Today’s Top Story
FDA announces Class I recall of certain Zimmer M/L Taper with Kinectiv Technology Prostheses.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a Class I recall of Zimmer M/L Taper with Kinectiv Technology Prostheses manufactured and distributed between March 31, 2015, and April 20, 2015. The agency states that a process monitoring failure led to higher-than-expected amounts of manufacturing residues left on the femoral stems and necks. FDA states that the residues can cause serious adverse health issues including allergic reactions, pain, infections, or death, and that use of the affected products may require revision surgery to replace the implant. Read more…
Read the recall notice…
Other News
Study: Readmission to index hospital linked to reduced risk of 90-day mortality.
According to findings published online in The Lancet, patients who are readmitted to the index hospital after a major surgical procedure have improved survival rates compared to patients readmitted to a different institution. The authors reviewed Medicare claims data on 9,440,503 patients who underwent one of 12 major surgeries and found that readmission was more likely to be to the index hospital than to a non-index hospital if the readmission was for a surgical complication. Readmission to the index hospital was associated with a 26 percent lower risk of 90-day mortality than was readmission to a non-index hospital, with inverse probability weighting used to control for selection bias. The effect was significant for all procedures in inverse probability-weighted models. After adjustment for regional index hospital readmission rates, the authors found that patients with the highest probability of returning to the index hospital had an 8 percent lower risk of mortality compared to patients who were less likely to be readmitted to the index hospital. Read more…
Read the abstract…
Study: Forgoing bridging anticoagulation may be safe for patients with atrial fibrillation who undergo elective procedures.
A study published in the June 22 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that forgoing bridging anticoagulation may be noninferior to perioperative bridging with low-molecular-weight heparin for patients with atrial fibrillation who had warfarin treatment interrupted for an elective procedure. The research team conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 1,884 patients who received either bridging anticoagulation therapy with low-molecular-weight heparin (n = 934) or placebo (n = 950), from 3 days till 24 hours preoperative and then for 5 to 10 days postoperative. They found that the incidence of arterial thromboembolism was 0.4 percent in the no-bridging group and 0.3 percent in the bridging group, while the incidence of major bleeding was 1.3 percent in the no-bridging group and 3.2 percent in the bridging group. Read more…
Read the abstract…
Draft House bill proposes to defund AHRQ.
Healthcare IT News reports that a bill under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee would, if enacted, eliminate funding for the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Among other things, the agency supports research to improve healthcare quality and outcomes, and is currently funded with a $440 million operating budget through FY 2015. Under terms of a draft funding bill, the AHRQ would be “terminated,” effective Oct. 1, 2015. Read more…
Study: VLP offers some advantages over EF for DRF, but may increase risk of complication.
A study published in the July issue of The Journal of Hand Surgery compares the use of volar locking plates (VLPs) to external fixation (EF) with adjuvant pins in the treatment of unstable distal radius fracture (DRF). The researchers conducted a prospective, randomized study of 91 patients with unstable DRF who were treated with either VLP (n = 52) or EF (n = 49). At 5-year follow-up, they found that QuickDASH score was not statistically significantly different between cohorts. Patients with VLP had statistically significant better supination, better radial deviation, and less radial shortening, compared to EF patients. In addition, for AO/OTA type C2 fractures, VLP was associated with statistically significant better supination, flexion, grip strength, and Mayo wrist score, and less ulnar shortening. However, in the VLP group, 11 patients (21 percent) had their plates removed due to surgically related complications; in the EF group, 5 patients had proximal radial scar correction surgery owing to skin contracture. Read the abstract…
Maryland.
An article in The Baltimore Sun profiles efforts by two hospitals to assist healthcare providers who may be suffering from stress and reduced effectiveness due to being associated with medical errors. In each program, the institutions will assemble a team of about two dozen peer responders who will be trained to deal with providers dealing with the aftermath of an error they’ve made or some other clinically related stress. Read more…
Nevada.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that a lawsuit filed in California accuses surgeons and hospitals in Las Vegas of implanting counterfeit spinal hardware. The surgeons have denied wrongdoing. Read more…
Young Investigators: Apply now to attend AAOS/ORS Biologic Treatments for Orthopaedic Injuries research symposium.
The AAOS/Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) Biologic Treatments for Orthopaedic Injuries Research Symposium will seek to identify knowledge gaps in emerging biologic treatments for articular cartilage, muscle, tendon, and bone injuries, with the ultimate goal of translating current bench research to accelerated and directly measurable improvements and patient reported outcomes.Selected Young Investigators will have the opportunity to present their research during the poster session, and learn from experienced mentors in the field. AAOS seeks abstracts in the area of biologics, including platelet-rich plasma, minimally manipulated adult progenitor cells, tendinopathy or tissue repair, and scaffold-base treatment methods of musculoskeletal injuries. Of 15 selected abstracts for poster presentations, four will be chosen to give podium presentations. Selected Young Investigators will receive airfare, lodging, and meals at the event. Applicants must submit an application form, along with poster abstract (one page), current curriculum vitae, and a letter of support from their department chair or research supervisor by June 30, 2015, to Erin L. Ransford, AAOS manager, research advocacy, at ransford@aaos.org.
Download the application form (DOC)…
