Prior TKR or revision THR causes increased periprosthetic fractures
Source: Healio
Periprosthetic fractures are especially common in patients with prior total knee replacement or revision total hip replacement a decade after primary total hip replacement, according to study results.
Researchers identified 58,521 Medicare beneficiaries who had elective primary total hip replacement (THR) for non-fracture diagnoses between July 1995 and June 1996 and followed them using Medicare Part A claims data through 2008. Using ICD-9 codes, researchers identified periprosthetic femoral fractures occurring from 2006 to 2008. The incidence density method was used to calculate the annual incidence of periprosthetic femoral fractures, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify risk factors for periprosthetic fracture. The risk of hospitalization during the subsequent year was also calculated.
Overall, 55% of patients who had elective primary THR between July 1995 and June 1996 survived until January 2006, with 0.7% of these patients developing a periprosthetic femoral fracture between 2006 and 2008. The researchers found an annual incidence of periprosthetic fractures of 26 per 10,000 person-years among these individuals.
According to Cox proportional hazards models, patients had a greater risk of periprosthetic fracture after having a total knee replacement or a revision total hip replacement between the primary THR and 2006. The researchers found a three-fold higher risk of hospitalization in the subsequent year among THR patients who sustained periprosthetic femoral fracture compared with patients without fractures.
“These data will help clinicians as they portray to patients and their families the long-term concerns associated with living with a hip implant,” the researchers wrote. “The message is that periprosthetic fractures are relatively rare, though more frequent in patients with multiple implants. Further, these fractures are typically associated with the need for considerable subsequent medical care, as they are accompanied by a much greater risk hospitalization in the subsequent year than experienced by THR recipients who did not have hip fracture.”
Obesity may be driving increasing need for knee and hip replacements in steadily younger patients
Source: DailyRx
The impact of being overweight has far reaching health implications — implications that may be taking a toll at an earlier age.
In a new study, researchers found that packing on the pounds may be setting the stage for total knee or hip replacement at increasingly younger ages.
Further, the scientists found that being overweight or obese had a greater impact on the knee than the hip.
ACL injury risk reduced in young athletes by universal neuromuscular training
Source: Medical News Today
The ACL is a critical ligament that stabilizes the knee joint. An ACL injury, one of the most common sports injuries, often requires surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation before an athlete can return to sport and other activities. Recent research has found that screening tools, such as “hop” or isokinetic (computer/video) tests to identify neuromuscular deficits, as well as neuromuscular training programs, may reduce ACL injuries.
Rotator cuff repair may ease shoulder pain from spinal cord injury
Source: Healio
Although they are likely to continue to overburden their shoulders, recently published data suggest patients in wheelchairs due to a spinal cord injury may gain pain relief from rotator cuff repair.
Researchers clinically and functionally evaluated 38 patients with a spinal cord injury who were either paraplegic or quadriplegic and presented with rotator cuff pathologies between January 2005 and September 2013. Patients’ lesions were also examined.
A total of 38 shoulders in 28 patients were indicated for rotator cuff repair, which was then performed. Intraoperative lesion assessment showed more substantial injuries than were indicated via imaging.
Shock therapy improves pain and function in patients with chronic calcific shoulder tendinitis
Source: Medical News Today
Shock therapy improves pain and function in patients with chronic calcific shoulder tendinitis, according to an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Rotator cuff tendonitis is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain and may present with or without calcifications. There is little evidence to suggest that conventional therapies, such as rest, ice, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, and subacromial corticosteroid injections can effectively ease pain or restore function. Calcific tendinitis, in particular, may be more difficult to manage and may require surgery. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT), which uses sound waves of high or low energy that impart rapid fluctuations of pressure to tissues, has been suggested as an alternative treatment to expensive and risky surgical interventions.
Physical therapy instructional video may be as good as an in-person visit for shoulder rehabilitation exercises
Source: Science Daily
A rehab video may get the same results as an in-person visit for shoulder rehabilitation exercises, a new study suggests. “These results are significant for two reasons,” said the lead researcher. “First, having an additional tool to augment what the patient learns at an initial physical therapy visit may help with exercise accuracy and hopefully therefore improve outcomes. Additionally as access to physical therapy becomes more limited due either to cost or insurance, identifying new tools to better help out patients will be essential.”
Year-round play contributes to 10-fold increase of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction among youth
Source: Medical News Today
Baseball season is back and so are the injuries. But, elbow injuries, once seen as a problem for professional athletes, are becoming more prevalent among high school and middle school athletes due to increased play and competition at the youth level. Repetitive stress to a pitcher’s ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) – an important stabilizing ligament of the elbow joint – can lead to pain and eventually to the inability to pitch and throw.
In pitching injuries, the elbow is connected to the hip bone
Source: Medical Xpress
New University of Florida research suggests that a pitcher’s elbow injury could be linked to movement in the hips. Dr. Kevin W. Farmer, an assistant professor in the UF department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, presented research at the March meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons that shows a limited range of motion in a pitcher’s hips could be a risk factor in injury to his elbow.
Study: Fewer men receive osteoporosis evaluation after distal radial fracture
Source: Healio
Following a distal radial fracture, significantly fewer men received evaluation for osteoporosis compared with women, and evaluation rates were significantly below those established in published guidelines, according to study results.
Researchers retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 95 men and 344 women older than 50 who were treated for a distal radial fracture during a 5-year period, and assessed whether the patients had received a dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan and osteoporosis treatment within 6 months following the injury. Using multivariate analysis, the researchers then identified independent predictors of bone mineral density testing and osteoporosis treatment.
Acoustic technique developed to detect knee osteoarthritis
Source: Medical News Today
A revolutionary medical technique using sound waves to identify osteoarthritis in the knee has been developed by researchers.
The UK is leading this new field of health research based on listening to the sounds emitted by the body.
Microphones are attached to the knees of patients, and the high frequency sound waves emanating from their knees are measured as they stand up. These acoustic emissions are interpreted by computer software to give information about the health of the patient’s knee.
