Incidence of peripheral nerve injury during shoulder arthroplasty when motor evoked potentials are monitored.

To report the incidence of clinically detectable nerve injuries when utilizing transcranial electrical motor evoked potentials (MEPs) during shoulder arthroplasty. A retrospective review of patients undergoing shoulder arthroplasty with continuous IONM was performed. The criteria for nerve alerts was an 80% amplitude reduction in MEPs. The primary outcome measure was post-operative clinically detectable nerve deficit. An additional retrospective analysis on a subset of cases using an all-or-none (100% amplitude reduction) criterion applied to the deltoid was performed. Two hundred eighty four arthroplasty cases were included. There were no permanent post-operative nerve injuries and two transient nerve injuries (0.7%). MEP alerts occurred in 102 cases (36.2%). Nineteen (6.7%) cases did not have signals return above alert threshold at closure. These cases were significantly associated with post-operative nerve injury (p = 0.03). There were no false negatives, making sensitivity 100% and specificity was 93.9%. In the subset of cases in which an all-or-none criterion was retrospectively applied to just the deltoid, MEP alerts occurred in just 17.9% of cases; specificity improved to 98.0%. We conclude that utilization of the real-time diagnostic MEP data during shoulder arthroplasty aids surgeons in decision making regarding impending peripheral nerve injuries.

Future surgery after revision shoulder arthroplasty: the impact of unexpected positive cultures.

BACKGROUND: The clinical implications and treatment of unexpected positive cultures (UPCs) in revision shoulder arthroplasty are not well defined. The purpose of this study was to describe results of patients with and without UPCs after revision shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS: A single institutional database was used to retrospectively identify all revision shoulder arthroplasties performed between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013. Patients with preoperative suspicion of infection were excluded. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for future surgery after revision shoulder arthroplasty. RESULTS: There were 117 revision shoulder arthroplasties without preoperative suspicion of infection. There were 28 of 117 (23.9%) with UPCs, of which 15 (57.1%) were Propionibacterium acnes; 18 of 28 (64.3%) patients received antibiotics for 6 weeks postoperatively without complications compared with 10 of 28 (35.7%) who received a routine 2-week empirical antibiotic regimen; 2 of 28 (7.1%) patients with UPCs required future surgery, and only 1 (3.6%) had a recurrent infection. Comparatively, 18 of 89 (20.2%) patients without UPCs (P = .109) required 25 additional surgeries. Average time to UPC was 4.3 years after index revision. Multivariable regression analysis of patient demographics, comorbidities, surgical procedure, and presence of UPCs found no independent predictors of reoperation. DISCUSSION: Nearly one-quarter of our institution's revision shoulder arthroplasties had UPCs. The patients without UPCs had a nonsignificantly higher risk of reoperation compared with those with UPCs. We did not identify clinical or demographic variables that independently correlated with reoperation. Further study will be necessary to determine the true clinical benefit of routine culture acquisition in cases with low suspicion for prosthetic joint infection.

SenseCam reminiscence and action recall in memory-unimpaired people.

Case studies of memory-impaired individuals consistently show that reminiscing with SenseCam images enhances event recall. This exploratory study examined whether a similar benefit would occur for the consolidation of memories in memory-unimpaired people. We tested delayed recall for atypical actions observed on a lengthy walk. Participants used SenseCam, a diary, or no external memory aid while walking, followed by reminiscence with SenseCam images, diary entries, or no aid, either alone (self-reminiscence) or with the experimenter (social reminiscence). One week later, when tested without SenseCam images or diary entries, prior social reminiscence produced greater recall than self-reminiscence, but there were no differences between memory aid conditions for action free recall or action order recall. When methodological variables were controlled, there was no recall advantage for SenseCam reminiscence with memory-unimpaired participants. The case studies and present study differ in multiple ways, making direct comparisons problematic. SenseCam is a valuable aid to the memory impaired, but its mnemonic value for non-clinical populations remains to be determined.

Physician Rating Websites: an Analysis of Physician Evaluation and Physician Perception.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to evaluate current physician ratings websites (PRWs) to determine which factors correlated to higher physician scores and evaluate physician perspective of PRWs. METHODS: This study evaluated two popular websites, Healthgrades.com and Vitals.com, to gather information on practicing physician members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society database. A survey was conducted of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) membership to gather data on the perception held by individual physicians regarding PRWs. RESULTS: We found that patients were more likely to give physicians positive reviews and the average overall score was 8.35 (3.75-10). Patient wait time (P=0.052) trended toward significance as a major factor in determining the overall scores, while ratings in both physician bedside manner (P=0.001) and physician/staff courtesy (P=0.002) were significant in reflecting the overall score given to the physician. According to our survey, a majority of the respondents were indifferent to highly unfavorable to PRWs (88%) and the validity of their ratings (78%). CONCLUSION: As PRWs become increasingly popular amongst patients in this digital age, it is critical to understand that the scores are not reflective of a significant proportion of the physicians' patient population. Physicians can use this study to determine what affects a patient's experience and focus efforts on improving patients' perception of quality, overall satisfaction, and overall care. Consumers may use this study to increase their awareness of the potential for significant sampling error inherent in PRWs when making decisions about their care.

Agreement among ASES members on the AAOS Clinical Practice Guidelines.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has recently developed several clinical practice guidelines (CPG) involving upper extremity conditions. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the practice patterns of members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) with regard to the CPGs. An e-mail survey was sent to the 340 members of the ASES. The survey contained 40 questions involving the subject matter of the 2 existing AAOS CPGs pertaining specifically to the shoulder: Optimizing the Management of Rotator Cuff Problems and the Treatment of Glenohumeral Joint Arthritis. Overall, 98 responses were obtained, for a response rate of 29%. Only 19 of 47 CPGs were not "inconclusive" and a recommendation was actually made. A majority (more than 50%) of surgeons agreed with 17 (90%) of 19 of these AAOS recommendations. A strong majority (more than 80%) adhered to 13 (68%) of 19 recommendations. There were 4 consensus recommendations, and more than 50% agreed with all of them. Of the 5 moderate recommendations, more than 50% agreed with 4 of them. There were 10 weak recommendations, and more than 50% of surgeons agreed with 9 of them. There was more than 80% agreement on 18 of 28 inconclusive recommendations. Although the AAOS CPGs are not meant to be fixed protocols, they are intended to unify treatment and/or diagnosis of common problems based on the best evidence available. Despite the majority of the AAOS CPG recommendations for rotator cuff problems and glenohumeral arthritis being inconclusive, most surgeons agree with most of the CPG recommendations.