Critical roles of orthopaedic surgeon leadership in healthcare systems to improve orthopaedic surgical patient safety.

BACKGROUND: The prevention of medical and surgical harm remains an important public health problem despite increased awareness and implementation of safety programs. Successful introduction and maintenance of surgical safety programs require both surgeon leadership and collaborative surgeon-hospital alignment. Documentation of success of such surgical safety programs in orthopaedic practice is limited. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We describe the scope of orthopaedic surgical patient safety issues, define critical elements of orthopaedic surgical safety, and outline leadership roles for orthopaedic surgeons needed to establish and sustain a culture of safety in contemporary healthcare systems. METHODS: We identified the most common causes of preventable surgical harm based on adverse and sentinel surgical events reported to The Joint Commission. A comprehensive literature review through a MEDLINE(®) database search (January 1982 through April 2012) to identify pertinent orthopaedic surgical safety articles found 14 articles. Where gaps in orthopaedic literature were identified, the review was supplemented by 22 nonorthopaedic surgical references. Our final review included 36 articles. RESULTS: Six important surgical safety program elements needed to eliminate preventable surgical harm were identified: (1) effective surgical team communication, (2) proper informed consent, (3) implementation and regular use of surgical checklists, (4) proper surgical site/procedure identification, (5) reduction of surgical team distractions, and (6) routine surgical data collection and analysis to improve the safety and quality of surgical patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Successful surgical safety programs require a culture of safety supported by all six key surgical safety program elements, active surgeon champions, and collaborative hospital and/or administrative support designed to enhance surgical safety and improve surgical patient outcomes. Further research measuring improvements from such surgical safety systems in orthopaedic care is needed.

In vivo knee kinematics during stair and deep flexion activities in patients with bicruciate substituting total knee arthroplasty.

Orthopedic surgeons and their patients continue to seek better functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty. The bicruciate substituting (BCS) total knee arthroplasty design has been introduced to achieve more natural knee mechanics. The purpose of this study was to characterize kinematics in knees with BCS arthroplasty during deep flexion and stair activities using fluoroscopy and model-image registration. In 20 patients with 25 BCS knees, we observed average implant flexion of 128° during kneeling and consistent posterior condylar translations with knee flexion. Tibial rotations were qualitatively similar to those observed in the arthritic natural knee. Knee kinematics with BCS arthroplasty were qualitatively more similar to arthritic natural knees than knees with either posterior cruciate-retaining or posterior-stabilized arthroplasty.

Staphylococcus aureus nasal decolonization in joint replacement surgery reduces infection.

UNLABELLED: Surgical site infections (SSIs) with Staphylococcus aureus are a recognized adverse event of hip and knee replacements. We evaluated the impact of a program to detect S. aureus nasal carriers before surgery with preoperative decolonization (using mupirocin twice daily for 5 days prior to surgery) of carriers. Nasal swab samples were obtained from patients prior to surgery from 8/1/2003 through 2/28/2005. Samples were tested using real-time PCR technology to detect S. aureus. The group that developed S. aureus SSI was compared to a combined concurrent and historical control for one year following the operation. S. aureus caused 71% of SSIs in the combined control groups. Of the 1495 surgical candidates evaluated, 912 (61.0%) were screened for S. aureus; 223 of those screened (24.5%) were positive and then decolonized with mupirocin. Among the 223 positive and decolonized patients, three (1.3%) developed a SSI. Among the 689 screen-negative patients, four (0.6%) developed SSIs for an overall rate of 0.77%. Among the 583 control patients who were not screened or decolonized, 10 (1.7%) developed S. aureus SSIs. SSIs from other organisms were 0.44% and 0.69%, respectively. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Case series report: Early cement-implant interface fixation failure in total knee replacement.

BACKGROUND: Early failure in cemented total knee replacement (TKR) due to aseptic loosening is uncommon. A small number of early failures requiring revision were observed at one hospital due to observed cement-implant fixation failure. The purpose of this case series is to report and identify possible causes for these early failures. METHODS: Between May 2005 and December 2010, 3048 primary TKRs were performed over a five-year period of time by six surgeons. Two total knee systems were used during this period of time. Nine early failures were observed in eight patients. High viscosity cement (HVC) was used in all these cases. RESULTS: Aseptic loosening of the tibial component was observed in all nine early total knee failures. The high viscosity bone cement was noted to be non-adherent to the tibial trays at the time of revision surgery. HVC was used in all these cases. CONCLUSIONS: Properties of HVC may contribute to make it more susceptible to early failure in a small number of TKRs. HVC in total hip replacement (THR) has been associated with cement micro-fractures, cement debris generation and early implant failure. The mechanical properties of HVC may similarly contribute to early failure at the cement-implant interface in a small percentage TKRs.