Most statistically significant RCTs in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery are not robust because their statistical significance can be reversed by changing the outcome status on only a few patients in 1 treatment group. Future work is required to determine whether routine reporting of the Fragility Index enhances clinicians' ability to detect trial results that should be viewed cautiously.
Background: Observational studies have suggested that accelerated surgery is associated with improved outcomes in patients with a hip fracture. The HIP ATTACK trial assessed whether accelerated surgery could reduce mortality and major complications.
Methods:We randomised 2970 patients from 69 hospitals in 17 countries. Patients with a hip fracture that required surgery and were ≥45 years of age were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned to accelerated surgery (goal of surgery within 6 hours of diagnosis; 1487 patients) or standard care (1483 patients). The co-primary outcomes were 1.) mortality, and 2.) a composite of major complications (i.e., mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, venous thromboembolism, sepsis, pneumonia, life-threatening bleeding, and major bleeding) at 90 days after randomisation. Outcome adjudicators were masked to treatment allocation, and patients were analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02027896.
Findings:The median time from hip fracture diagnosis to surgery was 6 hours (interquartile range [IQR] 4-9) in the accelerated-surgery group and 24 hours (IQR 10-42) in the standard-care group, p<0.0001. Death occurred in 140 patients (9%) assigned to accelerated surgery and 154 patients (10%) assigned to standard care; hazard ratio (HR) 0.91, 95% CI 0.72-1.14; absolute risk reduction (ARR) 1%, 95% CI -1-3%; p=0.40. The primary composite outcome occurred in 321 patients (22%) randomised to accelerated surgery and 331 patients (22%) randomised to standard care; HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.83-1.13; ARR 1%, 95% CI -2-3%; p=0.71.Interpretation: Among patients with a hip fracture, accelerated surgery did not significantly lower the risk of mortality or a composite of major complications compared to standard care.
Background:Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a condition that is becoming increasingly recognized as a common etiology of hip pain in athletes, adolescents, and adults. However, history and clinical examination are often inconclusive in reaching a diagnosis, while imaging often detects asymptomatic abnormalities. Treatment has traditionally been limited to surgery, with the role of conservative management remaining unclear.Purpose:To evaluate the utility of the intra-articular hip injection in the diagnosis and management of FAI.Study Design:Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4.Methods:MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed databases were screened in duplicate for studies published between January 1946 and January 2014. Search terms included femoroacetabular impingement, hip impingement, and intra-articular injection. Quality assessment using the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) scale was completed for all included studies. Data evaluated included study design, study objectives, number of hips, injected product, duration of pain relief, and outcomes measured.Results:Our search yielded 8 studies involving 281 hips. Studies were categorized into diagnostic (4 studies), therapeutic (3 studies), and prognostic (1 study) applications. Patients with FAI and its degenerative sequelae obtained greater relief from diagnostic intra-articular hip injection than those without (P < .05). The diagnostic intra-articular injection performed under ultrasound guidance was better tolerated than injections performed under fluoroscopic guidance (pain rating, 5.6 vs 3.0; P < .1). Intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid was the most effective at providing pain relief (in 23 patients), with significant improvements of functional outcome measures (Harris Hip Score, visual analog scale) present at 12 months. Pooled results with corticosteroid injection resulted in improvement in only 15% (9/60) of patients at 6 weeks. A negative response to intra-articular hip injection was a strong predictor for poor surgical outcomes.Conclusion:The results of this review suggest that (1) pain relief obtained from an intra-articular hip injection supports a diagnosis of FAI, (2) therapeutic relief at 12 months may be achieved, particularly with hyaluronic acid, and (3) a negative response to preoperative injections may predict poor short-term surgical outcomes. Additional large studies are required to build on the small number of studies included in this review, and further delineate the role of intra-articular hip injection in the management of FAI.
Online activity in orthopaedics is dominated by activity on Twitter and Facebook and is associated with increasing time since publication, journal impact factor, and author h-index values, and less risk of bias. Institutions, publishers, funding agencies, and clinicians may consider a complementary approach to measuring scholarly influence that weights online mentions and conventional citations equally.
There is a lack of high-quality evidence to inform the use of intrawound vancomycin in spine surgery. Surgeons should be cautious before widely adopting this intervention and should be vigilant in monitoring for adverse effects. Further investigation with additional randomized controlled trials is justified.
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