Diagnostic Value of a Carpal Tunnel Corticosteroid Injection in Patients with Negative Electrodiagnostic Studies.

Introduction There is a known false negative rate when using electrodiagnostic studies (EDS) to diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This can pose a management dilemma for patients with signs and symptoms that correlate with CTS but normal EDS. While corticosteroid injection into the carpal tunnel has been used in this setting for diagnostic purposes, there is little data in the literature supporting this practice. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of a carpal tunnel corticosteroid injection in patients with a normal electrodiagnostic study but exhibiting signs and symptoms suggestive of carpal tunnel, who proceed with a carpal tunnel release. Materials and Methods The group included 34 patients presenting to an academic orthopedic practice over the years 2010 to 2019 who had negative EDS, a carpal tunnel corticosteroid injection, and a carpal tunnel release. One patient (2.9%), where the response to the corticosteroid injection was not documented, was excluded from the study, yielding a study cohort of 33 patients. Three patients had bilateral disease, yielding 36 hands for evaluation. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square analysis for nonparametric data. Results Thirty-two hands (88.9%) demonstrated complete or partial relief of neuropathic symptoms after the corticosteroid injection, while four (11.1%) did not experience any improvement. Thirty-one hands (86.1%) had symptom improvement following surgery, compared with five (13.9%) which did not. Of the 32 hands that demonstrated relief following the injection, 29 hands (90.6%) improved after surgery. Of the four hands that did not demonstrate relief after the injection, two (50%) improved after surgery. This difference was statistically significant ( p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients diagnosed with a high index of suspicion for CTS do well with operative intervention despite a normal electrodiagnostic test if they have had a positive response to a preoperative injection. The injection can provide reassurance to both the patient and surgeon before proceeding to surgery. Although patients with a normal electrodiagnostic test and no response to cortisone can still do well with surgical intervention, the surgeon should carefully review both the history and physical examination as surgical success may decrease when both diagnostic tests are negative. Performing a corticosteroid injection is an additional diagnostic tool to consider in the management of patients with CTS and normal electrodiagnostic testing.

A Study on the Incidence of Hand or Wrist Injuries in CrossFit Athletes.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the reported rates and characteristics of injuries among CrossFit athletes with specific attention to the hand and wrist. We further sought to identify trends and associations of these injuries by examining demographic data. Methods A questionnaire was created to capture self-reported information on the incidence of hand or wrist injuries and their associations in CrossFit athletes. It was distributed between April 2020 and July 2020 to athletes training at CrossFit affiliated gyms in the New York and Pennsylvania regions. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors correlated with an injury. Results A total of 270 responses (97.5% response rate) were available for final analysis. The median age of respondents was 34 years and 72.2% had been participating in CrossFit for at least two years. CrossFit athletes reported injury rates of 62.2% while engaged in CrossFit training and 20.4% reported an injury specific to the hand or wrist. The majority of hand or wrist injuries occurred after one year of CrossFit training (65.4%). The majority of reported initial injuries occurred to the wrist (75.4%); subsequently, 29.1% reported reinjuring the same region. While 58.2% reported not yet having healed or taking longer than one month to feel fully healed, 72.8% reported returning to unmodified training within one month. Only 15 respondents reported seeking medical attention from a physician for their injury. Physicians generally recommended a training break of over one month, but only two patients reported taking a break this long. Male sex and length of participation in CrossFit were associated with an increased risk of developing a hand or wrist injury. Discussion Hand and wrist injuries represent a significant proportion of injuries among CrossFit athletes. CrossFit practitioners are potentially returning to unmodified training too early following injury, leaving them susceptible to further injury. Physicians and therapists must consider these findings and address both therapies and preventative measures for these types of injuries with their patients.

The Planning Fallacy in the Orthopedic Operating Room.

The planning fallacy posits that humans tend to underestimate the amount of time needed to complete a project and that greater complexity results in a larger difference in that estimation. If this phenomenon is present in the orthopedic operating room, it could lead to negative impacts on patients, their families, and physicians themselves. Nine fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons at one institution were asked to give an estimate of their operative and total room times over the course of three months. Over 759 cases, the surgeons underestimated the total room times by 17.3% (p = 0.034) but did not underestimate their operative times (p = 0.590). The surgeons improved estimation of their operative time for all cases from 13.6 to 10.9 minutes of their actual time (p = 0.031) by comparing the absolute difference for the surgeons' first 25% to the last 25% of cases. Procedures performed at the hospital underestimated operative and total room times by 8.9% and 7.4% compared to the ambulatory center, which overestimated operative times by 6.0% and underestimated total room times by 3.8% (p < 0.001). We found that the planning fallacy does exist in certain situations within the orthopedic operating room.

Variation in Inflammatory Biomarkers Among Demographic Groups Significantly Affects Their Accuracy in Diagnosing Periprosthetic Joint Infection.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a multistep process that involves performing various tests including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). The latter two tests, despite being used at all times for PJI diagnosis, are known to be nonspecific and substantially affected by demographic characteristics, including age, gender, race, and body mass index. It is unknown how these variations affect the diagnostic utility of serological markers for PJI. METHODS: Institutional databases were queried to identify patients undergoing revision arthroplasty between 2010 and 2018, in whom preoperative serum ESR and CRP was performed. Patient demographics were collected, and patients were cross-referenced with an internal database to determine their infection status. Analyses were performed to determine how ESR and CRP varied with respect to demographic factors, including age, gender, race, and infection status. Given that patient infection status was known at the time of revision, conclusions were drawn about the effect of these variations in inflammatory markers on the diagnostic utility of ESR and CRP. RESULTS: The value of ESR increased by age was higher in females and African American race. No significant differences were observed in the value of CRP among the demographic factors, although a slight positive trend was observed with respect to age. The variation in inflammatory markers significantly affected the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ESR and CRP for PJI diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Understanding how the accuracy of diagnostic tests varies with respect to demographic factors can help physicians avoid subjecting patients to unnecessary additional testing and reach more accurate diagnoses of PJI.

Tranexamic Acid Reduces the Rate of Periprosthetic Joint Infection After Aseptic Revision Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Revision total joint arthroplasty (TJA) has a higher rate of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) compared with primary TJA, possibly as the result of increased allogeneic blood transfusion. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is gaining popularity in revision TJA to minimize blood loss and the need for transfusion; however, its effect on PJI reduction has yet to be investigated. The hypothesis of this study was that the administration of TXA during revision arthroplasty is protective against subsequent PJI. METHODS: A prospectively maintained institutional database was used to identify patients who underwent revision TJA for aseptic failure from 2009 to 2018 and had a minimum follow-up of 90 days. Patients who developed PJI following revision arthroplasty were identified. All patients with PJI met Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) criteria. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify variables independently associated with PJI after aseptic revision TJA. RESULTS: Overall, 1,731 patients who underwent aseptic revision were identified; of these patients, 83 (4.8%) developed PJI. Patients who received TXA had significantly lower rates (p = 0.029) of PJI postoperatively at 3.30% compared with those who did not receive TXA at 5.73%. After controlling for relevant confounding variables, TXA remained a significant independent factor that protected against PJI (odds ratio [OR], 0.47 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.23 to 0.90]; p = 0.030). Female sex was also identified as a significant independent factor that protected against PJI (OR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.30 to 0.88]; p = 0.016). However, preoperative anemia was independently associated with an increased risk of subsequent PJI (OR, 2.37 [95% CI, 1.34 to 4.16]; p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Based on this study conducted at a single institution, the use of TXA during aseptic revision arthroplasty was independently associated with a reduced risk of subsequent acute PJI after adjusting for multiple patient characteristics and surgical factors. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Treatment Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Surgical Treatment for Arthritis of the Distal Radioulnar Joint.

Objective Surgical treatment options for distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) arthritis include distal ulnar resection (DUR), DRUJ arthrodesis, and ulnar head replacement. Ulnar convergence leading to persistent pain and clicking is a relatively common complication of complete DUR and DRUJ arthrodesis with distal ulnar segment resection (DRUJA). This led to the development of the distal ulna hemiresection (DUHR) and distal ulnar stump stabilization techniques to reduce the risk of this complication. Patients may experience incomplete relief of pain and limited range of motion (ROM) with these procedures. We hypothesized that there would be no differences in outcomes between the treatment groups, but patients undergoing DUHR, tendon interposition, or distal ulnar stump stabilization would be at lower risk of complications. Methods Records were retrospectively reviewed for 121 patients undergoing DRUJ procedures between 2000 and 2018 at a single institution to collect patient demographics, surgical details, preoperative diagnosis, and outcomes including complications, revision procedures, ROM, pain, and swelling. Patients were grouped for analysis by procedure type: DUR (Darrach procedure), DUHR (Bowers procedure), and DRUJA (Sauve-Kapandji procedure). Continuous variables were compared using an analysis of variance test and categorical variables using the Freeman-Halton extension of the Fisher's exact test. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify significant predictors of outcomes. Results Seventy-three patients underwent a DUR procedure, while 33 patients underwent a DUHR procedure and 11 underwent a DRUJA procedure. Mean follow-up was 70.6 months. Patients undergoing DRUJA were significantly younger than those undergoing DUR or DUHR procedure (42.4 vs. 60.0 vs. 62.1, p < 0.001). No significant differences between groups were demonstrated in measured outcomes. Posttraumatic arthritis was the most common preoperative diagnosis (43.4%). Persistent pain was the most common negative outcome (25.6%) followed by limited ROM (19.7%). Five patients (4.3%) suffered postoperative complications, most common being rupture of extensor tendons. Five patients (4.3%) underwent revision procedures. Body mass index (BMI) was a significant predictor of persistent pain (odds ratio = 1.09, p = 0.031). Conclusion The results of our study suggest that outcomes are equivalent between the three distinct treatment groups. Despite the potential benefits, hemiresection, tendon interposition, and distal stump stabilization had no significant effect on outcomes in this study. More than a quarter (25.6%) of patients undergoing DRUJ procedures experience persistent pain postoperatively, while one-fifth (19.7%) experienced limited ROM. Patients with higher BMI are at a significantly greater risk of experiencing persistent postoperative pain. Level of Evidence This is a Level III, retrospective comparative study.

BMI Does Not Affect Complications or Patient Reported Outcomes After Lumbar Decompression Surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective comparative review. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the influence of body mass index (BMI) on postsurgical complications and patient reported outcomes measures (PROMs) following lumbar decompression surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Current literature does not accurately identify the impact of BMI on postsurgical complications or outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records from a single-center, academic hospital were used to identify patients undergoing 1 to 3-level lumbar decompression surgery. Patients under 18 years of age, those undergoing surgery for infection, trauma, tumor, or revision, and those with <1-year follow-up were excluded. Patients were split into groups based on preoperative BMI: class I: BMI <25.0 kg/m; class II: BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m; class III: BMI 30.0-34.9 kg/m; and class IV: BMI >35.0 kg/m. Absolute PROM scores, the recovery ratio and the percent of patients achieving minimum clinically important difference between groups were compared and a multiple linear regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 195 patients were included with 34 (17.4%) patients in group I, 80 (41.0%) in group II, 49 (25.1%) in group III, and 32 (16.5%) in group IV. Average age was 60.0 (58.0, 62.0) years and average follow-up was 13.0 (12.6, 13.4) months. All patients improved significantly within each group, except for class III and class IV patients, who did not demonstrate significant improvements in terms of Mental Component Score (MCS-12) scores (P=0.546 and 0.702, respectively). There were no significant differences between BMI groups for baseline or postoperative PROM values, recovery ratio, or the percent of patients reaching minimum clinically important difference. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that BMI was not a significant predictor for change in outcomes for any measure. The 30-day readmission rate was 6.2% and overall revision rate at final follow-up was 5.1%, with no significant differences between groups. CONCLUSION: This study's results suggest that BMI may not significantly affect complications or patient outcomes at 1-year in those undergoing lumbar decompression surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.