Healthcare News | – Part 4

Source: Medical Xpress

The use of opioids (narcotic pain medication), often prescribed for chronic musculoskeletal pain, has skyrocketed in recent years with 98 percent of the world’s opioid prescriptions filled in North America. Two research studies presented this week at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), link decreased opioid use prior to joint replacement surgery with improved patient satisfaction and outcomes, fewer complications, and a reduced need for post-surgical opioids.

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New pain relief technique for ACL knee surgery preserves muscle strength

Source: Medical News Today

Anesthesiologists can significantly reduce loss of muscle strength in ACL knee surgery patients using a new pain management technique, a new study has found.

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TXA safe and effective to reduce blood loss in joint replacement surgery, study finds

Source: Medical Xpress

Blood loss and the need for a blood transfusion are major concerns in joint replacement surgery, but a new use for an old drug is proving effective in reducing blood loss and transfusion rates, according to a study at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). The drug, tranexamic acid, or TXA, has been used for decades in heart surgery, to treat hemophilia and to stop excessive uterine bleeding.

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Obesity and total joint arthroplasty: Time to examine needs in a different light

Source: Healio

The prevalence of obesity in the general population is increasing. Obesity is estimated to affect approximately one-third of adults in the United States. It is estimated that 6.1 million patients who undergo total joint arthroplasty will be obese by 2040.

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Shorter hospital stay for hip fracture associated with increased odds of survival

Source: Medical Xpress

The longer a hip fracture patient stays in a hospital, the more likely that patient will die within 30 days of leaving, according to a study led by Stephen Kates, M.D., chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

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New work on knee cartilage structure to aid better replacements and injury treatments

Source: Medical News Today

Fibrocartilage tissue in the knee is comprised of a more varied molecular structure than researchers previously appreciated, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware. Their work informs ways to better treat such injuries as knee meniscus tears – treatment of which are the most common orthopaedic surgery in the United States — and age-related tissue degeneration, both of which can have significant socioeconomic and quality-of-life costs. The team published their work this week online ahead of print in Nature Materials

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Tobacco use linked with more complications after ACL reconstruction

Source: Healio

Researchers of this database study discovered significantly higher rates of infection, venous thromboembolism and subsequent reconstruction within 90 days following arthroscopic-assisted anterior ACL reconstruction among patients who used tobacco compared with non-tobacco users.

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Newer pain management strategies can lead to quicker, shorter recovery after total knee replacements

Source: Medical Xpress

According to a new literature review in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), a team-based care approach (consisting of the patient, family members, the orthopaedic surgeon and other medical practitioners) on total knee replacement (TKR) procedures, in conjunction with newer pain management strategies, is key to maximizing patient outcomes.

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Use of off-label devices increased costs and length of stay in TJA

Source: Healio

Greater length of stay, admission costs, long-term complications risks and inpatient facility discharge likelihood was found among patients who underwent total hip or knee arthroplasty with an off-label prosthesis, according to results.

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Imaging identifies cartilage regeneration in long-distance runners

Source: Medical News Today

Using a mobile MRI truck, researchers followed runners for 4,500 kilometers through Europe to study the physical limits and adaptation of athletes over a 64-day period, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

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