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Background: Patients with symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) have hip strength deficits, instability, and increased risk for concomitant injury. While surgical intervention is an effective method of treatment for FAI, more information is needed about the recovery process. Purposes: We sought to understand how patients with FAI recover from surgical correction in the short term. Do patients’ perceptions of improvement correspond with measured improvements in hip strength? Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 17 patients (11 male, age range: 16–38 years) who were diagnosed with symptomatic FAI at a single surgeon’s practice. Hip strength (flexion, extension, and abduction) was measured preoperatively and at 14, 26, and 52 weeks postoperatively. Patient-reported outcomes using the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) and Hip Outcome Osteoarthritis Score (HOOS) subscales were measured at the same time points and at 2 weeks postoperatively. Results: Compared with preoperative values, there was a significant increase in postoperative values at 26 and 52 weeks in normalized isokinetic hip extension (29% and 38%, respectively) and normalized hip abduction (48% and 55%, respectively). No differences in strength were observed at 14 weeks. Modified Harris Hip Score and all HOOS subscales were decreased by 2 weeks postoperatively, and by 14 weeks mHHS improved by 21%, and HOOS subscales improved as well (activities of daily living by 18%, pain by 34%, quality of life by 69%, sport and recreation by 36%, and symptoms by 28%). Conclusion: We observed that patient-reported outcomes including symptoms, function, and satisfaction improved at 14 weeks, while objective measures of hip strength improved at 26 weeks following surgical correction of FAI. More rigorous study is indicated.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-hss-10.1177_15563316221093614 for Patient-Perceived Outcomes Improve Faster Than Hip Strength in Recovery After Surgical Correction for Symptomatic Femoroacetabular Impingement by Maxwell A. Konnaris, Lucas M. Junginger, Elizabeth R. Sibilsky Enselman, Richard D. Bell, Tristan Maerz and Asheesh Bedi in HSS Journal®: The Musculoskeletal Journal of Hospital for Special Surgery

This curriculum guide offers suggestions and guidelines for teaching adults reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic, together with vocational skills, basic citizenship and social studies, and other skills and attitudes to help disadvantaged adults live and function more successfully. Specific subject matter, desired skills and concepts, and teaching procedures are indicated for three achievement levels: beginning (grades 0-3; intermediate (4-6); and junior high (7-9). Provisions for student recruitment, counseling, and evaluation, and for teaching English to the foreign born, are also suggested. Bibliographies of instructional materials and professional reading are included. (ly)

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are common knee injuries. Despite undergoing extensive rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction (ACLR), many patients have persistent quadriceps muscle weakness that limits their successful return to play and are also at an increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA). Human growth hormone (HGH) has been shown to prevent muscle atrophy and weakness in various models of disuse and disease but has not been evaluated in patients undergoing ACLR. Hypothesis: Compared with placebo treatment, a 6-week perioperative treatment course of HGH would protect against muscle atrophy and weakness in patients undergoing ACLR. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: A total of 19 male patients (aged 18-35 years) scheduled to undergo ACLR were randomly assigned to the placebo (n = 9) or HGH (n = 10) group. Patients began placebo or HGH treatment twice daily 1 week before surgery and continued through 5 weeks after surgery. Knee muscle strength and volume, patient-reported outcome scores, and circulating biomarkers were measured at several time points through 6 months after surgery. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate differences between treatment groups and time points, and as this was a pilot study, significance was set at P < .10. The Cohen d was calculated to determine the effect size. Results: HGH was well-tolerated, and no differences in adverse events between the groups were observed. The HGH group had a 2.1-fold increase in circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 over the course of the treatment period ( P < .05; d = 2.93). The primary outcome measure was knee extension strength, and HGH treatment increased normalized peak isokinetic knee extension torque by 29% compared with the placebo group ( P = .05; d = 0.80). Matrix metalloproteinase–3 (MMP3), which was used as an indirect biomarker of cartilage degradation, was 36% lower in the HGH group ( P = .05; d = –1.34). HGH did not appear to be associated with changes in muscle volume or patient-reported outcome scores. Conclusion: HGH improved quadriceps strength and reduced MMP3 levels in patients undergoing ACLR. On the basis of this pilot study, further trials to more comprehensively evaluate the ability of HGH to improve muscle function and potentially protect against OA in patients undergoing ACLR are warranted. Registration: NCT02420353 ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier)

Introduction Patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears have persistent quadriceps strength deficits that are thought to be due to altered neurophysiological function. Our goal was to determine the changes in muscle fiber contractility independent of the ability of motor neurons to activate fibers. Methods We obtained quadriceps biopsies of patients undergoing ACL reconstruction, and additional biopsies 1, 2, and 6 months after surgery. Muscles fiber contractility was assessed in vitro, along with whole muscle strength testing. Results Compared with controls, patients had a 30% reduction in normalized muscle fiber force at the time of surgery. One month later, the force deficit was 41%, and at 6 months the deficit was 23%. Whole muscle strength testing demonstrated similar trends. Discussion While neurophysiological dysfunction contributes to whole muscle weakness, there is also a reduction in the force generating capacity of individual muscle cells independent of alpha motor neuron activation. Muscle Nerve, 2018.

Objectives: A common pathophysiological change that occurs in torn rotator cuff muscles is atrophy of muscle fibers and an accumulation of intramuscular fat, collectively referred to as "fatty degeneration." For many patients with chronic rotator cuff tears that undergo surgical repair, fatty degeneration is not resolved. The etiology of fatty degeneration has not been characterized in humans, and gaining greater insight into the mechanisms that lead to the development of atrophy and fat accumulation will likely improve the recovery of patients who undergo surgical repair of a torn rotator cuff. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the changes in muscle fiber contractility, myofibril architecture and fat accumulation in patients with rotator cuff tears. We hypothesized that torn rotator cuff muscles have reduced muscle fiber force production, disordered myofibrils and an accumulation of fat vacuoles and lysosomes. Methods: This study was approved by our institution's IRB. Prior to enrollment in the study, informed consent was obtained from patients with a full thickness supraspinatus tear as verified by MRI or ultrasound by a fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologist. Biopsies of the supraspinatus and anterior deltoid were obtained at the time of repair and prepared for muscle contractility testing or microscopy. The contractility of permeabilized muscle fibers was performed as previously described, and force values of torn supraspinatus and intact deltoid muscles were compared to age-matched force values of healthy fibers sampled from the vastus lateralis muscle in a previous study. Scanning electron micrographs and immunohistochemistry were also performed on select muscle biopsies. Results: Compared with healthy muscle fibers from the vastus lateralis, there was a 29% reduction in specific force (maximum isometric force normalized to fiber cross-sectional area) in torn supraspinatus muscles, and a 34% reduction in specific force for deltoid muscle fibers (Figure 1A, PConclusion: Combined, these results identify chronic structural and mechanical changes in torn rotator cuff muscles that may explain the poor functional capacity of the muscles after repair. While the supraspinatus muscle had reduced force production, a reduction in force was also noted in the deltoid which may parallel symptomatic rotator cuff disease. Further, the accumulation of fat in large lipid vacuoles and high lysosome densities near myofibrils suggest that a portion of the intramyocellular fat that accumulates in torn cuff muscles likely comes as a result of myofibril degradation. We have also identified for the first time that a portion of the extramyocellular fat in torn rotator cuff muscles accumulates in fatty macrophages/foam cells. Future therapies that target lysosomal-mediated myofibril degradation or macrophage accumulation may help to ameliorate the severity of fatty degeneration in patients with rotator cuff tears.

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is one of the most common causes of early cartilage and labral damage in the nondysplastic hip. Biomarkers of cartilage degradation and inflammation are associated with osteoarthritis. It was not known whether patients with FAI have elevated levels of biomarkers of cartilage degradation and inflammation.Compared with athletes without FAI, athletes with FAI would have elevated levels of the inflammatory C-reactive protein (CRP) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), a cartilage degradation marker.Controlled laboratory study.Male athletes with radiographically confirmed FAI (n = 10) were compared with male athletes with radiographically normal hips with no evidence of FAI or hip dysplasia (n = 19). Plasma levels of COMP and CRP were measured, and subjects also completed the Short Form-12 (SF-12) and Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) surveys.Compared with controls, athletes with FAI had a 24% increase in COMP levels and a 276% increase in CRP levels as well as a 22% decrease in SF-12 physical component scores and decreases in all of the HOOS subscale scores.Athletes with FAI demonstrate early biochemical signs of increased cartilage turnover and systemic inflammation.Chondral injury secondary to the repetitive microtrauma of FAI might be reliably detected with biomarkers. In the future, these biomarkers might be used as screening tools to identify at-risk patients and assess the efficacy of therapeutic interventions such as hip preservation surgery in altering the natural history and progression to osteoarthritis.

Background: After anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, there is significant atrophy of the quadriceps muscles that can limit full recovery and place athletes at risk for recurrent injuries with return to play. The cause of this muscle atrophy is not fully understood. Hypothesis: Circulating levels of proatrophy, proinflammatory, and cartilage turnover cytokines and biomarkers would increase after ACL reconstruction. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Patients (N = 18; mean age, 28 ± 2.4 years) underwent surgical reconstruction of the ACL after a noncontact athletic injury. Circulating levels of biomarkers were measured along with Short Form−12, International Knee Documentation Committee, and objective knee strength measures preoperatively and at 6 postoperative visits. Differences were tested using repeated-measures 1-way analysis of variance. Results: Myostatin, TGF-β, and C-reactive protein levels were significantly increased in the early postoperative period and returned to baseline. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein levels decreased immediately after surgery and then returned to baseline. CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, EGF, FGF-2, IGF-1, IL-10, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1ra, IL-6, myoglobin, and TNF-α were not different over the course of the study. Conclusion: An increase in potent atrophy-inducing cytokines and corresponding changes in knee strength and functional scores were observed after ACL reconstruction. Clinical Relevance: Although further studies are necessary, the therapeutic inhibition of myostatin may help prevent the muscle atrophy that occurs after ACL reconstruction and provide an accelerated return of patients to sport.

Ross JR, Bedi A, Stone RM, Sibilsky Enselman E, Leunig M, Kelly BT, Larson CM. Intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging to treat cam deformities: correlation with 3-dimensional computed tomography. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(6):1370-1376. (Original DOI: 10.1177/0363546514529515 )