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Objective: To analyze shoulder strength and function in patients presenting with possible supraspinatus pathology and to ascertain if these clinical findings are associated with severity of supraspinatus pathology on MRI.Materials and Methods: In total, 171 patients with presumptive rotator cuff pathology and with preserved strength on standard rotator cuff examination were prospectively recruited. Patients were subjected to bilateral shoulder strength testing employing dynamometry; this included isometric strength testing at 90° of abduction, followed by eccentric assessment of isotonic strength from full abduction through the full range of motion until the arm rested at the patient's side. We calculated absolute strength and symptomatic-to-asymptomatic arm (S/A) strength ratios. On subsequent shoulder MRI, supraspinatus pathology was designated into one of seven categories. The association between strength measurements and MRI findings was analyzed.Results: Increasing lesion severity on MRI was associated with both decreasing absolute strength (no tear [59.9 N] to full-thickness tear [44.2 N]; P = 0.036) and decreasing S/A strength ratios during isotonic testing (no tear [91.9%] to full-thickness tear [65.3%]; P = 0.022). In contrast, there were no significant relationships between imaging severity and absolute strength or S/A strength ratios on isometric testing.Conclusion: Severity of supraspinatus pathology on MRI was associated with dynamic clinical function. These results validate the clinical correlation between MRI designations of supraspinatus pathology and function and suggest the need for future work to investigate utility of dynamic (versus isometric) rotator cuff physical examination maneuvers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) can be used to treat focal, full-thickness chondral defects of the knee. However, there is limited large-sample evidence available regarding the incidence, timing, and risk factors for revision surgery after ACI. Purpose: To assess the 5-year incidence, timing, and risk factors for revision surgery after ACI in a large national cohort. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: The 2010-2020 PearlDiver database was queried for patients aged 20 to 59 years who underwent primary ACI of the knee without previous chondral procedures or knee arthroplasty. Revision surgery was defined as subsequent revision ACI, osteochondral allograft transplantation, osteochondral autograft transfer, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, or total knee arthroplasty within 5 years. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess both incidence and timing of revision surgery. Risk factors evaluated for revision surgery included patient age, sex, body mass index (BMI), Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI) score, and previous or concomitant bony realignment procedures. Results: In total, 533 patients underwent primary ACI and met inclusion criteria. The 5-year incidence of revision surgery was 10.3%, with 63% of revisions occurring in the first 2 years after surgery. Risk factors associated with revision surgery included female sex (odds ratio, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.22-5.45; P =.013) and BMI ≥35 (odds ratio, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.01-4.94; P =.047). There was no relationship between age, ECI score, or previous or concomitant bony realignment procedures and revision surgery at 5 years (P >.05). Conclusion: In an analysis of 533 patients who underwent ACI, 10.3% required a subsequent articular cartilage procedure or conversion to knee arthroplasty in the first 5 postoperative years. Revision surgery was greatest in the first 2 postoperative years. Female sex and severe obesity (BMI, ≥35) were associated with increased risk of revision surgery, while age, ECI score, and previous or concomitant bony realignment procedures were not. These findings suggest that treatment of chondral defects of the knee with ACI is associated with durable outcomes at the 5-year follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite focus on surgical preservation of the chondrolabral junction (CLJ), the transition zone between the acetabular cartilage and labrum, the association between severity of CLJ breakdown and functional outcomes after hip arthroscopy remains unexplored.To assess the influence of CLJ breakdown on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) at a 24-month follow-up after hip arthroscopy for symptomatic labral tears.Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.A retrospective review of prospectively collected data was conducted to identify patients ≥18 years of age with a minimum 24-month follow-up who underwent hip arthroscopy by a single surgeon for the treatment of symptomatic labral tears secondary to femoroacetabular impingement. The Beck classification of transition zone cartilage was used to grade CLJ damage; patients with grades 0 to 2 were stratified into the mild CLJ damage cohort, and those with grades 3 and 4 were stratified into the severe CLJ damage cohort. PROMs were collected at baseline and at 3, 6, 12 months, and annually thereafter postoperatively. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare PROMs. Rates of achieving clinically meaningful thresholds and subsequent surgery rates were also compared.In total, 198 patients met the inclusion criteria, with a mean follow-up of 3.54 ± 1.26 years. A total of 95 patients with severe CLJ damage (mean age, 34.9 ± 10.5 years) were compared with 103 patients with mild CLJ damage (mean age, 38.2 ± 11.9 years). Hip Outcome Score–Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL), Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS), and visual analog score for pain were inferior in the severe CLJ group at enrollment and all follow-up time points (P≤ .05). However, patients with severe CLJ breakdown exhibited greater improvements in HOS-ADL and NAHS at the 24-month follow-up and achieved clinically meaningful thresholds at equivalent rates to patients with mild CLJ breakdown. Subsequent surgery rates were 6.8% and 12.6% in patients with mild versus severe CLJ damage, respectively (P = .250).Severe CLJ breakdown is associated with increased pain and decreased functional level preoperatively and up to 24 months after hip arthroscopy. Despite this, patients with severe CLJ breakdown experienced greater improvements in functional outcomes at a 24-month follow-up and achieved clinical thresholds at similar rates to patients with mild CLJ damage. Thus, while worse baseline pain and functional levels may indicate severe CLJ breakdown, these patients still benefit substantially from hip arthroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Risk adjustment has implications across orthopaedics, including informing clinical care, improving payment models, and enabling observational orthopaedic research. Although comorbidity indices (such as the American Society of Anesthesiologists [ASA] classification, Charlson comorbidity index [CCI], and Elixhauser comorbidity index [ECI]) have been examined extensively in the immediate perioperative period, there is a dearth of data on their three-way comparative effectiveness and long-term performance. Moreover, the discriminative ability of the CCI and ECI after orthopaedic surgery has not been validated in the ICD-10 era, despite new diagnosis codes from which they are calculated.Question/purpose: Which comorbidity index (ASA, CCI, or ECI) is associated with the greatest accuracy on receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis with respect to the endpoint of death at 90 days and 1 year after hip fracture surgery in the ICD-10 era?Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients undergoing surgical fixation of primary hip fractures at two Level I trauma centers and three community hospitals from October 2016 to May 2019. This time frame allowed for a 1-year baseline period of ICD-10 data to assess comorbidities and at least a 1-year follow-up period to assess mortality. Initially 1516 patients were identified using Common Procedural Terminology and ICD codes, of whom 4% (60 of 1516) were excluded after manual review; namely, those with pathologic fractures (n = 38), periprosthetic fractures (n = 12), and age younger than 18 years (n = 10). Of the patients who were studied, 69% (998 of 1456) were women and the mean ± SD age was 77 ± 14 years; 45% (656 of 1456) were treated with intramedullary nails, 32% (464 of 1456) underwent hemiarthroplasties, 10% (149 of 1456) underwent THAs, 7% (104 of 1456) underwent percutaneous fixations, and 6% (83 of 1456) were treated with plates and screws. The mean ± SD ASA score was 2.8 ± 0.6, CCI was 3.1 ± 3.2, and ECI was 5.2 ± 3.5. Hip fracture fixation was chosen as the operation of interest given the high incidence of this injury, the well-documented effects of comorbidities on complications, and the critical importance of risk stratification and perioperative medical management for these patients. Demographics, comorbidities, surgical details, as well as 90-day and 1-year mortality were collected. Logistic regressions with ROC curves were used to determine the accuracy and comparative effectiveness of the three measures. The 90-day mortality rate was 7.4%, and the 1-year mortality rate was 15.0%.Results: The accuracy (area under the curve [AUC]) for 1-year mortality was 0.685 (95% CI 0.656 to 0.714) for the ASA, 0.755 (95% CI 0.722 to 0.788) for the ECI, and 0.769 (95% CI 0.739 to 0.800) for the CCI. The CCI and ECI were more accurate than ASA (p < 0.001 for both), while the CCI and ECI did not differ (p = 0.30). The ECI (AUC 0.756 [95% CI 0.712 to 0.800]) was more accurate for 90-day mortality than the ASA (AUC 0.703 [95% CI 0.663 to 0.744]; p = 0.04), while CCI (AUC 0.742 [95% CI 0.698 to 0.785]) with ASA (p = 0.17) and CCI with ECI (p = 0.46) did not differ at 90 days.Conclusion: Performance measures and research results may vary depending on what comorbidity index is used. We found that the CCI and ECI were more accurate than the ASA score for 1-year mortality after hip fracture surgery. Moreover, these data validate that the CCI and ECI can perform reliably in the ICD-10 era. If other studies from additional practice settings confirm these findings, as would be expected because of the objective nature of these indices, the CCI or ECI may be a useful preoperative measure for surgeons to assess 1-year mortality for hip fracture patients and should likely be used for institutional orthopaedic research involving outcomes 90 days and beyond.Level Of Evidence: Level III, diagnostic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During running, humans increase leg stiffness on more compliant surfaces through an in-series spring relationship to maintain constant support mechanics. Following this notion, the compliant midsole material of standard footwear may cause individuals to increase leg stiffness while running, especially in footwear with very thick midsoles. Recently, researchers have also proposed that footwear stiffness can affect the stiffness of the foot's longitudinal arch (LA) via a similar mechanism. To test these ideas, we used 3D motion capture to record 20 participants running on a forceplate-instrumented treadmill while barefoot, and while wearing three types of sandals composed of materials ranging an order of magnitude in Young's modulus: ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), and two varieties of polyurethane rubber (R30 and R60). We calculated leg stiffness using standard methods, and measured LA stiffness based on medial midfoot kinematics. While there was an overall significant effect of footwear on leg stiffness (P = 0.047), post-hoc tests revealed no significant differences among individual pairs of conditions, and there was no effect of footwear on LA stiffness. However, participants exhibited significantly greater LA compression when barefoot than when running in EVA (P = 0.004) or R30 (P = 0.036) sandals. These results indicate that standard footwear midsole materials are too stiff to appreciably affect leg stiffness during running, meaning that increasing midsole thickness is unlikely to cause individuals to alter their leg stiffness. However, use of footwear does cause individuals to restrict LA compression when compared to running barefoot, and further research is needed to understand why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the setting of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), decompression osteoplasties reconcile deleterious loading patterns caused by cam and pincer lesions. However, native variations of spinopelvic sagittal alignment may continue to perpetuate detrimental effects on the labrum, chondrolabral junction, and articular cartilage after hip arthroscopy. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of pelvic incidence (PI) on postoperative outcomes after hip arthroscopy for acetabular labral tears in the setting of FAI. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A retrospective query of prospectively collected data identified patients ≥18 years of age who underwent primary hip arthroscopy for FAI and acetabular labral tears between February 2014 and January 2022, with 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-ups. Measurements for PI, pelvic tilt (PT), sacral slope (SS), and acetabular version were obtained via advanced diagnostic imaging. Patients were stratified into low-PI (<45°), moderate-PI (45°≤ PI ≤ 60°), and high-PI (>60°) cohorts. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), clinically meaningful outcomes (ie, minimal clinically important difference, Patient Acceptable Symptom State, substantial clinical benefit, and maximal outcome improvement), visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores, and patient satisfaction were compared across cohorts. Results: A total of 74 patients met eligibility criteria and were stratified into low-PI (n = 28), moderate-PI (n = 31), and high-PI (n = 15) cohorts. Correspondingly, patients with high PI displayed significantly greater values for PT (P =.001), SS (P <.001), acetabular version (P <.001), and acetabular inclination (P =.049). By the 12- and 24-month follow-ups, the high-PI cohort was found to have significantly inferior PROMs, VAS pain scores, rates of clinically meaningful outcome achievement, and satisfaction relative to patients with moderate and/or low PI. No significant differences were found between cohorts regarding rates of revision arthroscopy, subsequent spine surgery, or conversion to total hip arthroplasty. Conclusion: After hip arthroscopy, patients with a high PI (>60°) exhibited inferior PROMs, rates of achieving clinically meaningful thresholds, and satisfaction at 12 and 24 months relative to patients with low or moderate PI. Conversely, the outcomes of patients with low PI (<45°) were found to match the trajectory of those with a neutral spinopelvic alignment (45°≤ PI ≤ 60°). These findings highlight the importance of analyzing spinopelvic parameters preoperatively to prognosticate outcomes before hip arthroscopy for acetabular labral tears and FAI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bone bruises are commonly seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and can provide insight into the underlying mechanism of injury. There are limited reports that have compared the bone bruise patterns between contact and noncontact mechanisms of ACL injury. Purpose: To examine and compare the number and location of bone bruises in contact and noncontact ACL injuries. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Three hundred twenty patients who underwent ACL reconstruction surgery between 2015 and 2021 were identified. Inclusion criteria were clear documentation of the mechanism of injury and MRI within 30 days of the injury on a 3-T scanner. Patients with concomitant fractures, injuries to the posterolateral corner or posterior cruciate ligament, and/or previous ipsilateral knee injury were excluded. Patients were stratified into 2 cohorts based on a contact or noncontact mechanism. Preoperative MRI scans were retrospectively reviewed by 2 musculoskeletal radiologists for bone bruises. The number and location of the bone bruises were recorded in the coronal and sagittal planes using fat-suppressed T2-weighted images and a standardized mapping technique. Lateral and medial meniscal tears were recorded from the operative notes, while medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries were graded on MRI. Results: A total of 220 patients were included, with 142 (64.5%) noncontact injuries and 78 (35.5%) contact injuries. There was a significantly higher frequency of men in the contact cohort compared with the noncontact cohort (69.2% vs 54.2%, P =.030), while age and body mass index were comparable between the 2 cohorts. The bivariate analysis demonstrated a significantly higher rate of combined lateral tibiofemoral (lateral femoral condyle [LFC] + lateral tibial plateau [LTP]) bone bruises (82.1% vs 48.6%, P <.001) and a lower rate of combined medial tibiofemoral (medial femoral condyle [MFC] + medial tibial plateau [MTP]) bone bruises (39.7% vs 66.2%, P <.001) in knees with contact injuries. Similarly, noncontact injuries had a significantly higher rate of centrally located MFC bone bruises (80.3% vs 61.5%, P =.003) and posteriorly located MTP bruises (66.2% vs 52.6%, P =.047). When controlling for age and sex, the multivariate logistical regression model demonstrated that knees with contact injuries were more likely to have LTP bone bruises (OR, 4.721 [95% CI, 1.147-19.433], P =.032) and less likely to have combined medial tibiofemoral (MFC + MTP) bone bruises (OR, 0.331 [95% CI, 0.144-0.762], P =.009) compared with those with noncontact injuries. Conclusion: Significantly different bone bruise patterns were observed on MRI based on ACL injury mechanism, with contact and noncontact injuries demonstrating characteristic findings in the lateral tibiofemoral and medial tibiofemoral compartments, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]