Kyle R. Duchman

The Effect of Smoking on Short-Term Complications Following Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND Total joint arthroplasty is the most frequently performed orthopaedic procedure in the United States. The purpose of the present study was to identify differences in thirty-day morbidity and mortality following primary total hip and total knee arthroplasty according to smoking status and pack-year history of smoking. METHODS We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) database to identify patients who had undergone primary total hip or total knee arthroplasty between 2006 and 2012. Patients were stratified by smoking status and pack-year history of smoking. Thirty-day rates of mortality, wound complications, and total complications were compared with use of univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS We identified 78,191 patients who had undergone primary total hip or total knee arthroplasty. Of these, 81.8% (63,971) were nonsmokers, 7.9% (6158) were former smokers, and 10.3% (8062) were current smokers. Current smokers had a higher rate of wound complications (1.8%) compared with former smokers and nonsmokers (1.3% and 1.1%, respectively; p < 0.001). Former smokers had a higher rate of total complications (6.9%) compared with current smokers and nonsmokers (5.9% and 5.4%, respectively; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified current smokers as being at increased risk of wound complications (odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21 to 1.78), particularly deep wound infection, while both current smokers (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.31) and former smokers (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.34) were at increased total complication risk. Increasing pack-year history of smoking resulted in increasing total complication risk. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of our findings, current smokers have an increased risk of wound complications and both current and former smokers have an increased total complication risk following total hip or total knee arthroplasty.

Prognostic factors for survival in patients with high-grade osteosarcoma using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database

BACKGROUND The current study aims to determine cause-specific survival in patients with Ewings sarcoma while reporting clinical risk factors for survival. METHODS The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database was used to identify patients with osseous Ewings sarcoma from 1991 to 2010. Patient, tumor, and socioeconomic variables were analyzed to determine prognostic factors for survival. RESULTS There were 1163 patients with Ewings sarcoma identified in the SEER Program database. The 10-year cause-specific survival for patients with non-metastatic disease at diagnosis was 66.8% and 28.1% for patients with metastatic disease. Black patients demonstrated reduced survival at 10 years with an increased frequency of metastatic disease at diagnosis as compared to patients of other race, while Hispanic patients more frequently presented with tumor size>10cm. Univariate analysis revealed that metastatic disease at presentation, tumor size>10cm, axial tumor location, patient age≥20 years, black race, and male sex were associated with decreased cause-specific survival at 10 years. Metastatic disease at presentation, axial tumor location, tumor size>10cm, and age≥20 years remained significant in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Patients with Ewings sarcoma have decreased cause-specific survival at 10 years when metastatic at presentation, axial tumor location, tumor size>10cm, and patient age≥20 years.

Differences in Short-term Complications Between Unicompartmental and Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis

BACKGROUND Knee arthroplasty has emerged as an effective treatment for end-stage gonarthrosis. Although total knee arthroplasty remains the gold standard, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is an appropriate alternative for select patients. We sought to use a large, heterogeneous national database to identify differences in thirty-day complication rates between unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty as well as to identify risk factors for complications. METHODS Patients in the ACS NSQIP (American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program) database who had undergone total or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty from 2005 to 2011 were identified. CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes were used to select cases of elective primary knee arthroplasty. Statistical models employing univariate and multivariate logistic regression identified risk factors associated with the thirty-day incidence of morbidity and mortality after total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Propensity score matching addressed demographic differences between the total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty cohorts. RESULTS A total of 29,333 patients were identified; 27,745 (94.6%) underwent total knee arthroplasty and 1588 (5.41%) underwent unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Prior to matching, the total knee arthroplasty cohort was 63.7% female and had a mean BMI of 32.8 ± 7.3 kg/m(2), whereas the values for the unicompartmental cohort were 55.3% and 31.5 ± 6.5 kg/m(2) (p < 0.0001). The mean ages of these cohorts were 67.2 ± 10.1 and 64.0 ± 10.7 years, respectively (p < 0.0001). A previously developed and implemented propensity score matching algorithm was used to address the demographic differences. Following matching, the total complication rate did not differ significantly between the total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty cohorts (5.29% compared with 4.16%, p = 0.35), whereas the rate of deep venous thrombosis (1.50% compared with 0.50%, p = 0.02) and the duration of hospital stay (3.4 compared with 2.2 days, p < 0.0001) were significantly higher in the total knee arthroplasty cohort. CONCLUSIONS Comparison of total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty revealed no differences in overall short-term (thirty-day) morbidity and mortality. Although this study does not address long-term subjective outcomes or implant survival, these findings should provide helpful information for surgeons counseling patients considering total and/or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Opioid Use After Total Knee Arthroplasty: Trends and Risk Factors for Prolonged Use

BACKGROUND The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Little is known about perioperative opioid use for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to identify rates of preoperative opioid use, evaluate postoperative trends and identify risk factors for prolonged use after TKA. METHODS Patients who underwent primary TKA from 2007-2014 were identified within the Humana database. Postoperative opioid use was measured by monthly prescription refill rates. A preoperative opioid user (OU) was defined by history of opioid prescription within 3 months prior to TKA and a non-opioid user (NOU) was defined by no history of prior opioid use. Rates of opioid use were trended monthly for one year postoperatively for all cohorts. RESULTS 73,959 TKA patients were analyzed and 23,532 patients (31.2%) were OU. OU increased from 30.1% in 2007 to 39.3% in 2014 (P < .001). Preoperative opioid use was the strongest predictor for prolonged opioid use following TKA, with OU filling significantly more opioid prescriptions than NOU at every time point analyzed. Younger age, female sex and other intrinsic factors were found to significantly increase the rate of opioid refilling following TKA throughout the postoperative year. CONCLUSION Approximately one-third of TKA patients use opioids within 3 months prior to surgery and this percentage has increased over 9% during the years included in this study. Preoperative opioid use was most predictive of increased refills of opioids following TKA. However, other intrinsic patient characteristics were also predictive of prolonged opioid use.

The Impact of Current Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Short-Term Morbidity Risk After Lumbar Spine Surgery.

Study Design. A retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of current smoking or prior smoking cessation on 30-day morbidity risk following lumbar spine surgery. Summary of Background Data. Prior studies have reported conflicting data regarding the impact of smoking on morbidity risk, and few studies have investigated smoking cessation. Methods. A large, multicenter, prospectively collected clinical registry was queried for all adult patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery in 2012 and 2013, and 35,477 cases were identified. Morbidity data are collected by on-site clinical personnel for 30 days postoperatively. Patients were divided into categories of “never-smoker,” for patients with no reported cigarette use (n = 27,246), “former smoker,” for patients who quit smoking more than 12 months before surgery (n = 562), and “current smoker,” for patients still using cigarettes (n = 7669). A univariate analysis was conducted to identify un-adjusted differences in morbidity risk, and a multivariate analysis was conducted in an attempt to control for confounders. Results. In the multivariate analysis, current smokers had a significantly higher risk of both superficial surgical site infection and overall wound complications, than never-smokers (P < 0.05 for each). Current smokers also had a significantly higher risk of total 30-day morbidity (P = 0.04). There was a trend toward former smokers also having an increased risk, but this did not reach significance in any category. Patients with a pack-year smoking history of 1 to 20 pack-years and more than 40 pack-years both had a significantly higher risk of superficial surgical site infections (P < 0.05 for each). Conclusion. Current smoking is associated with a small but significant increase in systemic morbidity and wound complications following elective lumbar spine procedures. Increasing pack year history was also associated with wound complication risk, suggesting a dose-related effect. The data provide preliminary support for future studies on smoking cessation. Level of Evidence: 3

Can We Predict Discharge Status After Total Joint Arthroplasty? A Calculator to Predict Home Discharge

BACKGROUND Postoperative discharge to a skilled nursing facility after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is associated with increased costs, complications, and readmission. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for discharge to a location other than home to build a calculator to predict discharge disposition after TJA. METHODS The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2011 to 2013 to identify patients who underwent primary total hip or total knee arthroplasty. Risk factors were compared between patients discharging home vs a facility. Predictors of facility discharge were converted to discrete values to develop a simple numerical calculator. RESULTS After primary TJA, patients discharged to a facility were typically older (70.9 vs 64.3, P < .001), female (69.5% vs 55.7%, P < .001), had an elevated American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) class, and were more likely to be functionally dependent before surgery (3.8% vs 1.1%, P < .001). Patient age, preoperative functional status, nonelective THA for hip fracture, and ASA class were most predictive of facility discharge. After development of a predictive model, scores exceeding 40 and 80 points resulted in a facility discharge probability of 75% and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSION In patients undergoing TJA, advanced age, elevated ASA class, and functionally dependent status before surgery strongly predicted facility discharge. Given that facility discharge imposes a significant cost and morbidity burden after TJA, patients, surgeons, and hospitals may use this simple calculator to target this susceptible patient population.

Distal realignment: indications, technique, and results.

When appropriately indicated, distal realignment procedures can produce consistent clinical results. Indications for distal realignment include lateral patellofemoral instability, anterior knee pain with associated lateral or distal patellofemoral cartilage lesion, and cases with significant lateral patellofemoral overload or tilt. In cases of patellofemoral instability, it is important to determine whether proximal stabilization, distal realignment, or both is needed. If distal realignment is indicated, several anatomic variables must be considered to determine the location and obliquity of the osteotomy when using multiplanar osteotomy techniques.

The John N. Insall Award: Do Intraarticular Injections Increase the Risk of Infection After TKA?

BackgroundInfection after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can result in disastrous consequences. Previous research regarding injections and risk of TKA infection have produced conflicting results and in general have been limited by small cohort size.Questions/purposesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate if intraarticular injection before TKA increases the risk of postoperative infection and to identify if time between injection and TKA affect the risk of TKA infection.MethodsThe Humana data set was reviewed from 2007 to 2014 for all patients who received a knee injection before TKA. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes and laterality modifiers were used to identify patients who underwent knee injection followed by ipsilateral TKA. Postoperative infection within 6 months of TKA was identified using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision/CPT codes that represent two infectious endpoints: any postoperative surgical site infection (encompasses all severities of infection) and operative intervention for TKA infection (surrogate for deep TKA infection). The injection cohort was stratified into 12 subgroups by monthly intervals out to 12 months corresponding to the number of months that had elapsed between injection and TKA. Risk of postoperative infection was compared between the injection and no injection cohorts. In total, 29,603 TKAs (35%) had an injection in the ipsilateral knee before the TKA procedure and 54,081 TKA cases (65%) did not. The PearlDiver database does not currently support line-by-line output of patient data, and so we were unable to perform a multivariate analysis to determine whether other important factors may have varied between the study groups that might have had a differential influence on the risk of infection between those groups. However, the Charlson Comorbidity index was no different between the injection and no injection cohorts (2.9 for both) suggesting similar comorbidity profiles between the groups.ResultsThe proportion of TKAs developing any postoperative infection was higher among TKAs that received an injection before TKA than in those that did not (4.4% versus 3.6%; odds ratio [OR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.33; p < 0.001). Likewise, the proportion of TKAs developing infection resulting in return to the operating room after TKA was also higher among TKAs that received an injection before TKA than those that did not (1.49% versus 1.04%; OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.3-1.63; p < 0.001). Month-by-month analysis of time between injection and TKA revealed the odds of any postoperative infection remained higher for the injection cohort out to a duration of 6 months between injection and TKA (ORs ranged 1.23 to 1.46 when 1-6 months between injection and TKA; p < 0.05 for all) as did the odds of operative intervention for TKA infection when injection occurred within 7 months of TKA (OR ranged from 1.38 to 1.88 when 1-7 months between injection and TKA; p < 0.05 for all). When the duration between injection and TKA was longer than 6 or 7 months, the ORs were no longer elevated at these endpoints, respectively.ConclusionsInjection before TKA was associated with a higher risk of postoperative infection and appears to be time-dependent with closer proximity between injection and TKA having increased odds of infection. Further research is needed to better evaluate the risk injection before TKA poses for TKA infection; a more definitive relationship could be established with a multivariate analysis to control for other known risk factors for TKA infection.Level of EvidenceLevel III, therapeutic study.

All-Inside Versus Inside-Out Meniscal Repair With Concurrent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Meta-regression Analysis

Background: Meniscal tears are frequently repaired during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Purpose: To systematically evaluate differences in clinical failures between all-inside and inside-out meniscal repairs performed during ACLR. Study Design: Meta-analysis; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A systematic review was perfomed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The databases queried included MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. All English-language studies reporting failure rates after meniscal repair with either the all-inside or inside-out technique performed in conjunction with ACLR were identified between 1980 and 2015. Studies with a minimum 2-year follow-up were included. Reported outcomes, clinical meniscal repair failures, and complications were assessed. Studies were weighted according to the size of the clinical series and mean follow-up length. Inverse-variance–weighted mixed models were used to evaluate whether there was a significant difference in pooled reoperation rates between repair techniques. Results: In total, 21 studies met inclusion criteria. Of these, 13 studies reported outcomes after all-inside repair, and 10 studies reported outcomes after inside-out repair (2 studies reported both). A total of 1126 patients were included in the analysis. The mean (±SD) follow-up for all-inside repair was 58.64 ± 22.24 months versus 76.25 ± 31.69 months for inside-out repair (P = .13). The clinical failure rate for all-inside meniscal repair performed concurrently with ACLR was 16% (121/744) compared with 10% (39/382) for inside-out repair, and this was found to be significant (P = .016). Implant irritation and device migration were the most common complications reported for all-inside repair; complication rates did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: There may be fewer early clinical failures when the inside-out technique is utilized for meniscal repair at the time of concomitant ACLR. Additional long-term studies will be useful to determine the operative success of these repairs over time.

Graft Selection in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery: Who gets What and Why?

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common and affect a young, active patient population. Despite much research, ACL reconstruction graft choice remains a topic of debate. Based on the best available evidence, autograft seems to be superior to allograft for ACL reconstruction in young, active patients. Future high-level studies are required in order to better define the role of allograft in ACL reconstruction. As graft choice is often influenced by surgeon preference, it is important that surgeons understand the current literature as well as the goals of their patients.