Brent A. Ponce

Smoking as a risk factor for short-term outcomes following primary total hip and total knee replacement in veterans.

To assess the effect of smoking on postoperative complications following elective primary total hip replacement (THR) or primary total knee replacement (TKR).

Diabetes as a risk factor for poorer early postoperative outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty

BACKGROUND Although diabetes has been associated with increased perioperative morbidity and mortality after hip and knee arthroplasty, its impact on early postoperative outcomes after shoulder replacement remains relatively unexplored. The purpose of the study was to determine the association of diabetes with in-hospital death, complications, length of stay, non-homebound disposition, and cost in patients undergoing shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS By use of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database for the year 2011, an estimated 66,485 patients having undergone shoulder arthroplasty were identified and separated into groups with (21%) and without (79%) diabetes mellitus. Comparisons of specific outcome measures between diabetic and nondiabetic cohorts were performed by bivariate and multivariable analyses with logistic regression modeling. RESULTS Diabetes mellitus was independently associated with in-hospital death, a number of perioperative complications, prolonged hospital stay, and increased non-homebound disposition after shoulder arthroplasty. The presence of diabetes was not associated with increased hospital cost. CONCLUSION Patients with preexisting diabetes are at higher risk for perioperative morbidity and mortality after shoulder arthroplasty. Future prospective research should explore in more detail the relationship between diabetes and shoulder arthroplasty outcomes.

Surgical Site Infection After Arthroplasty: Comparative Effectiveness of Prophylactic Antibiotics: Do Surgical Care Improvement Project Guidelines Need to Be Updated?

BACKGROUND Prophylactic antibiotics decrease surgical site infection (SSI) rates, and their timing, choice, and discontinuation are measured and reported as part of the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP). The aim of this study was to assess the comparative effectiveness of the SCIP-approved antibiotics for SSI prevention. METHODS This retrospective cohort study utilized national Veterans Affairs (VA) data on patients undergoing elective hip or knee arthroplasty from 2005 to 2009. Data on prophylactic antibiotics were merged with VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program data to identify patient and procedure-related risk factors for SSI. Patients were stratified by documented penicillin allergy. Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare SSI rates among patients receiving SCIP-approved prophylactic antibiotics. RESULTS A total of 18,830 elective primary arthroplasties (12,823 knee and 6007 hip) were included. Most patients received prophylactic cefazolin as the sole agent (81.9%), followed by vancomycin as the sole agent (8.0%), vancomycin plus cefazolin (5.6%), and clindamycin (4.5%). Documented penicillin allergy accounted for 54.1% of cases involving vancomycin administration compared with 94.6% of cases involving clindamycin. The overall thirty-day SSI rate was 1.4%, and the unadjusted rate was 2.3% with vancomycin only, 1.5% with vancomycin plus cefazolin, 1.3% with cefazolin only, and 1.1% with clindamycin. Unadjusted analysis of penicillin-allergic patients revealed an SSI rate of 2.0% with vancomycin only compared with 1.0% with clindamycin (p = 0.18). For patients without penicillin allergy, the SSI rate was 2.6% with vancomycin only compared with 1.6% with vancomycin plus cefazolin (p = 0.17) and 1.3% with cefazolin only (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Current SCIP guidelines address antibiotic timing but not antibiotic dosage. (The generally accepted recommendation for vancomycin is 15 mg/kg.) Although vancomycin is a narrower-spectrum antibiotic than either cefazolin or clindamycin, our finding of higher SSI rates following prophylaxis with vancomycin only may suggest a failure to use an appropriate dosage rather than an inequality of antibiotic effectiveness. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Emerging Technology in Surgical Education: Combining Real-Time Augmented Reality and Wearable Computing Devices

The authors describe the first surgical case adopting the combination of real-time augmented reality and wearable computing devices such as Google Glass (Google Inc, Mountain View, California). A 66-year-old man presented to their institution for a total shoulder replacement after 5 years of progressive right shoulder pain and decreased range of motion. Throughout the surgical procedure, Google Glass was integrated with the Virtual Interactive Presence and Augmented Reality system (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama), enabling the local surgeon to interact with the remote surgeon within the local surgical field. Surgery was well tolerated by the patient and early surgical results were encouraging, with an improvement of shoulder pain and greater range of motion. The combination of real-time augmented reality and wearable computing devices such as Google Glass holds much promise in the field of surgery.

The Role of Medial Comminution and Calcar Restoration in Varus Collapse of Proximal Humeral Fractures Treated with Locking Plates

BACKGROUND Proximal humeral fractures that are treated with locked plate constructs remain susceptible to collapse into a varus position. The objectives of the present study were to examine how medial comminution affects fracture stability and to determine the effect of calcar fixation on osteosynthesis stability. METHODS Eleven matched pairs of cadaveric humeri were osteotomized to create standard three-part fractures involving the surgical neck and the greater tuberosity. Five matched pairs were randomly assigned to have the medial calcar region remain intact. Six matched pairs had removal of a 10-mm medially based wedge of bone to simulate medial comminution. All fractures were stabilized in a uniform fashion with a proximal humeral locking plate. The constructs were secured, and the superior portion of the humeral head was subjected to compressive loading to induce varus collapse. Load-to-failure and energy-to-failure values along with stiffness and displacement at the time of failure were determined. RESULTS Medial comminution decreased the mean load to failure by 48% (523 N) (p = 0.015) and the mean energy to failure by 44% (2009 Nmm) (p = 0.013). The use of calcar screw fixation increased the mean load to failure by 31% (219 N) (p = 0.002) and the mean energy to failure by 44% (1279 Nmm) (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Medial comminution significantly decreased the stability of proximal humeral fracture fixation constructs. Calcar restoration with screw fixation significantly improved the stability of repaired fractures in cadaveric specimens. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The data suggest that medial comminution is a predictor of poor stability of proximal humeral fractures and that stability may be improved through calcar restoration.

Social Networking Profiles and Professionalism Issues in Residency Applicants: An Original Study-Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of social networking, the degree of information publicly disclosed, and whether unprofessional content was identified in applicants from the 2010 Residency Match. BACKGROUND Medical professionalism is an essential competency for physicians to learn, and information found on social networking sites may be hazardous to the doctor-patient relationship and an institutions public perception. No study has analyzed the social network content of applicants applying for residency. METHODS Online review of social networking Facebook profiles of graduating medical students applying for a residency in orthopedic surgery. Evidence of unprofessional content was based upon Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines. Additional recorded applicant data included as follows: age, United States Medical Licensing Examination part I score, and residency composite score. Relationship between professionalism score and recorded data points was evaluated using an analysis of variance. RESULTS Nearly half of all applicants, 46% (200/431), had a Facebook profile. The majority of profiles (85%) did not restrict online access to their profile. Unprofessional content was identified in 16% of resident applicant profiles. Variables associated with lower professionalism scores included unmarried relationship status and lower residency composite scores. CONCLUSION It is critical for healthcare professionals to recognize both the benefits and risks present with electronic communication and to vigorously protect the content of material allowed to be publically accessed through the Internet.

Comparative analysis of anatomic and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty: in-hospital outcomes and costs.

BACKGROUND The rate of shoulder arthroplasty has continued to increase at an exponential rate during the past decade in large part owing to approval by the Food and Drug Administration of reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Whereas reverse shoulder arthroplasty has resulted in expanded surgical indications, there are numerous reports of relatively high complication rates. The increased prevalence of both anatomic and reverse shoulder arthroplasty underscores the need to elucidate whether perioperative outcomes are influenced by type of total shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of shoulder arthroplasty type, anatomic or reverse, with respect to perioperative adverse events, in-hospital death, prolonged hospital stay, nonroutine disposition, and hospital charges in a nationally representative sample. METHODS By use of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2011, the first year that reverse total shoulder arthroplasty received a unique International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision procedure code, an estimated 51,052 patients undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty were separated into anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (58%) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (43%). Comparisons of early outcome measures between anatomic and reverse total shoulder cohorts were performed by bivariate and multivariable analyses with logistic regression modeling. RESULTS Compared with anatomic shoulder arthroplasty recipients, patients undergoing reverse shoulder replacement were at higher risk for in-hospital death, multiple perioperative complications, prolonged hospital stay, increased hospital cost, and nonroutine discharge. CONCLUSION Despite the expanding indications for reverse shoulder arthroplasty, it is an independent risk factor for inpatient morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs and should perhaps be offered more judiciously and performed in the hands of appropriately trained shoulder specialists.

Improving the Readability of Online Foot and Ankle Patient Education Materials

Background: Previous studies have shown the need for improving the readability of many patient education materials to increase patient comprehension. This study’s purpose was to determine the readability of foot and ankle patient education materials and to determine the extent readability can be improved. We hypothesized that the reading levels would be above the recommended guidelines and that decreasing the sentence length would also decrease the reading level of these patient educational materials. Methods: Patient education materials from online public sources were collected. The readability of these articles was assessed by a readability software program. The detailed instructions provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were then used as a guideline for performing edits to help improve the readability of selected articles. The most quantitative guideline, lowering all sentences to less than 15 words, was chosen to show the effect of following the NIH recommendations. Results: The reading levels of the sampled articles were above the sixth to seventh grade recommendations of the NIH. The MedlinePlus website, which is a part of the NIH website, had the lowest reading level (8.1). The articles edited had an average reduction of 1.41 grade levels, with the lowest reduction in the Medline articles of 0.65. Conclusion: Providing detailed instructions to the authors writing these patient education articles and implementing editing techniques based on previous recommendations could lead to an improvement in the readability of patient education materials. Clinical Relevance: This study provides authors of patient education materials with simple editing techniques that will allow for the improvement in the readability of online patient educational materials. The improvement in readability will provide patients with more comprehendible education materials that can strengthen patient awareness of medical problems and treatments.

Predictors of extended length of stay after elective shoulder arthroplasty

BACKGROUND With policymakers and hospitals increasingly looking to cut costs, length of stay after surgery has come into focus as an area for improvement. Despite the increasing popularity of total shoulder arthroplasty, there is limited research about the factors contributing to prolonged hospital stay. We sought to identify preoperative and postoperative predictors of prolonged hospital stay in patients undergoing anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (ATSA) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). METHODS Using the 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we identified an estimated 40,869 patients who underwent elective total shoulder arthroplasty (62.5% ATSA; 37.5% RTSA) and separated them into those with normal length of stay (<75th percentile) and prolonged length of stay (>75th percentile). Multivariate logistic regression modeling was performed to identify factors associated with prolonged length of stay. RESULTS Patient-level factors associated with prolonged length of stay common to patients undergoing ATSA or RTSA included increasing age, female sex, congestive heart failure, renal failure, chronic pulmonary disease, and preoperative anemia. Provider-related factors were lower volume and location in the South or Northeast. Postoperative complications showed a significant influence as well. CONCLUSION Our data can be used to promptly identify patients at higher risk of prolonged hospitalization after elective shoulder arthroplasty and to ultimately improve quality of care and cost containment.

Hospital Acquired Conditions Are the Strongest Predictor for Early Readmission: An Analysis of 26,710 Arthroplasties

Hospital readmission is a metric of hospital quality of care, yet little is known what factors predict hospital readmission following arthroplasty. Our aim was to identify variables associated with early readmission following knee and hip arthroplasty, with focus upon hospital acquired conditions (HACs). Retrospective cohort analysis using Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) and Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) data was performed over a five-year period. Following 26,710 total and partial primary arthroplasties (16,808 knees and 9902 hips), the overall 30-day readmission was 7.3% (1940) with readmission rates of 6.6% for knee arthroplasty and 8.4% for hip arthroplasty. HACs accounted for 42% of all complications and were the strongest predictor of readmission. Efforts to reduce these events may improve cost and safety of arthroplasty.