Orthopaedist-industry collaborations headed into ‘a perfect storm’

Mary Ann Porucznik

Former U.S. Attorney says financial conflicts of interest are the greatest threat to medical professional credibility and, as a public health issue, will compel continuous screening by all interested parties—including the government.

News Updates: A Second Look

Stay current by subscribing to Headline News, the AAOS thrice-weekly online update of news of interest. Headline News brings you the latest on clinical, socioeconomic, and political issues, as well as important announcements from AAOS. Subscribe to Headline News at www.aaos.org/news.asp JAMA articles examine long-term effects of drugs on bone health A report on the Fracture Intervention Trial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (Vol. 296, No.

Facts about backs

30 percent of Americans experience back pain on any given day 80 percent of Americans will experience back problems at some time in their lives The overall cost of back pain in direct medical charges and lost productivity is estimated to be between $30 billion and $70 billion a year in the United States In 2004, there were 32 million physician visits and nearly 1.

Surgery still an option with artificial disk

Carolyn Rogers

Lumbar total disk replacement (TDR) with the Charité™ artificial disk did not preclude any further procedures at the index level during primary insertion, said Paul C. McAfee, MD, who led a prospective, randomized, multi-center study on the artificial disk. “Nearly one-third were revised to a new motion preserving prosthesis, and just over two-thirds were converted to fusions,” he said.

NBME testing MSK exam

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) is pilot testing a new musculoskeletal (MSK) subject exam, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD) as part of the Project 100 initiative. The Project 100 initiative aims to ensure that 100 percent of American medical schools offer dedicated instruction in musculoskeletal medicine. The content outline was developed by NBME staff members with a musculoskeletal task force.

Symposium addressed member questions about Maintenance of Certification

Jennie McKee

Although many orthopaedists have heard of Maintenance of Certification© (MOC), few can explain it in detail. Yet well over half of all practicing orthopaedic surgeons in the United States who are certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) will be involved in MOC in the coming years.

Are you using the Universal Protocol yet?

Robert L. Brooks, MD

To prevent rare—but devastating—cases of wrong-site surgery, the Universal Protocol needs to be used universally. The Universal Protocol—the systematic use of surgical site marking, a preoperative checklist, and a time-out immediately before incision—is effective in preventing the rare but devastating “never event” of wrong-site, wrong-patient, or wrong-procedure surgery. However, it has not yet been universally implemented in American hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.

Hand surgeons focus on fractures during Specialty Day

Peter Pollack

The American Society for Surgery of the Hand and the American Association for Hand Surgery held a series of teaching sessions as part of the 2007 Specialty Day at the AAOS Annual Meeting. Presenters reviewed a wide variety of topics, ranging from new viewpoints on classic treatments to cutting-edge surgical techniques, with a focus on evidence-based care for trauma and reconstruction in the upper extremity.

Surgical treatment better for multiple-ligament knee injuries

Jennie McKee

“The trend over the years has been that surgical treatment for multiple-ligament knee injuries yields better results than nonoperative treatment,” asserted Gregory C. Fanelli, MD, during “The Multiple-Ligament Knee Injury: Pearls, Pitfalls, Results,” a presentation sponsored by the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) during the 2007 Specialty Day.

OTA Specialty Day unlocks key information about locked plating

Jennie McKee

Which kinds of fractures are best treated with locked plating? How does an orthopaedist select the right implant for a patient? In “Locked Plating: Pitfalls and Complications,” a session presented by the Orthopaedic Trauma Association during the 2007 Specialty Day at the AAOS Annual Meeting in San Diego, J. Tracy Watson, MD, William M. Ricci, MD, Sean E. Nork, MD, and Philip J. Kregor, MD, addressed these and other questions on the use of locking plates in fracture care.

Orthopaedic surgeons wage war against extremity injuries

Mary Ann Porucznik

“As a direct result of the efforts of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA), the U.S. Congress has allocated $7.5 million in funding for the Orthopaedic Extremity Trauma Research Program (OETRP),” said Joseph C. Wenke, PhD, of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Speaking at the Extremity War Injuries II (EWI-II) symposium in January, Dr.