The impact of warfarin on operative delay and 1-year mortality in elderly patients with hip fracture: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines underline the importance of early surgery in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures. However, most of these patients present a high number of comorbidities, some of which require the use of warfarin. Waiting for INR decrease is a cause of surgical delay, and this influences negatively their outcome. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with proximal femoral fracture admitted to our unit from March 2013 to March 2017 to determine whether warfarin therapy is associated with reduction of survival, delay of surgery, and increased blood loss. From 1706 patient, a total of 1292 fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included. Data regarding general information (type of fracture according to AO/OTA classification), pharmacological history regarding anticoagulant therapy pre-admission, surgery (type of surgery and time to surgery), clinical findings (blood loss), and date of exitus were collected. RESULTS: We identified 157 patients with warfarin, 442 with antiplatelet agents (aspirin, clopidogrel, ticlopidin), and 693 in the control group. We observed a significant difference in the warfarin group regarding an increased ASA score, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and blood loss. Patients taking warfarin experience delay to the theater significantly more than the other groups. Patients in warfarin therapy have a 42% higher risk of death within 1 year from their surgery. Patients who underwent surgery after 48 h have 1.5 times higher risk of mortality with respect to the patients who underwent surgery within 48 h. CONCLUSION: Warfarin therapy at the time of proximal femoral fractures is associated with increased time to surgery, blood loss, and mortality.

Surgical treatment of periprosthetic femoral fractures: a retrospective study with functional and radiological outcomes from 2010 to 2016.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of periprosthetic femoral fractures is a great challenge for the orthopedic surgeon and requires a knowledge of bone fracture fixation as well as skills and experience in revision surgery. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the functional and radiological outcomes of periprosthetic femoral fractures surgically treated in our department from 2010 to 2016. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved 73 patients with a periprosthetic femoral fracture after total hip arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty. Periprosthetic femoral fractures were classified using the Vancouver system. Functional outcomes were assessed using Harris hip score, Palmer Parker score, SF-36 score and ambulatory status. Radiological findings were classified using Beals and Tower's criteria. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 79.6 years old. Local risks factors were identified in 67% of the patients, principally osteoporosis (63.0%), followed by osteolysis (26.0%) and loosening of the stem (8.2%). According to the Vancouver classification, there were 10 type A, 49 type B and 14 type C fractures. Of the type B fractures, 26 were B1, 17 were B2 and 6 were B3. Applying Beals and Tower's criteria, radiological results were excellent in 24 patients (32.9%), good in 35 (47.9%) and poor in 14 (19.2%). The mean Harris hip score post-operatively was 72.5. CONCLUSIONS: These kinds of fractures should be assessed individually and the optimal treatment plan should be made in accordance with the bone stock quality, stem stability, location of the fracture and patient expectations.

Good survivorship of all-polyethylene tibial component UKA at long-term follow-up.

PURPOSES: To determine the long-term survival rate of an all-polyethylene tibial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) in a large series of consecutive patients and to investigate the possible factors that could influence the outcome. METHODS: A retrospective evaluation of 273 patients at 6-13 years of follow-up was performed. Clinical evaluation was based on KSS and WOMAC scores. Subjective evaluation was based on a visual analogue scale for pain self-assessment. Radiographic evaluation was performed to assess femoral-tibial angle (FTA), posterior tibial slope (PTS) and tibial plateau angle (TPA). A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed assuming revision for any reason as primary endpoint. RESULTS: The 10-year implant survivorship was 87.6%. Twenty-five revisions (9.2%) were performed, and aseptic loosening of the tibial component was the most common failure mode (11 cases, 4%). The comparison of survival rate according to age at surgery did not show significant difference. Age at surgery, FTA, TPA and PTS were not related to higher risk of revision. No correlations were found between BMI, age at surgery and clinical scores. Finally, no statistical differences of radiographic measurements were found between revisions and non-revisions. CONCLUSIONS: The present study has demonstrated on a large series of patients that UKA with an all-polyethylene tibial component, with an accurate technique and a proper patient selection, can provide a satisfactory clinical and functional outcome and a good overall survivorship of the implant at long-term follow-up. These advantages could be achieved at a lower cost. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective Therapeutic Study, Level IV.

Three different cruciate-sacrificing TKA designs: minor intraoperative kinematic differences and negligible clinical differences.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to compare three types of mobile-bearing posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)-sacrificing TKA. The hypothesis was that the three designs provide differences in flexion stability and femoral rollback and improved clinical score at 2-year follow-up. METHODS: Three groups of patients, divided according to implant design, were analysed retrospectively. All operations were guided by a non-image-based navigation system that recorded relative femoral and tibial positions in native and implanted knees during: passive range of motion and anterior drawer test at 90° flexion. WOMAC, KSS and SF36 scores were collected pre-operatively and at 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: There are no differences in kinematic or clinical performance of the three implants, except for the antero-posterior translation during stress test in flexion: only Cohort B had comparable pre- and post-operative laxity test values (p < 0.001). All three TKA designs allowed to maintain pre-operative tibial rotation pattern through all range of knee flexion. All clinical scores of the three patient cohorts were significantly improved post-operatively compared to the pre-operative values (p < 0.001). Moreover, we found no differences among post-operative results of the three designs. CONCLUSION: Despite design variations, mobile-bearing PCL-sacrificing TKA reproduces femoral rollback and screw-home with little or no difference in clinical or functional scores at a follow-up of 2 years. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.