From Patient to Practice

Lisa Applegate

For a 15-year old in 1989, a diagnosis of metatastic osteosarcoma came with a grave prognosis. But that’s the challenge that faced Kurt R. Weiss, MD. Doctors surgically removed the tumors from his right leg and lungs, but unfortunately the cancer returned to his lungs, indicating that chemotherapy was ineffective. Dr. Weiss had, at best, a 20 percent chance of surviving to adulthood.

The Impact of Amputation Among Veterans

MAJ. Jessica C. Rivera, MD; LT. col. Anthony E. Johnson, MD

Recent U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in nearly 15,000 U.S. service members being evacuated from combat zones with battle-related injuries. Among those injured, approximately 1,200 have sustained at least one battle-related, major amputation (excluding the digits). Much has been published regarding the characterization of extremity war injuries, the resultant long-term disability associated with combat wounds, and the characterization of combat amputations.

ORS Translational Symposium 2015

Amber Blake

Introduced at the 2014 Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) annual meeting, the Translational Research Symposium provides open-ended and often thought-provoking perspectives on a central issue. Based on the popularity of its inaugural event, “Atypical Fractures with Long-term use of Bisphosphonates,” the ORS Translational Research Symposium will return in 2015, this time addressing the topic of cartilage repair. Cartilage is not capable of healing or repairing itself.

If Not BMP, Then What?

Ivan Cheng, MD; Stuart B. Goodman, MD, PhD; Philipp Leucht, MD, PhD

The safety of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) has recently been called into question due to concerns regarding postoperative soft-tissue swelling, the potential increased risk of retrograde ejaculation with its use in the anterior lumbar spine, and possibly an increased cancer risk. In response to these concerns, the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project recently published two independent systematic reviews on rhBMP-2.

AJRR Releases First Annual Report

Hip and knee arthroplasty data for 80,000 procedures The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), a multistakeholder, not-for-profit organization that optimizes patient outcomes through collection of data on all primary and revision hip and knee replacement procedures in the United States, released its 2013 Annual Report on Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Data at the 2014 American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) Annual Meeting. This annual report is the first released by AJRR.

NASS Launches New Research Foundation

The North American Spine Society (NASS) has established the North American Spine Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to end spine-related disability through research, education, and advocacy. The announcement was made during the NASS 2014 Annual Meeting, held in San Francisco. “Spine-related disability affects all people, outpacing diabetes, lung cancer, tuberculosis, preterm birth, and malaria as the leading cause of suffering worldwide,” said Michael L.

Study: Simulator Training Transfers to OR Skills

Terry Stanton

Using simulators to enhance resident training is a strategy that many orthopaedic programs are investigating. But do proficiencies learned with a simulator transfer into skills during an actual surgery? A recent study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (Nov. 5) seems to show that they do.

Resident Research Competition

LCDR Lance E. LeClere, MD, MC, USN; CAPT Dana C. Covey, MD, MC, USN (Ret.)

The Sixth Annual San Diego Resident Research Competition, held Aug. 13, showcased resident researchers from southern California. Projects and podium presentations were judged by basic science and clinical faculty members from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). Visiting professor H. Thomas Temple, MD, from the University of Miami, judged the competition and delivered keynote talks on tissue banking and bone and soft-tissue allografts.

Learn More About EBM

The new AAOS Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) electronic newsletter enables AAOS members to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in EBM. The newsletter provides information on the progress of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), appropriate use criteria, and other EBM initiatives, along with links that make it easy for AAOS members to volunteer to participate in EBM projects.