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Background and purpose: Microplasty Instrumentation was introduced to improve Oxford Mobile Partial Knee placement and preserve tibial bone in partial knee replacement (PKR). This might therefore reduce revision complexity. We aimed to assess the difference in use of revision total knee replacement (TKR) tibial components in failed Microplasty versus non-Microplasty instrumented PKRs. Patients and methods: Data on 529 conversions to TKR (156 Microplasty instrumented and 373 non-Microplasty instrumented PKRs) from the Dutch Arthroplasty Register (LROI) between 2007 and 2019 was used. The primary outcome was the difference in use of revision TKR tibial components during conversion to TKR, which was calculated with a univariable logistic regression analysis. The secondary outcomes were the 3-year re-revision rate and hazard ratios calculated with Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses. Results: Revision TKR tibial components were used in 29% of the conversions to TKR after failed Microplasty instrumented PKRs and in 24% after failed non-Microplasty instrumented PKRs with an odds ratio of 1.3 (CI 0.86–2.0). The 3-year re-revision rates were 8.4% (CI 4.1–17) after conversion to TKR for failed Microplasty and 11% (CI 7.8–15) for failed non-Microplasty instrumented PKRs with a hazard ratio of 0.77 (CI 0.36–1.7). Conclusion: There was no difference in use of revision tibial components for conversion to TKR or in re-revision rate after failed Microplasty versus non-Microplasty instrumented PKRs nor in the 3-year revision rate.

Background and purpose — There is ongoing debate as to whether commercial funding influences reporting of medical studies. We asked: Is there a difference in reported tones between abstracts, introductions, and discussions of orthopedic journal studies that were commercially funded and those that were not commercially funded? Methods — We conducted a systematic PubMed search to identify commercially funded studies published in 20 orthopedic journals between January 1, 2000 and December 1, 2019. We identified commercial funding of studies by including in our search the names of 10 medical device companies with the largest revenue in 2019. Commercial funding was designated when either the study or 1 or more of the authors received funding from a medical device company directly related to the content of the study. We matched 138 commercially funded articles 1 to 1 with 138 non-commercially funded articles with the same study design, published in the same journal, within a time range of 5 years. The IBM Watson Tone Analyzer was used to determine emotional tones (anger, fear, joy, and sadness) and language style (analytical, confident, and tentative). Results — For abstract and introduction sections, we found no differences in reported tones between commercially funded and non-commercially funded studies. Fear tones (non-commercially funded studies 5.1%, commercially funded studies 0.7%, p = 0.04), and analytical tones (non-commercially funded studies 95%, commercially funded studies 88%, p = 0.03) were more common in discussions of studies that were not commercially funded. Interpretation — Commercially funded studies have comparable tones to non-commercially funded studies in the abstract and introduction. In contrast, the discussion of non-commercially funded studies demonstrated more fear and analytical tones, suggesting them to be more tentative, accepting of uncertainty, and dispassionate. As text analysis tools become more sophisticated and mainstream, it might help to discern commercial bias in scientific reports.

Aims: Advances in treatment have extended the life expectancy of patients with metastatic bone disease (MBD). Patients could experience more skeletal-related events (SREs) as a result of this progress. Those who have already experienced a SRE could encounter another local management for a subsequent SRE, which is not part of the treatment for the initial SRE. However, there is a noted gap in research on the rate and characteristics of subsequent SREs requiring further localized treatment, obligating clinicians to extrapolate from experiences with initial SREs when confronting subsequent ones. This study aimed to investigate the proportion of MBD patients developing subsequent SREs requiring local treatment, examine if there are prognostic differences at the initial treatment between those with single versus subsequent SREs, and determine if clinical, oncological, and prognostic features differ between initial and subsequent SRE treatments. Methods: This retrospective study included 3,814 adult patients who received local treatment – surgery and/or radiotherapy – for bone metastasis between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2019. All included patients had at least one SRE requiring local treatment. A subsequent SRE was defined as a second SRE requiring local treatment. Clinical, oncological, and prognostic features were compared between single SREs and subsequent SREs using Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test, and Kaplan–Meier curve. Results: Of the 3,814 patients with SREs, 3,159 (83%) patients had a single SRE and 655 (17%) patients developed a subsequent SRE. Patients who developed subsequent SREs generally had characteristics that favoured longer survival, such as higher BMI, higher albumin levels, fewer comorbidities, or lower neutrophil count. Once the patient got to the point of subsequent SRE, their clinical and oncological characteristics and one-year survival (28%) were not as good as those with only a single SRE (35%; p < 0.001), indicating that clinicians’ experiences when treating the initial SRE are not similar when treating a subsequent SRE. Conclusion: This study found that 17% of patients required treatments for a second, subsequent SRE, and the current clinical guideline did not provide a specific approach to this clinical condition. We observed that referencing the initial treatment, patients in the subsequent SRE group had longer six-week, 90-day, and one-year median survival than patients in the single SRE group. Once patients develop a subsequent SRE, they have a worse one-year survival rate than those who receive treatment for a single SRE. Future research should identify prognostic factors and assess the applicability of existing survival prediction models for better management of subsequent SREs. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2024;13(9):497–506.

Conflicts of interest arising from ties between pharmaceutical industry and physicians are common and may bias research. The extent to which these ties exist among editorial board members of medical journals is not known. This study aims to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflicts of interest among editorial board members of five leading spine journals. The editorial boards of: The Spine Journal; Spine; European Spine Journal; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine; and Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques were extracted on January 2013 from the journals' websites. Disclosure statements were retrieved from the 2013 disclosure index of the North American Spine Society; the program of the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques; the program of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society; the program of the AOSpine global spine congress; the presentations of the 2013 Annual Eurospine meeting; and the disclosure index of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Names of the editorial board members were compared with the individuals who completed a disclosure for one of these indexes. Disclosures were extracted when full names matched. Two hundred and ten (29%) of the 716 identified editorial board members reported a potential conflict of interest and 154 (22%) reported nothing to disclose. The remaining 352 (49%) editorial board members had no disclosure statement listed for one of the indexes. Eighty-nine (42%) of the 210 editorial board members with a potential conflict of interest reported a financial relationship of more than $10,000 during the prior year. This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. We emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal.

The purpose of this study was to assess the value of body composition measures obtained from opportunistic abdominal computed tomography (CT) in order to predict hospital length of stay (LOS), 30-day postoperative complications, and reoperations in patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastases. 196 patients underwent CT of the abdomen within three months of surgery for spinal metastases. Automated body composition segmentation and quantifications of the cross-sectional areas (CSA) of abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue and abdominal skeletal muscle was performed. From this, 31% (61) of patients had postoperative complications within 30 days, and 16% (31) of patients underwent reoperation. Lower muscle CSA was associated with increased postoperative complications within 30 days (OR [95% CI] = 0.99 [0.98–0.99], p = 0.03). Through multivariate analysis, it was found that lower muscle CSA was also associated with an increased postoperative complication rate after controlling for the albumin, ASIA score, previous systemic therapy, and thoracic metastases (OR [95% CI] = 0.99 [0.98–0.99], p = 0.047). LOS and reoperations were not associated with any body composition measures. Low muscle mass may serve as a biomarker for the prediction of complications in patients with spinal metastases. The routine assessment of muscle mass on opportunistic CTs may help to predict outcomes in these patients.

Background Injection therapy around the distal biceps tendon insertion is challenging. This therapy may be indicated in patients with a partial distal biceps tendon tear, bicipitoradial bursitis and tendinopathy. The primary goal of this study was to determine the accuracy of manually performed injections without ultrasound guidance around the biceps tendon. Methods Seven upper limb specialists, two general orthopedic specialists, and three orthopedic surgical residents manually injected a cadaver elbow with acrylic dye using an anterior and a lateral infiltration approach. After infiltration the cadaveric elbows were dissected to determine the location of the acrylic dye. Results In total, 79% of the injections were localized near the biceps tendon. Of these injections, 20% were localized on the radius near the bicipitoradial bursa. In total, 53% of the performed infiltrations were injected by anterior and 47% by lateral approaches. Of the injections near the distal biceps (79%), 47% were injected by an anterior and 53% by a lateral approach. Of the injections on the radius (20%), 33% were injected by anterior and 67% by lateral approach. Of the inaccurate injections (21%), 75% were injected anterior and 25% lateral. Conclusions Manual infiltration without ultrasound guidance for distal biceps pathology lacks accuracy. We therefore recommend ultrasound guidance for more accurate infiltration.

Abstract Purpose To assess the feasibility of needle arthroscopy for management of suspected bacterial arthritis in native joints. Methods During a pilot period, patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of native joint bacterial arthritis were eligible for initial management with needle arthroscopy. Procedures were performed in the operating theatre or at the patient bedside in the emergency department or inpatient ward. As our primary outcome measure, it was assessed whether needle arthroscopic lavage resulted in a clear joint. In addition, the need for conversion to standard arthroscopy or arthrotomy, the need for conversion from local to general anaesthesia, complications and the need for additional surgical intervention at follow‐up during admission were recorded. Results Eleven joints in 10 patients (four males, age range 35 – 77) were managed with needle arthroscopy. Needle arthroscopic lavage resulted in a clear joint in all cases. Conversion to standard arthroscopy or arthrotomy was not needed. Seven procedures were performed at the patient bedside using local anaesthesia. These procedures were well tolerated and conversion to general or spinal anaesthesia was not required. There were no procedure complications. One patient received multiple needle arthroscopic lavages. No further surgical interventions beside the initial needle arthroscopic lavage were required for successful management in other cases. Conclusions Needle arthroscopy can be a feasible tool in the initial management of complaints suggestive for native joint bacterial arthritis, providing an effective, quick and well‐tolerable intervention in the operating theatre or at the patient bedside, with the potential to relief health systems from need for scarce operating theatre time.

Background: In chronic radial head dislocation cases, the radial head may enlarge and become dome-shaped. To date, there is no validated tool to quantify radial head deformation and predict its influence on surgical outcomes. This study assesses the potential value of volume and surface calculations obtained by quantitative three-dimensional computed tomography scanning (Q3DCT) in the workup for a corrective surgery in pediatric patients with missed Monteggia lesions. Material and methods: Ten consecutive pediatric patients with a missed Monteggia lesion were included (2012-2020). The volume and articular surface size of the radial head were calculated using Q3DCT, and a three-dimensional reconstruction of the articular surface relief was depicted in a heat map. The head-neck ratio was calculated and compared to Q3DCT data of missed Monteggia patients and their age-/sex-matched controls. Results: The radial head volume and radial articular surface size did not differ significantly between patients with missed Monteggia lesions and age-/sex-matched controls (volume 1487 mm3 vs. 1163 mm3, P = .32; articular surface size 282 mm3 vs. 236 mm3, P = .33). Optically, heat maps of the articular surface of missed Monteggia patients did not differ notably from control heat maps. A higher head-neck ratio correlated to a larger radial head volume (Pearson r = 0.73; P = .2). Discussion and conclusion: Q3DCT may be an interesting tool in the preoperative workup of pediatric missed Monteggia lesions. Prospective research with larger cohort sizes and data that compares the affected side to the contralateral elbow is needed to assess its true clinical potential.

Abstract Introduction The need for curettage of atypical cartilaginous tumors (ACT) is under debate. Curretage results in defects that weaken the bone potentially leading to fractures. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively determine postoperative fracture risk after curettage of chondroid tumors, including patient-specific characteristics that could influence fracture risk. Methods A total of 297 adult patients who underwent curettage of an ACT followed by phenolisation and augmentation were retrospectively evaluated. Explanatory variables were, sex, age, tumor size, location, augmentation type, and plate fixation. The presence of a postoperative fracture was radiologically diagnosed. Included patients had at least 90 days of follow-up. Results A total of 183 females (62%) were included and 114 males (38%), with an overall median follow-up of 3.2 years (IQR 1.6–5.2). Mean diameter of the lesions was 4.5 (SD 2.8) cm. Patients received augmentation with allograft bone (n = 259, 87%), PMMA (n = 11, 3.7%), or did not receive augmentation (n = 27, 9.1%). Overall fracture risk was 6%. Male sex (p = 0.021) and lesion size larger than 3.8 cm (p

Background: It is unclear whether greater tuberosity fractures (GTF) in the setting of a shoulder dislocation are due to an avulsion of the rotator cuff or a result of an extensive Hill-Sachs lesion (HSL). To explore whether these lesions have similar etiology, the primary aim of this study is to compare the postinjury morphology of the proximal humerus after GTF and HSL. Methods: Computed tomography scans of 19 patients with HSL and 18 patients with GTF after first-time shoulder dislocations were analyzed. We assessed the location by measuring height in relation to the highest point of the humerus and angles for the origin (most medial point of lesion), center, and endpoint (most lateral point of lesion) between GTF and HSL and the bicipital groove. For both GTF and HSL, we assessed whether infraspinatus and supraspinatus insertions were involved and whether they were off-track or on-track. Results: Measured from the bicipital groove, HSLs and GTFs have different origins (153˚ vs. 110˚; P