Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Medical Cannabis in the United States.

Federal and state laws in the United States governing the use of cannabis are rapidly evolving. Under federal law, marijuana and its derivatives remain schedule I, defined as substances having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Hemp and its derivatives, in contrast, have been removed from schedule I. At the state level, a majority of states have passed laws legalizing cannabis in some form, although these laws vary from state to state in terms of the extent to which use is permitted, approved medical uses, and the types of regulation placed on commercial activity and quality control. This inconsistency has contributed to uncertainty among medical providers and their patients. In this review, we provide a brief account of the evolution and current state of federal and state laws and regulatory agencies involved in overseeing medical cannabis use in the United States.

Free academic discourse and the law: the case of liposomal bupivacaine.

Liposomal bupivacaine has been the topic of intense academic debate over the past years culminating in an industry-initiated libel lawsuit against the American Society of Anesthesiologists and various other defendants. In this Daring Discourse, we first aim to provide a general overview of main themes in the ongoing controversy: (1) between-study heterogeneity, (2) the high number of negative high-quality reviews and meta-analyses, (3) publication bias in the context of an active role of industry and (4) difference between statistical and clinical significance. We then discuss the contents of the lawsuit, its potential implications and what the recent resolution of this lawsuit means for the future of research and the academic discourse on liposomal bupivacaine.

The Use of Critical Care Services After Orthopedic Surgery at a High-Volume Orthopedic Medical Center: A Retrospective Study.

Background: With an aging population, orthopedics has become one of the largest and fastest growing surgical fields. However, data on the use of critical care services (CCS) in patients undergoing orthopedic procedures remain sparse. Purpose: We sought to elucidate the prevalence and characteristics of patients requiring CCS and intermediate levels of care after orthopedic surgeries at a high-volume orthopedic medical center. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed inpatient electronic medical record data (2016-2020) at a high-volume orthopedic hospital. Patients who required CCS and intermediate levels of care, including step-down unit (SDU) and telemetry services, were identified. We described characteristics related to patients, procedures, and outcomes, including type of advanced services required and surgery type. Results: Of the 50,387 patients who underwent orthopedic inpatient surgery, 1.6% required CCS and 21.6% were admitted to an SDU. Additionally, 482 (1.0%) patients required postoperative mechanical ventilation and 3602 (7.1%) patients required continuous positive airway pressure therapy. Spine surgery patients were the most likely to require any form of advanced care (45.7%). Conclusions: This retrospective review found that approximately one-fourth of orthopedic surgery patients were admitted to units that provided critical and intermediate levels of care. These results may prove useful to hospitals in estimating needs and allocating resources for advanced and critical care services after orthopedic surgery.

Peripheral nerve block anesthesia/analgesia for patients undergoing primary hip and knee arthroplasty: recommendations from the International Consensus on Anesthesia-Related Outcomes after Surgery (ICAROS) group based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of current literature.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based international expert consensus regarding the impact of peripheral nerve block (PNB) use in total hip/knee arthroplasty surgery. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis: randomized controlled and observational studies investigating the impact of PNB utilization on major complications, including mortality, cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal, thromboembolic, neurologic, infectious, and bleeding complications.Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library including Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, were queried from 1946 to August 4, 2020.The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to assess evidence quality and for the development of recommendations. RESULTS: Analysis of 122 studies revealed that PNB use (compared with no use) was associated with lower ORs for (OR with 95% CIs) for numerous complications (total hip and knee arthroplasties (THA/TKA), respectively): cognitive dysfunction (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.53/OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.80), respiratory failure (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.74/OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.75), cardiac complications (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.93/OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.86), surgical site infections (OR 0.55 95% CI 0.47 to 0.64/OR 0.86 95% CI 0.80 to 0.91), thromboembolism (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.96/OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.96) and blood transfusion (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.86/OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the current body of evidence, the consensus group recommends PNB use in THA/TKA for improved outcomes. RECOMMENDATION: PNB use is recommended for patients undergoing THA and TKA except when contraindications preclude their use. Furthermore, the alignment of provider skills and practice location resources needs to be ensured. Evidence level: moderate; recommendation: strong.

Tranexamic Acid Administration is Associated With a Decreased Odds of Prosthetic Joint Infection Following Primary Total Hip and Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: A National Database Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tranexamic acid (TXA) for the reduction of blood loss in orthopedic surgery is coming into greater adoption. Because TXA administration lowers the incidence of blood transfusion and of hematoma formation, risk factors for infection, we asked whether TXA use might be associated with a lower incidence of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following orthopedic surgery. METHODS: We queried the Premier Healthcare database for ICD-9 codes corresponding to elective inpatient primary total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) from 2012 to 2016, TXA administration on the day of surgery, and PJI during the hospital stay or within 90 days. We performed a multilevel multivariable logistic regression (SAS version 9.4. SAS Institute, Cary, NC) to determine if TXA administration or other covariates were a significant predictor of infection. RESULTS: Among 914,990 total joint arthroplasty patients, 46.0% received TXA on the day of surgery. 0.13% developed PJI within 90 days. After adjusting for patient and hospital-related covariates, TXA use was associated with significantly lower odds of PJI within 90 days of surgery (OR 0.49 [0.69, 0.91]). CONCLUSION: Administration of TXA on the day of surgery in total knee and total hip arthroplasty was associated with a statistically significant decreased odds of PJI in the first 90 days. We therefore conclude that TXA might play an important role in our attempts to decrease PJI after joint arthroplasty. The exact mechanisms and ideal dosage by which TXA can contribute to such a reduction need further study.

Anaesthetic care of patients undergoing primary hip and knee arthroplasty: consensus recommendations from the International Consensus on Anaesthesia-Related Outcomes after Surgery group (ICAROS) based on a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based international expert consensus regarding anaesthetic practice in hip/knee arthroplasty surgery is needed for improved healthcare outcomes. METHODS: The International Consensus on Anaesthesia-Related Outcomes after Surgery group (ICAROS) systematic review, including randomised controlled and observational studies comparing neuraxial to general anaesthesia regarding major complications, including mortality, cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal, genitourinary, thromboembolic, neurological, infectious, and bleeding complications. Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library including Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, from 1946 to May 17, 2018 were queried. Meta-analysis and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was utilised to assess evidence quality and to develop recommendations. RESULTS: The analysis of 94 studies revealed that neuraxial anaesthesia was associated with lower odds or no difference in virtually all reported complications, except for urinary retention. Excerpt of complications for neuraxial vs general anaesthesia in hip/knee arthroplasty, respectively: mortality odds ratio (OR): 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57-0.80/OR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.60-1.15; pulmonary OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.52-0.80/OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.58-0.81; acute renal failure OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.59-0.81/OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.65-0.82; deep venous thrombosis OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.42-0.65/OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.64-0.93; infections OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.67-0.79/OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.76-0.85; and blood transfusion OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.82-0.89/OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.82-0.87. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendation: primary neuraxial anaesthesia is preferred for knee arthroplasty, given several positive postoperative outcome benefits; evidence level: low, weak recommendation. RECOMMENDATION: neuraxial anaesthesia is recommended for hip arthroplasty given associated outcome benefits; evidence level: moderate-low, strong recommendation. Based on current evidence, the consensus group recommends neuraxial over general anaesthesia for hip/knee arthroplasty. TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42018099935.

Trends in Inpatient Resource Utilization and Complications Among Total Joint Arthroplasty Recipients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Joint arthroplasty practice is highly dynamic to adapt to economic changes and advances in medicine. This study provides updates of the current perioperative practice on healthcare resource utilization. METHODS: The study included total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and total shoulder arthroplasty within the healthcare cost and utilization project New York State database from 2007 to 2013 (ie, 202,100, 127,872, and 8858 cases, respectively). RESULTS: A higher proportion of sicker patients were prevalent over time. The length of stay decreased continuously. However, total hospital charges increased after adjusting for inflation. The incidence of wound infection and transfusion decreased steadily over time, whereas acute renal failure has been on the rise. There was an increased utilization of echocardiography, while decreased among other resources. DISCUSSION: Total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and total shoulder arthroplasty changed toward sicker patients with shorter length of stay, fewer complications, and less resource utilization. However, overall costs increased over time.