Faculty Bibliography

Intramedullary stems are often required in patients undergoing revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) to achieve stable fixation. Significant bone loss may require the addition of a metal cone to maximize fixation and osteointegration. The purpose of this study was to investigate clinical outcomes in rTKA using different fixation techniques. We conducted a single-institution retrospective review of all patients who received a tibial and femoral stem during rTKA between August 2011 and July 2021. Patients were separated into three cohorts based on fixation construct: press-fit stem with an offset coupler (OS), fully cemented straight (CS) stem, and press-fit straight (PFS) stem. A subanalysis of patients who received tibial cone augmentation was also conducted. A total of 358 patients who underwent rTKA were included in this study, of which 102 (28.5%) had a minimum 2-year follow-up and 25 (7.0%) had a minimum 5-year follow-up. In the primary analysis, 194 patients were included in the OS cohort, 72 in the CS cohort, and 92 in the PFS cohort. When stem type alone was considered, there was no significant difference in rerevision rate (p = 0.431) between cohorts. Subanalysis of patients who received augmentation with a tibial cone demonstrated that OS implants led to significantly higher rates of rerevision compared with the other two stem types (OS: 18.2% vs. CS: 2.1% vs. PFS: 11.1%; p = 0.037). The findings of the present analysis demonstrate that CS and cones in rTKA may provide more reliable long-term outcomes compared with press-fit stems with OS. LEVEL III EVIDENCE:  Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND:Isolated acetabular component revision is an effective treatment for revision total hip arthroplasty patients who have well-fixed femoral implants. We aimed to evaluate the modes of acetabular failure following primary total hip arthroplasty and to identify factors associated with increased morbidities and postoperative outcomes. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective analysis and identified 318 isolated aseptic acetabular revisions. We separated patients by ≤90 days, 91 days to 2 years, and >2 years for acetabular revisions and compared demographics, reasons for revision, 90-day readmissions, rerevisions, and postrevision infections. Revisions ≤90 days, 91 days to 2 years, and >2 years accounted for 10.7, 19.2, and 70.1% of revisions, respectively. Revisions ≤90 days, 91 days to 2 years, and >2 years had their primary total hip arthroplasty at a mean age of 66, 63, and 55 years (P < .001), respectively. RESULTS:Revisions within 90 days were mainly indicated for dislocation/instability (58.8%) or periprosthetic fracture (23.5%) while revisions over 2 years were indicated for polyethylene wear/osteolysis (37.2%). Patients with revisions past 90 days were more likely to require rerevision compared to patients with revisions within 90 days (P < .001). There were no differences in readmissions (P = .28) or infection rates (P = .37). CONCLUSIONS:Acetabular revisions within 90 days were more commonly indicated for instability and periprosthetic fracture, while those over 2 years were indicated for polyethylene wear. Revisions past 90 days were more likely to require subsequent rerevisions without increased 90-day readmissions or infections. LEVEL III EVIDENCE/METHODS:Retrospective cohort study.

Postoperative stiffness is a challenging problem in the setting of primary total knee arthroplasty. There remains a relatively high prevalence of patients suffering from this condition, and it can lead to unsatisfactory outcomes and need for revision surgery as well as a large financial burden on the health care system. There are a number of factors that predispose patients to developing arthrofibrosis, including patient-specific factors and intraoperative and postoperative considerations. Arthrofibrosis can be treated effectively in the early stages with manipulation under anesthesia with or without lysis of adhesions, however, those who fail to respond to these interventions may require revision surgery, which generally has poorer outcomes when performed for this indication. Current research is focused on understanding the pathologic cascade of arthrofibrosis and novel targeted therapeutics that may decrease stiffness in these patients and improve outcomes.

BACKGROUND:Advances in implant material and design have allowed for improvements in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) outcomes. A cruciate retaining (CR) TKA provides the least constraint of TKA designs by preserving the native posterior cruciate ligament. Limited research exists that has examined clinical outcomes or patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) of a large cohort of patients undergoing a CR TKA utilizing a kinematically designed implant. It was hypothesized that the studied CR Knee System would demonstrate favorable outcomes and a clinically significant improvement in pain and functional scores. AIM/OBJECTIVE:To assess both short-term and mid-term clinical outcomes and PROMs of a novel CR TKA design. METHODS:-tests. RESULTS:Of the 255 patients, 65.5% were female, 43.8% were White, and patients had an average age of 60.6 years. Primary osteoarthritis (96.9%) was the most common primary diagnosis. The mean surgical time was 105.3 minutes and mean length of stay was 2.1 d with most patients discharged home (92.5%). There were 18 emergency department (ED) visits within 90 d of surgery resulting in a 90 d ED visit rate of 7.1%, including a 2.4% orthopedic-related ED visit rate and a 4.7% non-orthopedic-related ED visit rate. There were three (1.2%) hospital readmissions within 90 d postoperatively. With a mean time to latest follow-up of 3.3 years, four patients (1.6%) required revision, two for arthrofibrosis, one for aseptic femoral loosening, and one for peri-prosthetic joint infection. There were significant improvements in KOOS JR, PROMIS Pain Intensity, PROMIS Pain Interference, PROMIS Mobility, and PROMIS Physical Health from preoperative scores to six month and two-year postoperative scores. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The evaluated implant is an effective, novel design offering excellent outcomes and low complication rates. At a mean follow up of 3.3 years, four patients required revisions, three aseptic and one septic, resulting in an overall implant survival rate of 98.4% and an aseptic survival rate of 98.8%. The results of our study demonstrate the utility of this kinematically designed implant in the setting of primary TKA.

BACKGROUND:Large language models (LLM) have unknown implications for medical research. This study assessed whether LLM-generated abstracts are distinguishable from human-written abstracts and to compare their perceived quality. METHODS:The LLM ChatGPT was used to generate 20 arthroplasty abstracts (AI-generated) based on full-text manuscripts, which were compared to originally published abstracts (human-written). Six blinded orthopaedic surgeons rated abstracts on overall quality, communication, and confidence in the authorship source. Authorship-confidence scores were compared to a test value representing complete inability to discern authorship. RESULTS:Modestly increased confidence in human authorship was observed for human-written abstracts compared with AI-generated abstracts (p = 0.028), though AI-generated abstract authorship-confidence scores were statistically consistent with inability to discern authorship (p = 0.999). Overall abstract quality was higher for human-written abstracts (p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS:AI-generated abstracts' absolute authorship-confidence ratings demonstrated difficulty in discerning authorship but did not achieve the perceived quality of human-written abstracts. Caution is warranted in implementing LLMs into scientific writing.

Custom total joint replacement (TJA) implants, specifically designed and manufactured for each patient, have emerged as surgeons seek to improve functional outcomes of primary total joint replacement, as well as treat patients with complex primary deformities, bone defects, and revision surgeries. The purpose of this review is to present the various custom total hip and knee arthroplasty implants available in the United States for primary and revision cases, so that surgeons can understand the design considerations and manufacturing processes of custom implants, as well as their performance compared to standard implants.

BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:Bicruciate-stabilized (BCS) total knee arthroplasty (TKA) aims to restore normal kinematics by replicating the function of both cruciate ligaments. Conventional cruciate-retaining (CR) design in TKA has shown previous clinical success with lower complication rates. This study compared the patient-reported outcomes between the BCS and CR TKA designs. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:-tests. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:= 0.028) than the CR cohort (n = 203). Both cohorts displayed a significant difference in delta improvements within their respective cohort when measuring FJS from 3 months to 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years after surgery. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:The CR cohort performed better on average, compared to the BCS cohort in measures of KOOS, JR scores at the 2-year follow-up. The BCS cohort performed marginally better regarding FJS only at 1-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND:The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) was adopted in the U.S. in 2015. Proponents of the ICD-10-PCS have stated that its granularity allows for a more accurate representation of the types of procedures performed by including laterality, joint designation, and more detailed procedural data. However, other researchers have expressed concern that the increased number of codes adds further complexity that leads to inaccurate and inconsistent coding, rendering registry and research data based on ICD-10-PCS codes invalid and inaccurate. We aimed to determine the accuracy of the ICD-10-PCS for identifying cemented fixation in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed all cemented primary THAs performed at 4 geographically diverse, academic medical centers between October 2015 and October 2020. Cemented fixation was identified from the ICD-10-PCS coding for each procedure. The accuracy of an ICD-10-PCS code relative to the surgical record was determined by postoperative radiograph and chart review, and cross-referencing with institution-level coding published by the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) was also performed. RESULTS:A total of 552 cemented THA cases were identified within the study period, of which 452 (81.9%) were correctly coded as cemented with the ICD-10-PCS. The proportion of cases that were correctly coded was 187 of 260 (72%) at Institution A, 158 of 185 (85%) at Institution B, 35 of 35 (100%) at Institution C, and 72 of 72 (100%) at Institution D. Of the 480 identified cemented THA cases at 3 of the 4 institutions, 403 (84%) were correctly reported as cemented to the AJRR (Institution A, 185 of 260 cases [71%]; Institution B, 185 of 185 [100%]; and Institution C, 33 of 35 [94%]). Lastly, of these 480 identified cemented THA cases, 317 (66%) were both correctly coded with the ICD-10-PCS and correctly reported as cemented to the AJRR. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings revealed existing discrepancies within multiple institutional data sets, which may lead to inaccurate reporting by the AJRR and other registries that rely on ICD-10-PCS coding. Caution should be exercised when utilizing ICD-10 procedural data to evaluate specific details from administrative claims databases as these inaccuracies present inherent challenges to data validity and interpretation.