December 22, 2017 | Today’s News

Study: Tourniquet may not reduce blood loss compared to TXA during primary TKA

Data from a study conducted in China and published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery suggest that tourniquet may not be necessary when tranexamic acid (TXA) is available to reduce blood loss during primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The authors conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled trial of 150 patients who were treated with either tourniquet as well as multiple doses of intravenous TXA and one dose of topical TXA (n = 50), intravenous and topical TXA (n = 50), or tourniquet with no TXA (n = 50). They found that total intraoperative blood loss was similar across all cohorts. However, patients in the TXA only group saw significantly less hidden blood loss, reduced postoperative swelling and levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and improved visual analog scale pain score, range of motion at discharge, Hospital for Special Surgery score, and patient satisfaction.

Read the abstract…

Study: OA prevalence more than doubled over 15-year period

A study published online in the American Journal of Public Health examines trends in arthritis and finds that prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) more than doubled in the United States from 1999 to 2014. The researchers analyzed data on 43,706 community-dwelling adults aged 20 years and older who participated in the 1999–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. They found that the age-adjusted prevalence of arthritis was 24.7 percent. Overall prevalence of OA increased from 6.6 percent to 14.3 percent, while prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis decreased from 5.9 percent to 3.8 percent.

Read the abstract…

A data brief released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States more than tripled from 1999 to 2016, with about two-thirds of such deaths opioid-related. An analysis by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) projects that, if current trends hold, the number of drug overdose deaths could reach 163,000 per year by 2025.

Read the CDC data brief…

Read the TFAH analysis…

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated the methodology used in its hospital Star Rating system. Modern Healthcare reports that the new approach “slightly flattens” the bell curve, increasing the number of hospitals that receive the highest and lowest ratings. Under the new methodology, the number of hospitals with a 5-star rating increased from 78 to 337, while the number of institutions with a 1-star rating increased from 125 to 260.

Read more…  (registration may be required)

Read the CMS announcement…

Learn more about the methodology…

According to a research letter published online in the journal JAMA Dermatology, scribes may help reduce time physician’s spend interacting with electronic health records and reduce physician burnout factors. The authors describe a pilot program in which 12 dermatologists received scribe support in 19 weekly, half-day general dermatology sessions across three clinical sites. They found that implementation of the scribe program was associated with a reduction in physician documentation time from 6.1 minutes to 3.0 minutes per encounter. In addition, the authors identified a 7.7 percent increase in revenue for scribe-supported sessions, more than offsetting the cost of the scribes.

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Read the abstract…

Call for volunteers: National Quality Registry Network Advisory Committee

AAOS seeks to nominate one member to the National Quality Registry Network (NQRN) Advisory Committee. NQRN promotes a supportive regulatory environment for registries and advocates for increased interoperability between registries and other health information technology. Applicants for this position must be active fellows, candidate members, candidate members osteopathic, candidate member applicants for fellowship, or candidate member applicants for fellowship osteopathic. In addition, all applicants must provide the following: an online AAOS CAP application and a current curriculum vitae (CV) CV must be sent to Kyle Trivedi by Jan. 7, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. CT, at:

trivedi@aaos.org

Learn more and submit your application…  (member login required)

Dec. 31, 2017, is the last day to submit an application for a position on the Diversity Advisory Board (one opening—Communications Cabinet liaison). This board provides resources to assist AAOS members in providing culturally competent care to diverse populations as well as develops and implements strategies to overcome barriers faced by minorities when choosing orthopaedics as a career. The Communications Cabinet liaison is responsible for representing the Diversity Advisory Board’s issues and concerns to the Communications Cabinet. Applicants for this position must be active fellows, candidate members, or candidate member applicants for fellowship, with a demonstrated interest in advancing diversity in orthopaedics and fostering culturally competent care.

Learn more and submit your application…  (member login required)