Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:In the past decade, the prevalence of end-stage inflammatory elbow arthritis has declined with consequential changes in indications and utilization of total elbow arthroplasty (TEA). Current literature lacks future projections for the utilization of TEA. The aim of this study is to review the trends in the utilization of TEA in the last 2 decades and determine the projections of utilization for TEA (primary and revision) through 2060. METHODS:This analysis used the publicly available 2000-2019 data from the CMS Medicare Part-B National Summary. Procedure volumes including TEA, and revision TEA, were determined using Current Procedural Terminology codes and were uplifted to account for the growing number of Medicare eligible patients covered under Medicare Advantage. Using these volumes, log-linear, Poisson, negative binomial regression, and autoregressive integrated moving average models were applied to generate projections from 2020 to 2060. The Poisson model was chosen to display the data based on error analysis and prior literature. RESULTS:The projected annual growth rates from 2020 to 2060 for primary and revision TEAs are 1.03% (95% confidence interval: 0.82%-1.25%) and 5.17% (95% confidence interval: 3.02%-6.97%), respectively. By 2060, the demand for primary TEA and revision TEA is projected to be 2084 procedures (95% forecast interval: 1995-2174) and 3161 procedures (95% forecast interval: 3052-3272), respectively. The procedure volume for revision TEA is estimated to outnumber primary TEA by year 2050. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The overall procedural volume of primary TEA and revision TEA continues to be low. Although it is estimated that the incidence of primary and revision TEAs will continue to increase in the next 40 years, the utilization trends only show a mild increase, which is 5 times higher for revision TEA than primary TEA.

BACKGROUND:Although Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Upper Extremity (P-UE) has been validated in upper extremity orthopedics, its ability to capture a patient's functional recovery after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (aRCR), as measured by its responsiveness, is minimal in the early postoperative period. The primary purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of PROMIS Pain Intensity (P-Intensity) or Pain Interference (P-Interference) scores to PROMIS UE improves the responsiveness throughout the 1-year postoperative period after aRCR. METHODS:This prospective, longitudinal study included 100 patients who underwent aRCR. Patients completed P-UE, P-Interference, P-Intensity, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index scores preoperatively and at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. Responsiveness at each time point relative to preoperative baseline and 1-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis was conducted for each PROM. The responsiveness of the outcome score was determined using the effect size, graded as small (0.2), medium (0.5), or large (0.8). The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was determined between these instruments at each time point. RESULTS:In isolation, P-UE, P-Interference, and P-Intensity showed a medium-large ability to detect change (positive and negative) throughout the 1-year postoperative period. The addition of PROMIS pain scores to P-UE improved the responsiveness of the instrument (from medium to a large effect size) starting at 3 months and continued throughout the 12-month follow-up period. Although the addition of pain scores increases the response burden for PROMIS, this was still lower than the response burden for the legacy outcome scores (P < .05). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The addition of PROMIS pain instruments improves the responsiveness of the P-UE function score in patients undergoing aRCR.

BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:Glenoid component positioning is an important and challenging aspect of total shoulder arthroplasty. The use of freehand technique with standard instrumentation or preoperative planning based on 2-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scans provides an opportunity for improvement in terms of component accuracy, precision, and deformity correction. These techniques have produced varying outcomes. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Preoperative planning software (PPS), patient specific instrumentation (PSI), and intraoperative navigation (NAV) have been developed to improve the accuracy of implant placement and deformity correction with the ultimate goals of improved patient outcomes and implant longevity. Literature search was conducted on published and available studies comparing the accuracy of glenoid component placement and improvements in surgical and patient outcomes amongst the aforementioned techniques. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:PPS, PSI, and NAV have demonstrated improved accuracy over freehand techniques with standard instrumentation. However, data demonstrating the clinical benefit and cost effectiveness of these new technologies are lacking. DISCUSSION/UNASSIGNED:In this paper, we reviewed the evidence available to answer the question of whether or not advanced shoulder arthroplasty technologies have been beneficial and reviewed future technologies in development such as virtual/mixed-reality and robotic assisted shoulder surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE/UNASSIGNED:4.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Pacific Islanders are groups who are underrepresented in medicine (URM groups). Similarly, although women comprise more than 50% of medical students in the United States, women comprise a smaller percentage of all orthopaedic surgery trainees. Therefore, underrepresented in orthopaedics (URiO) represents the URM groups and women. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of specific steps to recruit a qualified, diverse trainee complement within a single academic orthopaedic surgery residency program between 2000 and 2023. We aim to explore changes in the representation of URiO during this period as well as explore the strategies and programs implemented by the department that may have impacted recruitment of a diverse complement of trainees. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Match lists from a large, academic, orthopaedic surgery residency between 2000 and 2023 were collected and reviewed for racial and gender data. Match lists were then divided into 6-year quantiles to identify any trends in the recruitment of URiO students. Self-reported racial and gender data from Electronic Residency Application Service applicant reports and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) data books between 2018 and 2022 were collected and reviewed. In addition, the department's strategies implemented during the study period with the goal of enhancing URiO exposure to orthopaedic surgery were also explored. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:The department implemented proactive strategies to increase exposure to orthopaedic surgery for URiO students. An increase in URiO representation was noted between 2000 and 2023 with Hispanic, Black/African American, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander resident representation increasing by 5%, 11%, and 1%, respectively. In addition, women representation increased by 27% between 2000 and 2023. The overall attrition rate among URiO residents was 1% with only one resident not completing the program. Self-reported racial and gender data from ACGME data books demonstrated that Black/African American, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents comprised 5%, 4%, and 0.04%, respectively, of orthopaedic surgery residents between 2018 and 2022. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:These results provide insight for other programs to use similar strategies to potentially improve recruitment, retain, and provide support to URiO residents.

BACKGROUND:The purpose of this study was to define the optimal combination of surgical technique and postoperative rehabilitation protocol for elderly patients undergoing either hemiarthroplasty (HA) or reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) for acute proximal humerus fracture (PHF) by performing a network meta-analysis of the comparative studies in the literature. METHODS:A systematic review of the literature using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library was screened from 2007 to 2023. Inclusion criteria were level I-IV studies utilizing primary HA and/or rTSA published in a peer-reviewed journal, that specified whether humeral stems were cemented or noncemented, specified postoperative rehabilitation protocol, and reported results of HA and/or rTSA performed for PHF. Early range of motion (ROM) was defined as the initiation of active ROM at ≤3 weeks after surgery. Level of evidence was evaluated based on the criteria by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Clinical outcomes were compared using a frequentist approach to network meta-analysis with a random-effects model that was performed using the netmeta package version 0.9-6 in R. RESULTS:A total of 28 studies (1119 patients) were included with an average age of 74 ± 3.7 and mean follow-up of 32 ± 11.1 months. In the early ROM cohort (Early), the mean time to active ROM was 2.4 ± 0.76 weeks compared to 5.9 ± 1.04 weeks in the delayed ROM cohort (Delayed). Overall, rTSA-Pressfit-Early resulted in statistically superior outcomes including postoperative forward elevation (126 ± 27.5), abduction (116 ± 30.6), internal rotation (5.27 ± 0.74, corresponding to L3-L1), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score (71.8 ± 17), tuberosity union (89%), and lowest tuberosity nonunion rate (9.6%) in patients ≥65 year old with acute PHF undergoing shoulder arthroplasty (all P ≤ .05). In total there were 277 (14.5%) complications across the cohorts, of which 89/277 (34%) were in the HA-Cement-Delayed cohort. HA-Cement-Delayed resulted in 2-times higher odds of experiencing a complication when compared to rTSA-Cement-Delayed (P = .005). Conversely, rTSA-Cement-Early cohort followed by rTSA-Pressfit-Early resulted in a total complication rate of 4.7% and 5.4% (odds ratios, 0.30; P = .01 & odds ratios, 0.42; P = .05), respectively. The total rate of scapular notching was higher in the cemented rTSA subgroups (16.5%) vs. (8.91%) in the press fit rTSA subgroups (P = .02). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Our study demonstrates that patients ≥65 years of age, who sustain a 3-or 4-part PHF achieve the most benefit in terms of ROM, postoperative functional outcomes, tuberosity union, and overall complication rate when undergoing rTSA with a noncemented stem and early postoperative ROM when compared to the mainstream preference-rTSA-Cement-Delayed.

BACKGROUND:Clinical significance, as opposed to statistical significance, has increasingly been utilized to evaluate outcomes after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). The purpose of this study was to identify thresholds of the minimal clinically important difference (MCID), substantial clinical benefit (SCB), and patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) for TSA outcome metrics and determine if these thresholds are influenced by prosthesis type (anatomic or reverse TSA), sex, or preoperative diagnosis. METHODS:A prospectively collected international multicenter database inclusive of 38 surgeons was queried for patients receiving a primary aTSA or rTSA between 2003 and 2021. Prospectively, outcome metrics including ASES, shoulder function score (SFS), SST, UCLA, Constant, VAS Pain, shoulder arthroplasty smart (SAS) score, forward flexion, abduction, external rotation, and internal rotation was recorded preoperatively and at each follow-up. A patient satisfaction question was administered at each follow-up. Anchor-based MCID, SCB, and PASS were calculated as defined previously overall and according to implant type, preoperative diagnosis, and sex. The percentage of patients achieving thresholds was also quantified. RESULTS:A total of 5851 total shoulder arthroplasties (TSAs) including aTSA (n = 2236) and rTSA (n = 3615) were included in the study cohort. The following were identified as MCID thresholds for the overall (aTSA + rTSA irrespective of diagnosis or sex) cohort: VAS Pain (-1.5), SFS (1.2), SST (2.1), Constant (7.2), ASES (13.9), UCLA (8.2), SPADI (-21.5), and SAS (7.3), Abduction (13°), Forward elevation (16°), External rotation (4°), Internal rotation score (0.2). SCB thresholds for the overall cohort were: VAS Pain (-3.3), SFS (2.9), SST 3.8), Constant (18.9), ASES (33.1), UCLA (12.3), SPADI (-44.7), and SAS (18.2), Abduction (30°), Forward elevation (31°), External rotation (12°), Internal rotation score (0.9). PASS thresholds for the overall cohort were: VAS Pain (0.8), SFS (7.3), SST (9.2), Constant (64.2), ASES (79.5), UCLA (29.5), SPADI (24.7), and SAS (72.5), Abduction (104°), Forward elevation (130°), External rotation (30°), Internal rotation score (3.2). MCID, SCB, and PASS thresholds varied depending on preoperative diagnosis and sex. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:MCID, SCB, and PASS thresholds vary depending on implant type, preoperative diagnosis, and sex. A comprehensive understanding of these differences as well as identification of clinically relevant thresholds for legacy and novel metrics is essential to assist surgeons in evaluating their patient's outcomes, interpreting the literature, and counseling their patients preoperatively regarding expectations for improvement. Given that PASS thresholds are fragile and vary greatly depending on cohort variability, caution should be exercised in conflating them across different studies.

BACKGROUND:The design of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) implants has evolved significantly over the past 50 years. Today there are many options available that differ in design of the glenoid and humeral components, fixation methods, sizes, and modularity. With respect to the humeral component, the literature has generally focused on the differences between inlay and onlay designs and the potential impact on outcomes. However, inlay and onlay design represents only one factor of many. METHODS:It is our hypothesis that separating onlay and inlay designs into 2 distinct entities is an oversimplification as there can be a wide overlap of the 2 designs, depending on surgical technique and the implant selected. As such, the differences between inlay and onlay designs should be measured in absolute terms-meaning combined distalization and lateralization. RESULTS:By reviewing the many factors that can contribute to the glenosphere-humerus relationship, the role of inlay and onlay humeral designs as an important distinguishing feature is shown to be limited. Preliminary studies suggest that the amount of distalization and lateralization of the construct may be the most accurate method of describing the differences in the constructs. CONCLUSIONS:Inlay and onlay humeral component design represents only one factor of many that may impact outcomes. A more accurate method of defining specific design and technique factors in RSA is the degree of lateralization and distalization.

Background: The purpose of this study is to retrospectively analyze all primary anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) patients within a multicenter international database of a single prosthesis to identify risk factors for patients with rotator cuff tear (RCT) and aseptic glenoid loosening. Methods: To investigate the risk factors for RCT and aseptic glenoid loosening, we retrospectively analyzed all aTSA patients with 2-year minimum follow-up from a multicenter international database of a single platform shoulder system, only excluding patients with a history of revision arthroplasty, infections, and humeral fractures. A univariate/multivariate analysis was conducted to compare primary aTSA patients who had report of: 1) a RCT and/or subscapularis failure and 2) aseptic glenoid loosening/cage glenoid dissociations, to identify the differences in (i) intrinsic patient demographics and comorbidities and (ii) implant and operative parameters. Finally, to adapt our statistical analysis for prospective identification of patients most at-risk for RCT and aseptic glenoid loosening, we stratified the dataset by multiple risk factor combinations and calculated the odds ratio (OR) to determine the impact of accumulating risk factors on the incidence rate of each complication. Results: 122 aTSA shoulders had a RCT for a rate of 3.2% and 123 aTSA shoulders had aseptic glenoid loosening for a rate of 3.3%. The multivariate analysis identified that aTSA patients with RCT were more likely to have previous shoulder surgery (P < .001) and small size glenoids (P = .002). Additionally, the multivariate analysis identified that aTSA patients with aseptic glenoid loosening were more likely to be younger (≤62 years at the time of surgery, P = .001), have small size glenoids (P = .033) and have a nonhybrid glenoids (P < .001). Stratifying patients with multiple risk factors identified multiple aTSA cohorts with ORs >2 for RCT or aseptic glenoid loosening. Discussion: This analysis of 2699 primary aTSA identified risk factors for the two most common postoperative complications: RCTs and aseptic glenoid loosening. Using these risk factors, we calculated ORs for patient cohorts with multiple risk factors to identify the patients with the greatest risk for each complication. This information is useful to guide the surgeon in their preoperative counseling and potentially mitigate the occurrence of these complications, by indicating patients with these risk-factors for alternative treatment strategies, like rTSA, instead of aTSA.

Orthopedic surgery in the United States has gone through many changes over the past few centuries. Starting with a small sect of subspecialized surgeons, advances in technology and surgical skills have paralleled the growth of the specialty. To keep up with demand, the training of orthopedic surgeons has undergone many iterations. From apprenticeships to the current residency model, the field has always adapted to ensure the constant production of well-trained surgeons to take care of the growing orthopedic needs in the population. In order to guarantee this, many regulatory committees have been formed over the years to help guide the regulation and certification of orthopedic training programs. With current day residents facing new challenges, the specialty continues to adapt the way it trains its future.