Overview of fracture liaison services in the UK and Europe: standards, model of care, funding, and challenges.

Fragility fractures represent a growing global problem, including in the United Kingdom and European countries. Reports demonstrate the benefits of national guidance and organized fragility fracture programs through fracture liaison services to deliver care to patients who sustain these injuries. The challenge of assembling multidisciplinary teams, providing routine screening of appropriate patients, and monitoring therapies where there is a known compliance problem, remains an obstacle to the success of fragility fracture treatment programs to all. Efforts should continue to introduce and maintain fracture liaison services through coordinated national approaches and advanced systems.

Orthopedic Surgeons' Accuracy When Orienting an Acetabular Cup. A Comparison with Untrained Individuals.

Background and Objectives: Previous studies demonstrated a huge variability among surgeons when it comes to reproducing the position of an acetabular cup in total hip arthroplasty. Our main objective is to determine if orthopedic surgeons can replicate a given orientation on a pelvic model better than untrained individuals. Our secondary objective is to determine if experience has any influence on their ability for this task. Materials and Methods: A group of specialist orthopedic hip surgeons and a group of volunteers with no medical training were asked to reproduce three given (randomly generated) acetabular cup orientations (inclination and anteversion) on a pelvic model. Error was measured by means of a hip navigation system and comparisons between groups were made using the appropriate statistical methods. Results: The study included 107 individuals, 36 orthopedic surgeons and 71 untrained volunteers. The mean error among surgeons was slightly greater as regards both inclination (7.84 ± 5.53 vs. 6.70 ± 4.03) and anteversion (5.85 ± 4.52 vs. 5.48 ± 3.44), although statistical significance was not reached (p = 0.226 and p = 0.639, respectively). Similarly, although surgeons with more than 100 procedures a year obtained better results than those with less surgical experience (8.01 vs. 7.67 degrees of error in inclination and 5.83 vs. 5.87 in anteversion), this difference was not statistically significant, either (p = 0.852 and p = 0.981). Conclusions: No differences were found in the average error made by orthopedic surgeons and untrained individuals. Furthermore, the surgeons' cup orientation accuracy was not seen to improve significantly with experience.

Stromal cells of giant cell tumor of bone show primary cilia in giant cell tumor of bone.

Giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) is a locally aggressive primary bone neoplasm composed by tumoral stromal cells (SCs) and a reactive component that consists of monocytic/histiocytic cells that give rise by fusion to osteoclast-like multinucleated cells. Recently, specific Histone 3.3 mutations have been demonstrated in SCs of GCTB. Many of the pathways related to bone proliferation and regulation depend on the primary cilium, a microtubule-based organelle that protrudes outside the cell and acts as a sensorial antenna. In the present work, we aimed to study the presence and role of primary cilia in GCTB. Ultrastructural, immunohistochemical, and immunofluorescence studies were performed in order to demonstrate, for the first time, that the primary cilium is located in spindle-shaped SCs of GCTB. Moreover, we showed Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway activation in these cells. Hence, primary cilia may play a relevant role in GCTB tumorogenesis through Hh signaling activation in SCs. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Transmission electron microscopy allows describing and differentiating cellular subpopulations in giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB). The primary cilium is present in some tumoral stromal cells of GCTB. Hedgehog signalling is activated in these cells.

Biomechanical Behavior of an Hydroxyapatite-Coated Traditional Hip Stem and a Short One of Similar Design: Comparative Study Using Finite Element Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The objective is to compare, by the means of finite elements analysis, the biomechanical behavior of a conventional stem of proven performance with a short stem based on the same fixation principles. METHODS: A 3D femur was modeled from CT scan data, and real bone density measures were incorporated into it. Load stresses were applied to that bone in 3 different scenarios: without prosthesis, with the conventional stem, and with the short stem. Different bone loading patterns were compared by Gruen's zones both visually and statistically using Welch's test. RESULTS: The implantation of a stem generates a certain degree of stress shielding in the surrounding bone, but the pattern of the change is very similar in the compared stem models. Although there is statistical significance (P < 0.01) in the mean stress variation in most of the Gruen's zones, the magnitude of the difference is always under 2 MPa (range: 0.01 - 1.74 MPa). CONCLUSIONS: The bone loading patterns of the traditional stem and the short stem are very similar. Although there is no evidence of a link between biomechanics and clinical outcomes, our results may suggest that theoretical advantages of short stems can be exploited without the fear of altering bone loading patterns.

International trauma care: initial European approaches during the COVID 19 pandemic.

The world was not prepared for the global of pandemic in early 2020 with the arrival of COVID 19. Europe has some of the most developed health care systems in the world and this article explains the initial response to the pandemic from an orthopaedic and trauma viewpoint from 8 nations. Italy reported the first cluster in February, which then rapidly spread around the continent, requiring a rapid reorganization of services. The reports highlight how elective surgery was universally stopped, surgical services were reconfigured, and new practices, such as the widespread use of telemedicine, may well become permanent. It also emphasizes how the pandemic has re-educated us on the importance of a consistent and central approach to deal with a global health crisis, and how medical services need to remain flexible and responsive to new ways of working.

Revision total knee arthroplasty: hybrid vs standard cemented fixation.

INTRODUCTION: Modular systems with stems are necessary for the stability of revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA), but controversy remains as to the best fixation method: cemented or hybrid (noncemented stem). The aim of this study was to assess the clinical, X-ray, life-quality and survival results obtained with each fixation method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the period 2000-2013, rTKA was performed on 67 patients (29 cemented arthroplasty and 38 hybrid fixation). The average follow-up was 7 years (range 2-15). All patients were evaluated clinically and radiographically using the American Knee Society Score (AKSS), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). A survival study was performed via Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: There were no differences between the cemented and hybrid fixation groups in the preoperative and postoperative AKSS clinical evaluation indices and the SF-36 health index. However, the WOMAC assessment scale did reveal statistically significant differences between the groups, with a global classification of 64.9 points weighted at 100 (SD 16.8) for cemented fixation versus 78.9 (SD 9.0) for hybrid fixation (p = 0.001). The corresponding values for stiffness were 61.6 (SD 12.9) and 80.5 (SD 14.7) (p = 0.001), and those for function were 61.3 (SD 19.4) and 78.1 (SD 10.5) (p = 0.001). No significant differences between the groups were recorded with respect to the pain score (p = 0.4) or the results of the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. CONCLUSION: Although the results were similar for the two groups, hybrid fixation tended to produce better results than cemented fixation. In view of the risk of further loosening, we prefer the more conservative approach, i.e. hybrid fixation. LEVEL EVIDENCE: Level III.