Incidence of heterotopic ossification following total hip arthroplasty by approach: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Heterotopic ossification (HO) formation has been increasingly recognized as a complication of major orthopedic surgeries, particularly total hip arthroplasty (THA). Though, the overall incidence of HO following THA has been well-documented, it is often not reported by severity or by surgical approach. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) What are the demographics of patients with HO? (2) What is the severity of HO following THA using the Brooker classification? (3) What is the incidence and class of HO following different THA approaches (anterior, posterior, posterolateral, anterolateral, superior, lateral, trans-gluteal)? (4) What are the number and training level of surgeons who performed each procedure? METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were queried, and PRISMA guidelines were followed. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: We isolated 26 studies evaluating 6512 total hip arthroplasties (THA). The mean HO percentage overall was 28.8%, mostly Class I (54.2%) or Class II (29.6%). The highest percentage of HO was associated with the modified direct lateral (57.2%) and the traditional lateral (34.6%) approaches. The lowest HO percentages were identified following posterolateral (12.8%) and direct superior approaches (1%). Most studies reported a singular senior surgeon operating within the same approach for all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The traditional lateral and modified direct lateral approaches to THA resulted in the highest percentage of HO postoperatively. However, most ossification cases were not clinically significant and did not strongly affect overall patient morbidity. Further studies are warranted to identify an association between severity of ossification and different arthroplasty approaches.

Impact of Reporting Bias, Conflict of Interest, and Funding Sources on Quality of Orthopaedic Research.

BACKGROUND: Influence of factors like reporting outcomes, conflicts of interest, and funding sources on study outcomes, particularly positive outcomes in orthopedics, remains underexplored. As transparency of partnerships in orthopaedic surgery through conflicts of interest statements has increased over the years, there has been a lack of focus on the value of these partnerships in influencing study outcomes. We aimed to investigate the associations between reporting outcomes, conflicts of interest, and sources of funding on study outcomes. METHODS: We reviewed articles published in 1 year in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, The American Journal of Sports Medicine, and The Journal of Arthroplasty. The abstracts were examined for appropriate inclusion, while the authors' names, academic degrees, funding disclosures, and departmental and institutional affiliations were redacted. There were a total of 1,351 publications reviewed from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. RESULTS: A significant association was found between positive outcomes and reported conflicts of interest (75% versus 25%, P < .001). Likewise, conflicts of interest showed significant association with industry-sponsored studies (88% versus 12%, P < .001) and evidence level > II (72% versus 28%, P < .001). Industry-sponsored research accounted for the highest percentage of studies involving a conflict of interest (88%) and level I studies (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Conflicts of interest are significantly associated with positive outcomes in orthopaedics. Sponsored studies were more inclined to have conflicts of interest and accounted for the majority of level I studies.

Pre-operative corticosteroid injection within 1 month of total shoulder arthroplasty is associated with increased risk of periprosthetic joint infection.

INTRODUCTION: Corticosteroid injections (CSI) may increase the risk of peri-prosthetic infections (PJI) following total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). Our study specifically assessed the risk of PJI in patients who received CSI: (1) less than 4 weeks prior to TSA; (2) 4-8 weeks prior to TSA; and (3) 8-12 weeks prior to TSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A national all-payer database was queried to identify patients who underwent TSA with a shoulder osteoarthritis diagnosis from October 1, 2015 to October 31, 2020 (n = 25,422). There were four cohorts: CSI within 4 weeks of TSA (n = 214), CSI 4-8 weeks prior to TSA (n = 473), CSI 8-12 weeks prior to TSA (n = 604), and a control cohort that did not receive CSI (n = 15,486). Bivariate chi-square analyses of outcomes were performed in addition to multivariate regression. RESULTS: A significant increase in PJI risk at 1 year (Odds Ratio [OR] = 2.29, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.19-3.99, p = 0.007) and 2 years (OR = 2.03, CI = 1.09-3.46, p = 0.016) in patients who received CSI within 1 month of TSA was noted. PJI risk was not significantly increased at any time point for patients who received a CSI greater than 4 weeks prior to TSA (all p ≥ 0.396). CONCLUSION: PJI risk is increased at both 1 and 2 years post-operatively in patients who received a CSI within 4 weeks of TSA. Therefore, TSA should be deferred at least 4 weeks after a patient receives a CSI to mitigate PJI risk. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

A call to "own the bone": osteoporosis is a predictor for adverse two-year outcomes following total hip and knee arthroplasty.

PURPOSE: While bone health is instrumental in orthopedic surgery, few studies have described the long-term outcomes of osteoporosis (OP) in patients undergoing total hip (THA) or knee (TKA) arthroplasties. METHODS: Using the New York State statewide planning and research cooperative system database, all patients who underwent primary TKA or THA for osteoarthritis from 2009 to 2011 with minimum 2-year follow-up were identified. They were divided based on their OP status (OP and non-OP) and 1:1 propensity score matched for age, sex, race, and Charlson/Deyo index. Cohorts were compared for demographics, hospital-related parameters, and 2-year postoperative complications and reoperations. Multivariate binary logistic regression was utilized to identify significant independent associations with 2-year medical and surgical complications and revisions. RESULTS: A total of 11,288 TKA and 8248 THA patients were identified. OP and non-OP TKA patients incurred comparable overall hospital charges for their surgical visit and hospital length of stay (LOS) (both, p ≥ 0.125). Though OP and non-OP THA patients incurred similar mean hospital charges for their surgical visit, they experienced longer hospital LOS (4.3 vs. 4.1 days, p = 0.035). For both TKA and THA, OP patients had higher rates of overall and individual medical and surgical complications (all, p < 0.05). OP was independently associated with the 2-year occurrence of any overall, surgical, and medical complications, and any revision in TKA and THA patients (all, OR ≥ 1.42, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study found OP was associated with a greater risk of 2-year adverse outcomes following TKA or THA, including medical, surgical, and overall complications as well as revision operations compared to non-OP patients.

Does preoperative corticosteroid injection increase the risk of periprosthetic joint infection after reverse shoulder arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroid injections (CSIs) are used for the symptomatic management of osteoarthritis. However, their use may contaminate the joint space and pose an increased risk of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess whether there is any association between the timing of CSI and the incidence of PJI at 90 days, 1 year, and 2 years postoperatively. Specifically, we assessed the risk of PJI in patients who received CSI <1 month, 1-2 months, 2-3 months, and >3 months prior to RSA, as well as associated risk factors for PJI with CSI. METHODS: We queried a national, all-payer database to identify patients who underwent RSA from October 1, 2015, to October 31, 2020 (1.5 million patients). Patients who received an osteoarthritis diagnosis prior to RSA were selected, whereas those with bilateral RSA or >1 injection on the same side were excluded. This resulted in 5 cohorts: cohort receiving CSI within 4 weeks of RSA (n = 5607), cohort receiving CSI 1-2 months prior to RSA (n = 3024), cohort receiving CSI 2-3 months prior to RSA (n = 1572), cohort receiving CSI >3 months prior to RSA (n = 16,302), and control cohort with no injection prior to RSA (n = 21,938). Bivariate χ2 analyses of outcomes were conducted, in addition to multivariate regressions performed to adjust for comorbidities, as well as to assess associated risk factors. RESULTS: The adjusted analyses demonstrated a significantly increased risk of PJI at 90 days in patients who received CSI within 1 month of RSA (P < .001). Additionally, the PJI risk was increased at 1 year postoperatively in patients who received CSI within 1 month of RSA (P = .015). However, no significant increase in the PJI risk was noted at any time point for patients who received CSI >1 month before RSA (all P ≥ .088). Furthermore, alcohol abuse, chronic kidney disease, and depression were identified as risk factors that increased the risk of PJI. CONCLUSION: Intra-articular shoulder CSIs <4 weeks prior to RSA are associated with increased risks of PJI at 90 days and 1 year postoperatively as compared with patients who did not receive CSIs. RSA should be deferred ≥4 weeks after a patient receives a CSI.

Radiation exposure in fluoroscopy-guided anterior total hip arthroplasty: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: To investigate the average fluoroscopy time, as well as the patient and surgical staff average radiation exposure in the context of intraoperative fluoroscopy use during anterior total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus were systematically searched for studies pertaining to intraoperative anterior THA fluoroscopy (PROSPERO ID 258049). The comprehensive literary search was conducted using "THA," "fluoroscopy" and "radiation exposure" as the search criteria, which resulted in 187 total papers. Of these 187 papers, 11 studies were included in this systematic review as they involved anterior THA and specifically contained data regarding radiation exposure dose and/or time. RESULTS: Eleven studies were included, enrolling 1839 patients. The average fluoroscopy time was 21.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.6-26.1) seconds, whereas the average patient radiation dose was 1.8 × 10-3 (95% CI 7.4 × 10-4-2.9 × 10-3) Gy. CONCLUSIONS: Although several studies fail to report fluoroscopy time and radiation dose in THA patients, fluoroscopy-guided THA has emerged as a safe procedure. Additional studies may analyze if radiation exposure during the surgeon's THA learning curve is significantly higher, as well as what protocols may potentially reduce radiation exposure even further.

Current Concepts and Advances of Three-Dimensional Printing in Reconstructive Musculoskeletal Oncology: A Systematic Review.

Three-dimensional printing has the potential to advance current surgical practice, by way of anatomical and pathological structure analysis and customized implant manufacturing. Applications for this technology include pre-operative planning, prosthesis customization, and bioprinting. A comprehensive literature review of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science databases was conducted to extract all studies adopting three-dimensional printing in the operative management of primary and metastatic musculoskeletal tumors. A total of 73 articles reporting on 449 patients were deemed eligible for analysis. Indications of three-dimensional printing use consisted mainly of challenging tumor locations and proximity to neighboring neurovascular structures (232 [51.7%] patients) or anticipated high complication rates (142 [31.6%] patients). Operative time and follow-up averaged 240 minutes (4 hours) and 25.8 months, respectively. The majority of patients (327 [72.8%] of 449) in whom three-dimensional printing technology was used did not exhibit any complication or adverse event during or after their surgery, and most (354 [97.3%] of 364) subjects achieved convenient functional and oncological outcomes at last follow-up. The implementation of three-dimensional printing technology in the treatment of bone and soft tissue tumors is safe and efficient, as evidenced by the satisfactory functional and oncological outcomes, as well as the decrease in operative time and complication rates at 2-year follow-up. With recent innovations, three-dimensional printing has become cost-effective and reliable, so it is suitable for applications in orthopedic oncology.