Intravenous opioid drug abuse as an independent risk factor for supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma-A case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Intravenous opioid drug abuse (IVDA) was previously correlated with laryngeal cancer. However, discrimination of this correlation by anatomical subsites has not yet been described. In this study, we aim to further establish the association between IVDA and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to indicate the laryngeal subsites that are predisposed for this correlation. DESIGN: A retrospective matched case-control study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients diagnosed with supraglottic SCC (SG-SCC) between 1996 and 2016 treated in a tertiary academic referral centre were enrolled to the case group. The control group comprised of matched patients diagnosed with glottis SCC (G-SCC). Matching was based on gender, age and socio-economic rank. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Variables studies as risk factors included the following: smoking, alcohol consumption, history of IVDA and infectious diseases. The variables were tested for association with the 2 groups and with each other. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients with SG-SCC were matched with 48 patients with G-SCC. IVDA rates significantly increased among patients with SG-SCC. Of the SG-SCC group, 18.8% had a positive history for IVDA compared with 2.1% of the G-SCC (P = .008). A history of IVDA was found to be a risk factor for SG-SCC, independent of smoking, excessive alcohol and socio-economic status. The odds ratio for patients with an IVDA history to have SG-SCC relatively to G-SCC was 10.846 (95% CI: 1.3-89.4). CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous opioid drug abuse represents an independent risk factor for SG-SCC. The pathogenesis should be investigated not just as a risk factor, as opioids are commonly used for pain management in oncologic patients.

Changes in the pattern of fractures of the hip in patients 60 years of age and older between 2001 and 2010: A radiological review.

The purpose of this study was to identify changing trends in the pattern of distribution of the type and demographics of fractures of the hip in the elderly between 2001 and 2010. A retrospective cross-sectional comparison was conducted between 179 fractures of the hip treated in 2001, 357 treated in 2006 and 454 treated in 2010. Patients aged < 60 years and those with pathological and peri-prosthetic fractures were excluded. Fractures were classified as stable extracapsular, unstable extracapsular or intracapsular fractures. The mean age of the 179 patients (132 women (73.7%)) treated in 2001 was 80.8 years (60 to 96), 81.8 years (61 to 101) in the 357 patients (251 women (70.3%)) treated in 2006 and 82.0 years (61 to 102) in the 454 patients (321 women (70.1%)) treated in 2010 (p = 0.17). There was no difference in the gender distribution between the three study years (p = 0.68). The main finding was a steep rise in the proportion of unstable peritrochanteric fractures. The proportion of unstable extracapsular fractures was 32% (n = 57) in 2001, 35% (n = 125) in 2006 and 45% (n = 204) in 2010 (p < 0.001). This increase was not significant in patients aged between 60 and 69 years (p = 0.84), marginally significant in those aged between 70 and 79 years (p = 0.04) and very significant in those aged > 80 years (p < 0.001). The proportion of intracapsular fractures did not change (p = 0.94). At present, we face not only an increasing number of fractures of the hip, but more demanding and complex fractures in older patients than a decade ago. This study does not provide an explanation for this change.