The Hip-spine Assessment of a Novel Surgical Planning Software Provides Acetabular Component Targets That Are Reliable and in Agreement With Current Clinical Recommendations.

Background: Spinopelvic immobility has been reported to increase dislocation risk following total hip arthroplasty. Surgically placing acetabular components in a functional orientation has been shown to mitigate risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of novel surgical planning software to generate clinically recommended cup targets. Methods: Hip-spine assessments were performed retrospectively on 40 patients. Five reviewers, including 3 arthroplasty-trained surgical fellows and 2 clinical research scientists performed the assessments. Hip-spine assessments consisted of measuring anterior pelvic plane tilt, sacral slope, pelvic incidence, and lumbar lordosis on standing anteroposterior pelvis and lateral standing and seated hip-spine images. Generated cup targets and a control group (40°/20° relative to the anterior pelvic plane) were compared to clinically recommended cup targets. Agreement was defined as a cup position within the recommended range or within 3° of a specific target (eg, 40° inclination) when no range was provided. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess interrater and intrarater reliability, and McNemar's chi-square test was used to measure success relative to the control group. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.88 for delta sacral slope and 0.92 for pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis mismatch. For patients with spinopelvic risk factors, the generated targets matched the clinical recommendations in 81% of patients compared to only 16% in the control group. Conclusions: Excellent interrater and intrarater reliability was achieved using the novel surgical planning software. The resultant target values agreed with clinical recommendations to a greater extent than the control group.

Improving alignment in total knee arthroplasty: a cadaveric assessment of a surgical navigation tool with computed tomography imaging.

PURPOSE: To investigate the accuracy of an imageless, optical surgical navigation tool to assist with femoral and tibial bone cuts performed during TKA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six board-certified orthopedic surgeons participated in a laboratory cadaver investigation, performing femoral and tibial bone cuts with the assistance of a computer navigation tool. Femoral and tibial varus/valgus, tibial slope, femoral flexion, and both femoral and tibial rotation measurements from the device were compared with angular measurements calculated from computed tomography (CT) images of the knees. RESULTS: Measurements with the navigation tool were highly correlated with those obtained from CT scans in all three axes. For the distal femoral cut, the absolute mean difference in varus/valgus was 0.83° (SD 0.46°, r = 0.76), femoral flexion was 1.91° (SD 1.16°, r = 0.85), and femoral rotation was 1.29° (SD 1.01°, r = 0.88) relative to Whiteside's line and 0.97° (SD 0.56°, r = 0.81) relative to the posterior condylar axis. For the tibia, the absolute mean difference in varus/valgus was 1.08° (SD 0.64°, r = 0.85), posterior slope was 2.78° (SD 1.40°, r = 0.60), and rotation relative to the anteroposterior axis (posterior cruciate ligament to the medial third of the tibial tuberosity) was 2.98° (SD 2.54°, r = 0.79). CONCLUSION: Utilization of an imageless navigation tool may aid surgeons in accurately performing and monitoring femoral and tibial bone cuts, and implant rotation in TKA and thus, more accurately align TKA components.

Reconstructing the value puzzle in health technology assessment: a pragmatic review to determine which modelling methods can account for additional value elements.

Health technology assessment (HTA) has traditionally relied on cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) as a cornerstone of evaluation of new therapies, assessing the clinical validity and utility, the efficacy, and the cost-effectiveness of new interventions. The current format of cost-effectiveness analysis, however, does not allow for inclusion of more holistic aspects of health and, therefore, value elements for new technologies such as the impact on patients and society beyond its pure clinical and economic value. This study aimed to review the recent modelling attempts to expand the traditional cost-effectiveness analysis approach by incorporating additional elements of value in health technology assessment. A pragmatic literature review was conducted for articles published between 2012 and 2022 reporting cost-effectiveness analysis including value aspects beyond the clinical and cost-effectiveness estimates; searches identified 13 articles that were eligible for inclusion. These expanded modelling approaches mainly focused on integrating the impact of societal values and health equity in cost-effectiveness analysis, both of which were championed as important aspects of health technology assessment that should be incorporated into future technology assessments. The reviewed cost-effectiveness analysis methods included modification of the current cost-effectiveness analysis methodology (distributional cost-effectiveness analysis, augmented cost-effectiveness analysis, extended cost-effectiveness analysis) or the use of multi-criteria decision analysis. Of these approaches, augmented cost-effectiveness analysis appears to have the most potential by expanding traditional aspects of value, as it uses techniques already familiar to health technology assessment agencies but also allows space for incorporation of qualitative aspects of a product's value. This review showcases that methods to unravel additional value elements for technology assessment exist, therefore, patient access to promising technologies can be improved by moving the discussion from "if" to "how" additional value elements can inform decision-making.

The Disability Cascade: A Preventable Consequence of the Loss of Disc Height following Lumbar Microdiscectomy.

Lumbar discectomy is a mainstay surgical treatment for herniation of the lumbar discs and is effective at treating radicular symptomology. Despite the overall success of the procedure; the potential for reherniation and reoperation is significant. To avoid this potential recurrence, surgeons often perform discectomy more aggressively, removing a larger volume of nuclear material in the hopes of minimizing the likelihood of reherniation. This approach, while beneficial in minimizing the chance of reherniation, is associated with a volumetric reduction of the nucleus within the disc space, making the disc more prone to collapse and thus inducing a significant post-operative loss of disc height. While potentially minor in isolation, the loss of disc height, in fact, impacts several aspects of overall patient well-being. We hypothesize that the loss of disc height following discectomy causes an increase in pain and subsequent disability, the combination of which ultimately impacts socioeconomic factors affecting both the patient and the healthcare system as a whole. In this report, we outline the evidence in support of this disability cascade and provide recommendations on methods for limiting its impact. Given the current focus on cost-effectiveness in healthcare decision-making, methods for limiting this potentially damaging sequence of events must be investigated.

Identifying the procedural gap and improved methods for maintaining accuracy during total hip arthroplasty.

Osteoarthritis is a ubiquitous condition, affecting 26 million Americans each year, with up to 17% of adults over age 75 suffering from one variation of arthritis. The hip is one of the most commonly affected joints and while there are conservative options for treatment, as symptoms progress, many patients eventually turn to surgery to manage their pain and dysfunction. Early surgical options such as osteotomy or arthroscopy are reserved for younger, more active patients with less severe disease and symptoms. Total hip arthroplasty offers a viable solution for patients with severe degenerative changes; however, post-surgical discrepancies in leg length, offset and component malposition are common and cause significant complications. Such discrepancies are associated with consequences such as low back pain, neurological deficits, instability and overall patient dissatisfaction. Current methods for managing leg length and offset during hip arthroplasty are either inaccurate and susceptible to error or are cumbersome, expensive and lengthen surgical time. There is currently no viable option that provides accurate, real-time data to surgeons regarding leg length, offset and cup position in a cost-effective manner. As such, we hypothesize that a procedural gap exists in hip arthroplasty, a gap into which fall a large majority of arthroplasty patients who are at increased risk of complications following surgery. These complications and associated treatments place significant stress on the healthcare system. The costs associated with addressing leg length and offset discrepancies can be minor, requiring only heel lifts and short-term rehabilitation, but can also be substantial, with revision hip arthroplasty costs of up to $54,000 per procedure. The need for a cost-effective, simple to use and unobtrusive technology to address this procedural gap in hip arthroplasty and improve patient outcomes is of increasing importance. Given the aging of the population, the projected increases in the volume of procedures over the coming decades and the economic pressures associated with downward pricing pressure and bundled payments, the need to address this gap is underscored.