Do associated proximal fibula fractures help predict the severity of tibial plateau fractures?

PURPOSE: Proximal fibula fractures are often associated with tibial plateau fractures, but their relationship is poorly characterized. The purpose of this study was to better define the relationship between tibial plateau injury severity and presence of associated soft tissue injuries. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on all operatively treated tibial plateau fractures at a Level 1 trauma center over a 5-year period. Patient demographics, injury radiographs, CT scans, operative reports and follow-up were reviewed. RESULTS: Queried tibial plateau fractures from 2014 to 2019 totaled 217 fractures in 215 patients. Fifty-two percent were classified as AO/OTA 41B and 48% were AO/OTA 41C. Thirty-nine percent had an associated proximal fibula fracture. The presence of a proximal fibula fracture had significant correlation with AO/OTA 41C fractures, as compared with AO/OTA 41B fractures (chi-square, p < 0.001). Of the patients with a lateral split depression type tibial plateau fracture, the presence of a proximal fibula fracture was associated with more articular comminution, measured by number of articular fragments (mean = 4.0 vs. 2.9 articular fragments, p = 0.004). There was also a higher rate of meniscal injury in patients with proximal fibula fractures (37% vs. 20%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant relationship between the higher energy tibial plateau fracture type (AO/OTA 41C) and the presence of an associated proximal fibula fracture. The presence of a proximal fibula fracture with a tibial plateau fracture is an indicator of a higher energy injury and a higher likelihood of meniscal injury.

Does Fever Response to Acetaminophen Predict Bloodstream Infections in Febrile Neutropenia?

BACKGROUND: There is a need to identify clinical parameters for early and effective risk stratification and prediction of bacterial bloodstream infections (BSIs) in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). Acetaminophen is used widely to treat fever in FN; however, little research exists on whether fever response to acetaminophen can be used as a predictor of BSIs. OBJECTIVES: Investigate the relationship between fever response to acetaminophen and bacteremia in FN. DESIGN/METHOD: A retrospective review of patients (1-21 years old) presenting with FN and bacteremia at Rady Children's Hospital (2012-2018) was performed. Demographic information, presenting signs/symptoms, degree of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count (ANC) > 500 or < 500 cells/µL), absolute monocyte count, blood culture results, temperatures one, two, and six hours after acetaminophen, and timing of antibiotic administration were examined. Patients were stratified into three malignancy categories: leukemia/lymphoma, solid tumor, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Patients were matched with culture-negative controls based on sex, age, malignancy category, and degree of neutropenia. RESULTS: Thirty-five case-control pairs met inclusion criteria (70 presentations of FN). The mean age of the cases was 10.7 years (± 6.3) vs. 10.0 years (± 5.9) for the controls. Twenty were female (57%). Twenty-three pairs were categorized as leukemia/lymphoma (66%), eight as solid tumors (23%), and four as HSCT (11%). Thirty-four pairs (97%) had a presenting ANC < 500 cells/µL. Higher temperature one-hour post-acetaminophen was associated with bacteremia (p = 0.04). Logistic regression demonstrated that temperature one-hour post-acetaminophen had a significant predictive value for bacteremia (p = 0.011). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for logistic regression and classification and regression tree analysis were 0.70 and 0.71, respectively. CONCLUSION: While temperature one-hour post-acetaminophen was higher among patients with bacteremia and was a significant predictor of bacteremia, fever response in isolation lacks sufficient predictive value to impact clinical decision-making. Future studies are needed to assess fever responsiveness as an adjunct to existing modalities of FN risk stratification.