Nolan S. Horner

Indications and Outcomes for Microfracture as an Adjunct to Hip Arthroscopy for Treatment of Chondral Defects in Patients With Femoroacetabular Impingement: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE To evaluate the indications, preoperative workup outcomes, and postoperative rehabilitation of patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) receiving microfracture as an adjunct to hip arthroscopy for chondral defects. METHODS The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed were searched and screened in duplicate for studies involving patients with FAI treated arthroscopically with microfracture of the hip for chondral defects either solely or as an adjunct to hip arthroscopy. Data regarding indications, investigations, outcomes, and postoperative rehabilitation were abstracted from eligible studies. The references of included studies were additionally searched, and descriptive statistics are provided. RESULTS There were 12 studies included in this review, involving 267 patients. With the exception of a single, one-patient case report, 11 of the 12 studies reported positive outcomes after hip arthroscopy with microfracture. Only 0.7% of the total patients experienced a complication, and 1.1% required further surgery on the basis of outcomes evaluated at a mean follow-up of 29.5 (range, 4 to 60) months across the studies. Eight of 12 studies discussed the preoperative workup of these patients, with X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging being the most common preoperative imaging used. There was little reported on weight-bearing status during postoperative rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS The outcomes reported in the literature after hip arthroscopy with microfracture for chondral defects are, in general, positive, with a very low percentage of patients requiring further surgery or experiencing complications. The most common indication used in the literature for microfracture is a full-thickness, focal chondral defect (Outerbridge grade IV). The vast majority of literature recommends limited weight bearing after microfracture; however, there was significant variation among the specific rehabilitation protocols used. More research is needed to explore what indications and postoperative rehabilitation result in the best outcomes for patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level IV, systematic review of Level II, III, and IV studies.

Arthroscopic surgery for synovial chondromatosis of the hip: a systematic review of rates and predisposing factors for recurrence.

PURPOSE Synovial chondromatosis of the hip is a benign condition whereby pain and functional limitations occur due to numerous intra-articular osteochondral fragments produced by a metaplastic synovium. Recurrence not only worsens morbidity but may lead to malignant transformation. With reported recurrence rates as high as 22% by open surgical approaches and given the increasing use of hip arthroscopy for the treatment of synovial chondromatosis, we sought to quantify the recurrence rate after arthroscopy, as well as identify predisposing factors for recurrence. METHODS Using predetermined inclusion criteria, 3 electronic databases--Embase, Medline, and PubMed-were searched for relevant articles addressing arthroscopic surgery for synovial chondromatosis of the hip across all available dates up to and including February 16, 2014. A hand search of the reference sections of the included studies was also completed. Article screening was conducted in duplicate. Reviewer agreement statistics and descriptive statistics of the included studies are presented. RESULTS From an initial retrieval of 2,542 studies, 14 studies satisfied the criteria for inclusion. A total of 197 patients (age range, 13 to 81 years) underwent hip arthroscopy for removal of intra-articular osteochondral fragments and synovectomy to alleviate both mechanical symptoms and pain. Follow-up periods ranged from 1 to 184 months, with approximately 7.6% of patients (15 of 197) lost to follow-up. The recurrence rate after hip arthroscopy was 7.1% (14 of 197), and the rate of minor complications, such as perineal and pedal neurapraxia, was 1%. CONCLUSIONS For synovial chondromatosis of the hip, arthroscopic removal of osteochondral fragments with synovectomy is both safe and effective, with a mean recurrence rate of 7.1%. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level IV, systematic review of Level IV studies.

Indications and outcomes of shoulder arthroscopy after shoulder arthroplasty

BACKGROUND Arthroscopy is a widely used intervention in the treatment of a variety of shoulder conditions. Arthroscopy has also been selectively used in symptomatic patients after shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine indications for shoulder arthroscopy in patients after shoulder arthroplasty and to report patient outcomes after these procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed were searched and screened in duplicate for studies involving shoulder arthroscopy in shoulder arthroplasty patients. A full-text review of eligible studies was conducted in duplicate, and references were searched using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS The review included 11 studies containing 84 patients. All were Level IV evidence. The most common indications for shoulder arthroscopy in the setting of shoulder arthroplasty were pain or loss of range of motion without a clear diagnosis, suspected periprosthetic infection, and rotator cuff assessment. Although 92% of patients were satisfied with the procedure and standardized shoulder scores increased in all studies that reported them, 44% of patients still went on to additional revision surgery after arthroscopy. CONCLUSIONS Shoulder arthroscopy in patients after arthroplasty is most frequently used as a diagnostic tool; however, it has utility in treating a number of predetermined pathologies. Despite the low sample size and quality of evidence in our review, patient satisfaction after arthroscopy is high because standardized outcome scores improve, and the risk of complications is low. However, a high percentage of patients who receive arthroscopy later require further surgery.

Reporting of non-hip score outcomes following femoroacetabular impingement surgery: a systematic review

This systematic review was designed to evaluate the reporting of non-hip score outcomes following surgical management of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed were searched and screened in duplicate for studies involving non-hip score outcomes following the surgical management of FAI. A full-text review of eligible studies was conducted and references were searched using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Thirty-three studies involving 3198 patients were included in this review. The most common non-hip score outcomes reported included: patient satisfaction (72.7%), symptom improvement (24.7%), pain improvement (12.4%), hip range of motion (12.3%) and return to sport (6.8%). The most frequently reported standardized hip outcome scores used were the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) (41.2%), Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS) (29.4%), Hip Outcome Score—Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL) (26.5%), the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Index of Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) (17.6%), the HOS Sport-Specific Subscale (SSS) (17.6%). The most commonly reported non-hip score outcomes are patient satisfaction, symptom improvement and pain improvement. Patients report high levels of satisfaction when surveyed post-operatively. A discrepancy exists between what outcomes the literature suggests should be reported and what outcomes are actually reported. Return to sport is often held as a major patient-important outcome yet it is seldom reported in studies assessing the efficacy of FAI surgery. Second, despite emerging evidence that outcome measures such as the HOS or IHOT evaluate the FAI patient population precisely, other standardized hip score outcomes (mHHS and NAHS) are still more commonly reported.

Efficacy of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug Prophylaxis for Heterotrophic Ossification in Hip Arthroscopy: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the efficacy of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) prophylaxis for preventing heterotopic ossification (HO) in the setting of hip arthroscopy. METHODS A systematic search was performed in duplicate for studies comparing the use of NSAID prophylaxis for HO in the setting of hip arthroscopy until March 2015. Study parameters--including sample size, incidence of HO, adverse effects, and level of symptoms--were obtained. Furthermore, the level of evidence of studies was collected and quality assessment was performed. The difference in incidence as well as pooled odds ratios were calculated and analyzed to compare no prophylaxis versus NSAID prophylaxis. RESULTS This systematic review identified 5 studies, consisting of 1,662 patients, investigating NSAID prophylaxis in hip arthroscopy. HO was diagnosed with the use of postoperative hip radiographs at follow-up, with 95% of cases classified using the Brooker classification. The incidence of HO was 13.4% without NSAID prophylaxis and 3.3% with NSAID prophylaxis. Pooled odds ratios from the prospective studies were 0.07 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.28; P = .0002; I(2) = 0%), showing with statistical significance that NSAID prophylaxis decreased the incidence of HO. The retrospective data similarly showed pooled odds ratios of 0.03 (95% CI, 0.00 to 1.43); P = .08; I(2) = 84%), although it was not statistically significant. Most of the patients who experienced HO in both groups were not reported to be symptomatic. Adverse effects and compliance were not consistently reported. CONCLUSIONS The available orthopaedic literature suggests that the incidence of postoperative HO may be decreased with the use of NSAID prophylaxis in hip arthroscopy. However, the evidence is unclear regarding NSAID drug regimen choice, drug compliance, and adverse effects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level III, systematic review of Level I, Level II, and Level III studies.

Femoral neck fractures as a complication of hip arthroscopy: a systematic review

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the causes and risk factors for hip fractures, a rare but devastating complication, following hip arthroscopy. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed were searched and screened in duplicate for relevant clinical and basic sciences studies and pertinent data was abstracted and analysed in Microsoft Excel. Nineteen studies (12 clinical studies and seven biomechanical studies) with a total of 31 392 patients experiencing 43 hip fractures (0.1% of patients) met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. Femoral osteochondroplasty was performed in 100% of patients who sustained a hip fracture. Six of the 12 (50%) studies identified early weight bearing (prior to 6 weeks post-operatively) as the cause for the hip fracture. Other causes of this complication included over resection during femoral osteochondroplasty, minor trauma and intensive exercise. The results suggest that early weight bearing is the largest modifiable risk factor for hip fracture after femoral osteochondroplasty. For this reason, an extended period of non-weight bearing or restricted weight bearing should be considered in select patients. Studies report a correlation between risk for post-operative hip fracture and increased age. Increased resection during osteochondroplasty has been correlated with increased risk of fracture in various basic science studies. Resection depth has significantly higher impact on risk of fracture than resection length or width. The reported amounts of resection that depth that can be performed before there is a significantly increased risk of fracture of the femoral neck varies from 10 to 30%.

Tranexamic acid in shoulder arthroplasty a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The role of tranexamic acid (TXA) in reducing blood loss following primary shoulder arthroplasty has been demonstrated in small retrospective and controlled clinical trials. This study comprehensively evaluates current literature on the efficacy of TXA to reduce perioperative blood loss and transfusion requirements following shoulder arthroplasty. Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and Embase were searched from the database inception date through October 27, 2016, for all articles evaluating TXA in shoulder arthroplasty. Two reviewers independently screened articles for eligibility and extracted data for analysis. A methodological quality assessment was completed for all included studies, including assessment of the risk of bias and strength of evidence. The primary outcome was change in hemoglobin and the secondary outcomes were drain output, transfusion requirements, and complications. Pooled outcomes assessing changes in hemoglobin, drain output, and transfusion requirements were determined. Results: Five articles (n = 629 patients), including 3 Level-I and 2 Level-III studies, were included. Pooled analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in hemoglobin change (mean difference [MD], −0.64 g/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.84 to −0.44 g/dL; p < 0.00001) and drain output (MD, −116.80 mL; 95% CI, −139.20 to −94.40 mL; p < 0.00001) with TXA compared with controls. TXA was associated with a point estimate of the treatment effect suggesting lower transfusion requirements (55% lower risk); however, the wide CI rendered this effect statistically nonsignificant (risk ratio, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.18 to 1.09; p = 0.08). Findings were robust with sensitivity analysis of pooled outcomes from only Level-I studies. Conclusions: Moderate-strength evidence supports use of TXA for decreasing blood loss in primary shoulder arthroplasty. Further research is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of TXA in revision shoulder arthroplasty and to identify the optimal dosing and route of administration of TXA in shoulder arthroplasty. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Effectiveness of Valgus Offloading Knee Braces in the Treatment of Medial Compartment Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review:

Context: Knee osteoarthritis affects 9.3 million adults over age 45 years in the United States. There is significant disability associated with this condition. Given the potential complications and the significant cost to the health care system with the dramatic increase in total knee arthroplasties performed for this condition, assessment of the efficacy of nonoperative modalities, such as offloading knee braces, is essential as part of optimizing nonoperative treatment for this condition. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of valgus offloader braces in improving clinical outcomes for patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. Data Sources: Three databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE) were searched from database inception through July 28, 2017. Study Selection: Studies reporting outcomes of valgus offloader knee braces in the treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis were included. Study Design: Systematic review. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Data Extraction: Data pertaining to demographics, descriptive statistics, and clinical outcomes were extracted from the included studies. The methodological quality of included studies was evaluated. Results: A total of 31 studies were included, with a total of 619 patients. The majority of studies reported improved pain outcomes using valgus offloader braces. However, variable results were reported as to whether valgus offloader braces significantly improved functional outcomes and stiffness. Offloader bracing was more effective at reducing pain when compared with neutral braces or neoprene sleeves. Conclusion: Valgus offloader bracing is an effective treatment for improving pain secondary to medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. The literature remains unclear on the effectiveness of valgus offloader braces with regard to functional outcomes and stiffness. Larger prospective randomized trials with consistent outcome assessment tools and consideration of patient compliance would be beneficial to more accurately determine treatment effects of valgus offloader bracing.

The Learning Curve for the Latarjet Procedure: A Systematic Review

Background: Anterior shoulder instability, including recurrent instability, is a common problem, particularly in young, active patients and contact athletes. The Latarjet procedure is a common procedure to treat recurrent shoulder instability. Purpose: To identify the reported learning curves associated with the Latarjet procedure and to determine a point on the learning curve after which a surgeon can be considered to have achieved proficiency. Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Three online databases (Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed) were systematically searched and screened in duplicate by 2 independent reviewers. The search included results from the inception of each database to January 23, 2017. Data regarding study characteristics, patient demographics, learning curve analyses, and complications were collected. Study quality was assessed in duplicate. Results: Two level 3 studies and 3 level 4 studies of fair methodological quality were included. Overall, 349 patients (350 shoulders) with a mean age of 25.1 years (range, 14-52 years) were included in the final data analysis. Patients were predominantly male (93.7%). After 22 open and 20 to 40 arthroscopic Latarjet procedures, surgeons achieved a level of proficiency as measured by decreased operative time. For open procedures, complication rates and lengths of hospital stay decreased significantly with increased experience (Spearman ρ = –0.3, P = .009 and Spearman ρ = –0.6, P < .0001, respectively). Conclusion: With experience, surgeons achieved a level of proficiency in performing arthroscopic and open Latarjet procedures, as measured by decreased operative time, length of hospital stay, and complication rate. The most commonly reported difference was operative time, which was significant across all studies. Overall, the Latarjet procedure is a safe procedure with low complication rates, although further research is required to truly characterize this learning curve.

Joint Specific Return to Play Recommendations: “Return to Play in Non-operative Hip/Groin Pain”

Groin pain represents a frequent cause of disability among footballers. Groin pain in footballers is most commonly due to overuse injury as opposed to traumatic injury. Athletic groin pain presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for the sports medicine physician. The complex anatomy of the hip and groin region gives rise to an extensive list of possible pathologies that all may present very similarly. Adductor pathology represents the most common cause of groin pain in footballers, but other pathologies such as abdominal, intra-articular, inguinal, and iliopsoas-related pathologies may also cause groin pain in footballers. Although the majority of groin pain pathologies can be treated with an initial trial of conservative management, the evidence for non-operative management currently available is limited. Athletes who fail conservative treatment options may ultimately require operative management. This chapter discusses return to play in footballers following non-operative management of hip and groin pain.