3 y, P = 0.01). The average body mass index was 27.1 ± 7.0, and males had a significantly lower body mass index than females (26.3 ± 6.5 vs 34.1 ± 8.5, P = 0.03). Basketball was the most common mechanism of injury (49%), followed by soccer (13%), football (11%), trampoline (6%), fall (6%), jumping (4%), lacrosse (4%), running (4%), and softball (2%). The Ogden fracture types were as follows: I: 10%; II: 16%; III: 41%; IV: 24%; V: 8%. Thirty-four patients (69%) were admitted to the hospital for at least one night after presentation. Forty-six (96%) underwent surgical fixation an average of 3.5 days after injury. No patients developed ACS during their post-injury or postoperative course. Three patients underwent the removal of hardware. No other complications were observed. The average follow-up duration was 238 days. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the risk of ACS in pediatric patients with TTAF may be small enough to allow for same-day discharge after diagnosis or operative management in patients deemed to be sufficiently low risk by clinical judgment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III-retrospective comparative study.

Social deprivation index affects time to MRI after knee injury in pediatric patients and is predicted by patient demographics.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to characterize the association between the timing of MRI ordering and completion for pediatric knee injuries and Social Deprivation Index (SDI), which is a comprehensive, validated, county-level, measure of socioeconomic variation in health outcomes based upon combining geography, income, education, employment, housing, household characteristics, and access to transportation. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was completed of patients 21 years old and younger from our institution with a history of knee sports injury (ligamentous/soft tissue injury, structural abnormality, instability, inflammation) evaluated with MRI between 5/26/2017 and 12/28/2020. Patients were from three states and attended to by physicians associated with an urban academic institution. Patients were assigned SDI scores based on their ZIP code. Excluded from the study were patients with a non-knee related diagnosis (hip, foot, or ankle), patients from ZIP codes with unknown SDI, and non-sports medicine diagnoses (tumor, infection, fracture). RESULTS: In a multivariate regression analysis of 355 patients, increased SDI was independently associated with increased time from clinic visit to MRI order (p = 0.044) and from clinic visit to MRI completion (p = 0.047). Each 10-point increase in SDI (0-100) was associated with a delay of 7.2 days on average. SDI itself was found to be associated with a patient's race (p < 0.001), ethnicity (p < 0.001), and insurance category (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Increased SDI is independently associated with longer time from clinic visit to knee MRI order and longer time from clinic visit to knee MRI completion in our pediatric population. Recognizing potential barriers to orthopedic care can help create the change necessary to provide the best possible care for all individual patients.

Posterior Cruciate Ligament and Patellar Tendon Can Predict Anterior Cruciate Ligament Size for Planning During ACL Reconstruction in Pediatric Patients.

Purpose: To establish correlations between the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and patellar tendon in normal pediatric knees to inform surgical planning for ACL reconstruction graft size. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging scans of patients ages 8 to 18 years were assessed. Measurements included ACL and PCL length, thickness, and width, and ACL footprint thickness and width at the tibial insertion. Interrater reliability was assessed with a random set of 25 patients. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the correlation between ACL, PCL, and patellar tendon measurements. Linear regression models were used to test whether the relationships differed by sex or age. Results: Magnetic resonance imaging scans of 540 patients were assessed. Interrater reliability was high for all measurements except PCL thickness at midsubstance. Sample equations for estimating ACL size are as follows: ACL length = 22.61 + 1.55∗PCL origin width (R2 = 0.46; 8- to 11-year-old male patients), ACL length = 12.37 + 0.58∗PCL length + 2.29∗PCL origin thickness - 0.90∗PCL insertion width (R2 = 0.68; 8- to 11-year-old female patients), ACL midsubstance thickness = 4.95 + 0.25∗PCL midsubstance thickness + 0.04∗PCL insertion thickness - 0.08∗PCL insertion width (R2 = 0.12; 12- to 18-year-old male patients), and ACL midsubstance width = 0.57 + 0.23∗PCL midsubstance thickness + 0.07∗PCL midsubstance width + 0.16∗PCL insertion width (R2 = 0.24; 12- to 18-year-old female patients). Conclusions: We found correlations between ACL, PCL, and patellar tendon measurements that can be used to create equations that predict ACL size in various dimensions based on PCL and patellar tendon measurements. Clinical Relevance: There is a lack of consensus on the ideal ACL graft diameter for pediatric ACL reconstruction. The findings from this study can assist orthopaedic surgeons to individualize ACL graft size for specific patients.

The Impact of a Resident's Sense of Control on Burnout in Orthopaedic Surgery Residency.

¼: Physician burnout is a barrier to the patient-centered approach to health care. ¼: One of the driving factors of resident burnout is the decreased level of control that residents have over their everyday lives. ¼: Providing residents with a sense of control over their lives and their jobs increases job satisfaction and leads to a decrease in reports of negative effects on health, rest, participation in extracurricular activities, and time with family.

Psychological and Social Components of Recovery Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Young Athletes: A Narrative Review.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is a common injury in young athletes. To restore knee stability and function, patients often undergo ACL reconstruction (ACLR). Historically, there has been a focus in this population on the epidemiology of ACL injury, the technical aspects of ACL reconstruction, and post-operative functional outcomes. Although increasingly recognized as an important aspect in recovery, there remains limited literature examining the psychological aspects of post-operative rehabilitation and return to play following youth ACL reconstruction. Despite technical surgical successes and well-designed rehabilitation programs, many athletes never reach their preinjury athletic performance level and some may never return to their primary sport. This suggests that other factors may influence recovery, and indeed this has been documented in the adult literature. In addition to restoration of functional strength and stability, psychological and social factors play an important role in the recovery and overall outcome of ACL injuries in the pediatric population. Factors such as psychological readiness to return-to-play (RTP), motivation, mood disturbance, locus of control, recovery expectations, fear of reinjury, and self-esteem are correlated to the RTP potential of the young athlete. A better understanding of these concepts may help to maximize young patients' outcomes after ACL reconstruction. The purpose of this article is to perform a narrative review of the current literature addressing psychosocial factors associated with recovery after ACL injury and subsequent reconstruction in young athletes. Our goal is to provide a resource for clinicians treating youth ACL injuries to help identify patients with maladaptive psychological responses after injury and encourage a multidisciplinary approach when treating young athletes with an ACL rupture.

Symptomatic Posterior Cruciate Ligament Ganglion Cyst in a Child with Hemophilia: A Case Report.

CASE: We report the case of an active 8-year-old boy with a history of hemophilia and with a 1-year history of knee pain and limited range of motion. Magnetic resonance imaging of the knee demonstrated a ganglion cyst arising from the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Arthroscopic decompression of the cyst was performed, and he was asymptomatic at the 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates a rare finding of a pediatric PCL ganglion cyst. We suggest that clinicians should be aware of this as a cause of knee pain in the pediatric population and that arthroscopic management can be successful.

Accuracy of internet images of ligamentous knee injuries.

BACKGROUND: The internet is an easily accessible resource for both providers and patients. Despite this, the internet is not peer reviewed, leaving searches subject to inaccuracies, especially with regards to medical information. The purpose of this study was to review internet images of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) tears using two popular search engines: Google and Bing. METHODS: A search query was performed on both Google and Bing for the following terms: 'ACL tear', 'PCL tear', 'MCL tear' and 'LCL tear'. The first 100 images of each individual search were analyzed by three independent orthopedists. RESULTS: The inter-rater reliability was very good for PCL tear on Bing (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) and excellent (Cronbach's alpha > 0.9) for the remainder of the search queries. When comparing Google to Bing, the only significant difference occurred in the ACL group, with Bing returning a significantly greater number of correct images 60%, 95% CI: 53.2 - 66.7%) compared to Google (45% correct, 95% CI: 38.1-51.8%), p = 0.034. With regards to the other ligaments Bing was more accurate than Google for PCL (39% versus 38%), and LCL (32% to 30%). Both sites were 48% accurate for MCL tear. CONCLUSION: Ultimately, our study revealed that physicians should take an active role in making high quality, easy to understand medical resources and anatomic diagrams available to their patients to avoid confusion and enhance understanding when querying the internet for additional information regarding their condition.

Ultrasound determination of presence, length and diameter of the palmaris longus tendon.

Inadvertent median nerve harvest is a devastating complication of palmaris longus harvest. Accurate assessment of palmaris longus presence and dimensions preoperatively would minimize this risk and assure safe harvest. We hypothesized that ultrasound would accurately predict palmaris longus presence, length and diameter. Seventeen cadaveric forearms were studied using a LOGIQ-E9 ultrasound. Two radiologists assessed palmaris longus presence and dimensions. Each wrist was explored, and the tendon was harvested and measured. Inter-rater reliability and agreement between measurements was assessed. The palmaris longus was present in 13 of 17 forearms. Both radiologists correctly identified the tendon and its absence (sensitivity and specificity, 100%). Ultrasound assessment of palmaris longus dimensions significantly correlated with surgical measurements. Intraclass correlation coefficient between radiologists was 0.97. We conclude that ultrasound can determine palmaris longus presence and dimensions with excellent accuracy and inter-observer reliability. Ultrasound is useful for preoperative evaluation of the palmaris longus and its use will increase patient safety.

Mycobacterium cosmeticum Infection After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Case Report.

CASE: A 67-year-old immunocompetent man presented with a periprosthetic infection 4 months after a left total knee arthroplasty. Repeated aspirations failed to show any organism growth. After irrigation and debridement with polyethylene exchange, there was minimal clinical improvement. Subsequently, the patient developed an arthrocutaneous fistula, which prompted a 2-stage revision arthroplasty. Mycobacterium cosmeticum grew on the culture specimens taken during this procedure, and the patient was treated with 6 months of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an M. cosmeticum prosthesis-related infection. The patient recovered well following a 2-stage revision arthroplasty and treatment with a Mycobacterium species-specific antibiotic.