What Patients Say About Their Orthopaedic Hand and Wrist Surgeons: A Qualitative Analysis of Negative Reviews on Yelp.

Background Patients often turn to online reviews as a source of information to inform their decisions regarding care. Existing literature has analyzed factors associated with positive online patient ratings among hand and wrist surgeons. However, there is limited in-depth analysis of factors associated with low patient satisfaction for hand and wrist surgeons. The focus of this study is to examine and characterize extremely negative reviews of hand and wrist surgeons on Yelp.com. Methods A search was performed using the keywords "hand surgery" on Yelp.com for eight major metropolitan areas including Washington DC, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle. Only single-star reviews (out of a possible 5 stars) of hand and wrist surgeons were included. The complaints in the 1-star reviews were then categorized into clinical and nonclinical categories. Result A total of 233 single-star reviews were included for analysis, which resulted in 468 total complaints. Of these complaints, 81 (18.8%) were clinically related and 351 (81.3%) were nonclinical in nature. The most common clinical complaints were for complication (24 complaints, 6%), misdiagnosis (16 complaints, 4%), unclear treatment plan (16 complaints, 4%), and uncontrolled pain (15 complaints, 3%). The most common nonclinical complaints were for physician bedside manner (93 complaints, 22%), financially related (80 complaints, 19%), unprofessional nonclinical staff (61 complaints, 14%), and wait time (46 complaints, 11%). The difference in the number of complaints for surgical and nonsurgical patients was statistically significant ( p < 0.05) for complication and uncontrolled pain. Clinical Relevance Patient satisfaction is dependent on a multitude of clinical and nonclinical factors. An awareness of online physician ratings is essential for hand and wrist surgeons to maintain and improve patient care and patient satisfaction. We believe the results of our study could be used to further improve the quality of care provided by hand and wrist surgeons.

Rare Bipolaris Species Fungal Periprosthetic Hip Infection in an Immunocompetent Host: A Case Report.

CASE: We present a case report of a 64-year-old man who developed a rare Bipolaris species fungal periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after revision arthroplasty for complications associated with a metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty. The patient underwent a 2-stage debridement with antibiotic bead placement and implant retention, along with chronic antifungal suppression. At the 2-year follow-up, the patient remained asymptomatic. CONCLUSION: Fungal PJI with filamentous fungi such as Bipolaris species is a rare clinical entity. This case report highlights the clinical presentation and management of this rare condition.

A Deep Learning Tool for Automated Landmark Annotation on Hip and Pelvis Radiographs.

BACKGROUND: Automatic methods for labeling and segmenting pelvis structures can improve the efficiency of clinical and research workflows and reduce the variability introduced with manual labeling. The purpose of this study was to develop a single deep learning model to annotate certain anatomical structures and landmarks on antero-posterior (AP) pelvis radiographs. METHODS: A total of 1,100 AP pelvis radiographs were manually annotated by 3 reviewers. These images included a mix of preoperative and postoperative images as well as a mix of AP pelvis and hip images. A convolutional neural network was trained to segment 22 different structures (7 points, 6 lines, and 9 shapes). Dice score, which measures overlap between model output and ground truth, was calculated for the shapes and lines structures. Euclidean distance error was calculated for point structures. RESULTS: Dice score averaged across all images in the test set was 0.88 and 0.80 for the shape and line structures, respectively. For the 7-point structures, average distance between real and automated annotations ranged from 1.9 mm to 5.6 mm, with all averages falling below 3.1 mm except for the structure labeling the center of the sacrococcygeal junction, where performance was low for both human and machine-produced labels. Blinded qualitative evaluation of human and machine produced segmentations did not reveal any drastic decrease in performance of the automatic method. CONCLUSION: We present a deep learning model for automated annotation of pelvis radiographs that flexibly handles a variety of views, contrasts, and operative statuses for 22 structures and landmarks.

Preoperative Intra-articular Steroid Injections as Predictors of Hip Arthroscopy: 2-Year Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: In patients with femoroacetabular impingement, preoperative diagnostic injections are commonly used to establish a diagnosis of intra-articular pathology. In some cases, intra-articular steroid injections are also used for therapeutic purposes. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to determine if a positive response to intra-articular steroid injection was predictive of superior outcomes after hip arthroscopy to determine if the response to intra-articular steroid injection was predictive of outcomes after hip arthroscopy. It was hypothesized that a positive response to a preoperative hip injection would be predictive of improved short- to midterm outcomes after hip arthroscopy. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 208 patients who elected to have ultrasound-guided intra-articular steroid injection before they underwent hip arthroscopy between January 2016 and December 2016. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those who showed improvement in pain after the injection (steroid responder group) and those who showed no response (nonresponder group). The authors compared the preoperative and 2-year postoperative patient-reported outcomes (modified Harris Hip Score [mHHS] and Hip Outcome Score-Activities of Daily Living [HOS-ADL]) and radiographic findings between groups. Clinical endpoints, including rates of revision and conversion to total hip arthroplasty, were also reviewed. RESULTS: There were 88 patients in the nonresponder group and 120 patients in the responder group, with no significant between-group differences in preoperative descriptive variables. The responder group had significantly higher 2-year mHHS and HOS-ADL, pre- to postoperative change in mHHS and HOS-ADL, percentage of patients achieving the patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) on the mHHS, and percentage of patients reaching the minimum clinically important difference and the PASS on the HOS-ADL. There was no difference in Tönnis grade, acetabular labrum articular disruption grade, revision rate, or conversion to total hip arthroplasty between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: The response to preoperative intra-articular injection did aid in predicting 2-year patient-reported outcomes of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement. Overall, the result of a preoperative intra-articular injection can be a helpful clinical tool for surgical decision-making and counseling patients on expected outcomes after hip arthroscopy.

The Majority of Complaints About Orthopedic Sports Surgeons on Yelp Are Nonclinical.

PURPOSE: To examine and characterize extremely negative Yelp reviews of orthopedic sports surgeons in the United States. METHODS: A search for reviews was performed using the keywords "Orthopedic Sports Medicine" on Yelp.com for 8 major metropolitan areas. Single-star reviews were isolated for analysis, and individual complaints were then categorized as clinical or nonclinical. The reviews were classified as surgical or nonsurgical. RESULTS: A total of 11,033 reviews were surveyed. Of these, 1,045 (9.5%) were identified as 1-star, and 289 were ultimately included in the study. These reviews encompassed 566 total complaints, 133 (23%) of which were clinical, and 433 (77%) of which were nonclinical in nature. The most common clinical complaints concerned complications (32 complaints; 6%), misdiagnosis (29 complaints; 5%), and uncontrolled pain (21 complaints; 4%). The most common nonclinical complaints concerned physicians' bedside manner (120 complaints; 21%), unprofessional staff (98 complaints; 17%), and finances (78 complaints; 14%). Patients who had undergone surgery wrote 47 reviews that resulted in 114 complaints (20.5% of total complaints), whereas nonsurgical patients were responsible for 242 reviews and a total of 452 complaints (81.3% of total complaints). The difference in the number of complaints by patients after surgery and patients without surgery was statistically significant (P < 0.05) for all categories except for uncontrolled pain, delay in care, bedside manner of midlevel staff, and facilities. CONCLUSION: Our study of extremely negative Yelp reviews found that 77% of negative complaints were nonclinical in nature. The most common clinical complaints were complications, misdiagnoses and uncontrolled pain. Only 16% of 1-star reviews were from surgical patients. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Patients use online review platforms when choosing surgeons. A comprehensive understanding of factors affecting patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction is needed. The results of our study could be used to guide future quality-improvement measures and to assist surgeons in maintaining favorable online reputations.

Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Arising in Young Adults With Long-standing Indwelling Intra-abdominal Shunt Catheters.

Only 50% to 70% of patients with mesothelioma report asbestos exposure. Other exposures (eg, radiation) play a role in some cases, but some patients have no obvious cause. We describe a series of patients with long-standing indwelling intra-abdominal shunt catheters who developed malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, suggesting a novel association. We identified 7 patients who had shunts and subsequently developed mesothelioma (5 women; median age: 31 y, range: 18 to 45 y). Clinical history and pathology materials were reviewed, and RNA sequencing was performed. Clinical presentations varied; 6 patients had hydrocephalus and a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, and 1 patient had portal hypertension and a portoatrial shunt. The median duration of shunt therapy in 5 cases was 29 years (range: 12 to 35 y); the remaining 2 patients also had shunts for many years, but specific details were unavailable. Two patients had radiotherapy for malignancies in childhood. One had an alleged exposure to asbestos and 1 had prior exposure to talc. The rest had no known risk factors. Histologically, all tumors were purely epithelioid. Treatments included surgical debulking, chemotherapy, and palliative care. All 7 died of disease (median survival: 7 mo, range: 1 to 18 mo). Molecular testing showed loss of NF2 and CDKN2A/B and a BAP1 mutation in 1 case, and no genomic alterations associated with mesothelioma in 2 cases. Peritoneal mesothelioma may represent a complication of long-standing indwelling shunt catheters. The mechanism is unknown, but chronic peritoneal irritation may play a role. Albeit rare, mesothelioma should be considered in patients with a shunt who present with new ascites.

Why Do Patients Stay Longer Than Three Nights Following Hip and Knee Arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: Prolonged length of stay (PLOS) is frequently cited by secondary data studies as an adverse outcome following hip and knee arthroplasty. Although perhaps indisputable that PLOS increases the cost of hospitalization, it is unknown whether it is an appropriate measure of the quality of an arthroplasty procedure. METHODS: We searched our institution's database for all hip and knee arthroplasty procedures over a 5-year period using MS-DRG (Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group) 469 and 470. Cases with greater than 3 night stays were identified. Charts were manually reviewed by 2 independent reviewers to identify the primary reason for PLOS, and the need for 30-day readmission or reoperation. RESULTS: Of a total 4347 hip and knee arthroplasty cases, 218 (5.0%) were identified with LOS greater than 3 nights. The majority of prolonged stays were due to exclusively medical reasons (81 cases: 37.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 31.0-43.7). The second most common cause was inpatient days prior to the arthroplasty procedure (45 cases: 20.6%; 95% CI 15.8-26.5). Orthopedic reasons for PLOS were significantly less common than medical reasons (36 cases: 16.5%; 95% CI 12.2-22.0, P < .0001), most often due to failure to meet therapy goals. Neither readmission (31 cases: 14.2%) nor reoperation (10 cases: 4.6%) was associated with an underlying reason for PLOS. CONCLUSION: When evaluating LOS as a measure of quality of an arthroplasty procedure, readers of secondary "big data" studies should be aware that there are significant limitations to its utility. Even after controlling for potential confounders, we found that PLOS does not necessarily reflect an adverse outcome.

Outcomes of endoscopic therapy in donation after cardiac death liver transplant biliary strictures.

BACKGROUND: Biliary strictures after donation-after-cardiac-death (DCD) liver transplantation (LT) require multiple endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographies (ERCP). The outcomes of endoscopic dilation and maximal stenting are not well-characterized in this high-risk population. METHODS: DCD LT recipients who underwent LT and ERCP from 2012-2018 were selected. Anastomotic and non-anastomotic strictures were treated with balloon dilation and maximal stenting. A successful stent-free trial was defined as absence of biochemical, clinical or imaging evidence of strictures on follow-up exceeding 6 months. Adverse events were defined as unplanned admission or inpatient evaluation within 7 days of ERCP. RESULTS: Forty-nine DCD LT recipients underwent ERCP and 34 patients were diagnosed with strictures (20 anastomotic). Stent-free trial was successful in 27 patients. Adverse events occurred after 20 ERCPs. Patients with anastomotic strictures required fewer stents (1.43 ± 1.37 vs 2.63 ± 1.66; P < 0.001), shorter procedure and fluoroscopy times (34.15 ± 20.9 vs 59.6 ± 30.7 minutes, P < 0.001; 5.99 ± 7.4 vs 14.73 ± 10.74 minutes, P < 0.001), fewer relapses (10% vs 57%, P = 0.003), shorter intervals between initial ERCP and stent-free success (136.9 ± 118.3 vs 399.56 ± 234.7; P = 0.003), and between LT and stent-free success (227.8 ± 171.9 vs 464.1 ± 224.6 days; P = 0.005) compared to non-anastomotic strictures. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic dilation and maximal stenting resolves biliary strictures in DCD LT recipients with sustained success and relatively few adverse events.