Sports Medicine Research at the 2016 AAOS Annual Meeting

Jeremy M. Burnham, MD; Rachel M. Frank, MD

The 2016 Annual Meeting featured innovative and thought-provoking research in all fields of orthopaedics. Summarized here are highlights from sports medicine and arthroscopy presentations covering lower extremity, basic science, and cost-effectiveness. In May, we will feature studies focused on upper extremity, rehabilitation, and return-to-play issues.

The Perioperative Surgical Home: Toward Seamless Patient Care

Brad Waddell, MD; Scott F. M. Duncan, MD, MPH, MBA

In recent years, healthcare reform has taken center stage in both political and medical society debates. As healthcare providers seek a safer, more economical approach to treating their patients, we have begun to implement evidence-based, standardized practices and protocols. At the same time, lawmakers demand high-quality and low-cost solutions. Traditional surgical episodes are fragmented— into the preoperative episode, the operative episode, and the postoperative episode.

Study Focuses on Dual Taper THA and Revision Outcomes

A study of total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients presented at the 2016 AAOS Annual Meeting found that revision surgery of dual taper THA due to taper corrosion had an early increased incidence of postoperative complications (20 percent) and a rerevision rate of 6 percent. According to the study findings, metal ion levels and cobalt chromium ratios declined significantly in all patients after the dual taper was removed.

Wide Variation Found in Readmission Rates after TKA

Whether a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patient is readmitted to the hospital within 30 to 90 days after the procedure may depend, to some extent, on the hospital's geographic location in the United States. Data from a study presented at the 2016 AAOS Annual Meeting found a wide geographic variation in readmission among hospitals across the country, with patients in the Western states having a lower 30- and 90-day readmission (RA) risk than patients in other regions of the country.

Study: Shorter Time Between Injections for Trigger Finger Predictive of Need for Surgical Release

Terry Stanton

Study data indicate that patients who received a second steroid injection for stenosing tenosynovitis—commonly known as trigger finger—within 6 months of the first injection had a significantly higher likelihood of requiring surgical release than patients who received a second injection after 6 months.

Award-Winning Research Focuses on ACL Reconstruction

Jennie McKee

When Louis E. DeFrate, ScD, joined the department of orthopaedic surgery at Duke University Medical Center a decade ago, he and colleague William E. Garrett Jr, MD, PhD, discussed the relative lack of data on how anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft placement affects joint function under in vivo loading conditions. Soon after, with the assistance of radiologist Charles E. Spritzer, MD, Dr.

20 Years of Study into Mechanisms of ACL Injury Honored

Terry Stanton

Timothy E. Hewett, PhD, and his research associates have spent more than 2 decades contemplating and confronting the challenges presented by anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, with the goal of better understanding the causes and mechanism of ACL injury and developing techniques and regimens for its prevention. Dr.

Academy Updates Clinical Practice Guideline on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Terry Stanton

At its March meeting, the AAOS Board of Directors approved an updated Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) on carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) that represents a substantive update to the CTS guidelines originally issued in 2008 and revised in 2011. The new CPG carries the endorsement of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), the American College of Radiology, and the American College of Surgeons.

Revisiting Rotator Cuff Repairs

Jay D. Lenn

Commonly held beliefs about the clinical outcomes of surgery may not always withstand scrutiny when investigators ask new questions about old assumptions. It has been widely accepted that a patient who undergoes a procedure for a rotator cuff tear does relatively well regardless of the integrity of the repair. Studies have indicated that even with recurring tears, patients report overall satisfaction, decreased pain, and better shoulder function. William N.