Does delay to theatre influence morbidity or mortality in femoral periprosthetic fractures?

Aims: Femoral periprosthetic fractures are rising in incidence. Their management is complex and carries a high associated mortality. Unlike native hip fractures, there are no guidelines advising on time to theatre in this group. We aim to determine whether delaying surgical intervention influences morbidity or mortality in femoral periprosthetic fractures. Methods: We identified all periprosthetic fractures around a hip or knee arthroplasty from our prospectively collated database between 2012 and 2021. Patients were categorized into early or delayed intervention based on time from admission to surgery (early = ≤ 36 hours, delayed > 36 hours). Patient demographics, existing implants, Unified Classification System fracture subtype, acute medical issues on admission, preoperative haemoglobin, blood transfusion requirement, and length of hospital stay were identified for all patients. Complication and mortality rates were compared between groups. Results: A total of 365 patients were identified: 140 in the early and 225 in the delayed intervention group. Mortality rate was 4.1% at 30 days and 19.2% at one year. There was some indication that those who had surgery within 36 hours had a higher mortality rate, but this did not reach statistical significance at 30 days (p = 0.078) or one year (p = 0.051). Univariate analysis demonstrated that age, preoperative haemoglobin, acute medical issue on admission, and the presence of postoperative complications influenced 30-day and one-year mortality. Using a multivariate model, age and preoperative haemoglobin were independently predictive factors for one-year mortality (odds ratio (OR) 1.071; p < 0.001 and OR 0.980; p = 0.020). There was no association between timing of surgery and postoperative complications. Postoperative complications were more likely with increasing age (OR 1.032; p = 0.001) and revision arthroplasty compared to internal fixation (OR 0.481; p = 0.001). Conclusion: While early intervention may be preferable to reduce prolonged immobilization, there is no evidence that delaying surgery beyond 36 hours increases mortality or complications in patients with a femoral periprosthetic fracture.

The incidence of surgical intervention following a suspected scaphoid fracture.

Aims: The underlying natural history of suspected scaphoid fractures (SSFs) is unclear and assumed poor. There is an urgent requirement to develop the literature around SSFs to quantify the actual prevalence of intervention following SSF. Defining the risk of intervention following SSF may influence the need for widespread surveillance and screening of SSF injuries, and could influence medicolegal actions around missed scaphoid fractures. Methods: Data on SSF were retrospectively gathered from virtual fracture clinics (VFCs) across a large Scottish Health Board over a four-year period, from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021. The Bluespier Electronic Patient Record System identified any surgical procedure being undertaken in relation to a scaphoid injury over the same time period. Isolating patients who underwent surgical intervention for SSF was performed by cross-referencing the unique patient Community Health Index number for patients who underwent these scaphoid procedures with those seen at VFCs for SSF over this four-year period. Results: In total, 1,739 patients were identified as having had a SSF. Five patients (0.28%) underwent early open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). One patient (0.06%) developed a nonunion and underwent ORIF with bone grafting. All six patients undergoing surgery were male (p = 0.005). The overall rate of intervention following a SSF was 0.35%. The early intervention rate in those undergoing primary MRI was one (0.36%), compared with three in those without (0.27%) (p > 0.576). Conclusion: Surgical intervention was rare following a SSF and was not required in females. A primary MRI policy did not appear to be associated with any change in primary or secondary intervention. These data are the first and largest in recent literature to quantify the prevalence of surgical intervention following a SSF, and may be used to guide surveillance and screening pathways as well as define medicolegal risk involved in missing a true fracture in SSFs.

Awareness and understanding of nuclear medicine among junior doctors in a district general hospital setting: an audit and personal experiences.

AIM: To discover the level of knowledge and understanding about nuclear medicine techniques among current junior doctors in a hospital setting. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent out to all Foundation Year 1 and Foundation Year 2 doctors at my institution, asking them to list as many nuclear medicine investigations (with relevant indications) as they knew. All known nuclear medicine therapies were also listed. The data from these questionnaires were analysed. The doctors were then given a lecture entitled 'Introduction to Nuclear Medicine'. The questionnaires were then sent out again 1 month later, and the data from them were re-analysed. RESULTS: Each junior doctor, before the lectures, knew a mean of 3.1 investigations and 0.8 therapies. After the lectures, they were able to list a mean of 7.5 investigations and 3.4 therapies. This difference/improvement in knowledge is statistically significant (P<0.001). DISCUSSION: Level of knowledge regarding nuclear medicine is poor among junior doctors. After appropriate education, the audit showed a highly statistically significant improvement in the level of knowledge. A lack of exposure to nuclear medicine, and its low profile in many hospitals, are the likely causes of the initial lack of awareness. It is important to rectify this, not only for improving patient management, but also for the future of the specialty itself.

Tumor-derived death receptor 6 modulates dendritic cell development.

Studies in murine models of cancer as well as in cancer patients have demonstrated that the immune response to cancer is often compromised. This paradigm is viewed as one of the major mechanisms of tumor escape. Many therapies focus on employing the professional antigen presenting dendritic cells (DC) as a strategy to overcome immune inhibition in cancer patients. Death receptor 6 (DR6) is an orphan member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRSF21). It is overexpressed on many tumor cells and DR6(-/-) mice display altered immunity. We investigated whether DR6 plays a role in tumorigenesis by negatively affecting the generation of anti-tumor activity. We show that DR6 is uniquely cleaved from the cell surface of tumor cell lines by the membrane-associated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-14, which is often overexpressed on tumor cells and is associated with malignancy. We also demonstrate that >50% of monocytes differentiating into DC die when the extracellular domain of DR6 is present. In addition, DR6 affects the cell surface phenotype of the resulting immature DC and changes their cytokine production upon stimulation with LPS/IFN-gamma. The effects of DR6 are mostly amended when these immature DC are matured with IL-1beta/TNF-alpha, as measured by cell surface phenotype and their ability to present antigen. These results implicate MMP-14 and DR6 as a mechanism tumor cells can employ to actively escape detection by the immune system by affecting the generation of antigen presenting cells.

Leukoscan for orthopaedic imaging in clinical practice.

Studies have suggested that orthopaedic infection can be successfully imaged with 99mTc antigranulocyte antibody Fab' fragments (Leukoscan). This study examined the value of the technique in a UK clinical practice. A retrospective review of the first 55 patients imaged was performed. Patients had three-phase bone scintigraphy followed by Leukoscan imaging. The latter was performed using planar views 2 h and 6 h post-injection of 750 MBq 99mTc Leukoscan. In 47 patients there was adequate clinical information available to compare to the scintigraphy result. There were 13 positive infections. The Leukoscan findings produced 11 true positives, 26 true negatives, eight false positives and two false negatives with resulting sensitivity 85%, specificity 77%, positive predictive accuracy 58%, and negative predictive accuracy 93%. This study suggests that Leukoscan can be used successfully to image orthopaedic infection, with its greatest strength being a high negative predictive accuracy. Positive studies may require further correlative imaging.