Today’s Top Story
Study: HA viscosupplementation may not offer significant benefit following arthroscopic meniscectomy.
Data from a study published online in The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) suggest that use of postoperative viscosupplementation may not offer significant clinical benefits following arthroscopic meniscectomy. The researchers conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial of 90 patients aged 18 to 55 years with chronic, symptomatic meniscal tears requiring partial resection; a healthy contralateral knee; no previous surgery on the index knee; and no other concurrent articular lesions requiring surgical treatment. Patients received either meniscectomy alone or meniscectomy with an injection of 3 mL hyaluronic acid (HA) at the end of the procedure. At 15-, 30-, 60-, and 180-day follow-up, the researchers noted improvement in both cohorts in International Knee Documentation Committee subjective, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, VAS for general health status, and Tegner scores, but no significant difference across cohorts in outcome scores at any time point. In addition, the mean time to return to full sports activity and satisfaction rate were comparable between groups.
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Other News
Blog post by CMS adminstrator nominee advocates “consumer-driven approach” to Medicaid reform.
A blog post on the Health Affairs website that was written by Seema Verma, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), discusses the “consumer-driven design” of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). HIP is the state’s Medicaid system designed in part by Ms. Verma. She writes that current Medicaid programs operate “within an antiquated framework that is not designed to prepare members for health coverage after Medicaid, and may even be counterproductive to that end.” Under HIP, members receive a $2,500 deductible health plan paired with a $2,500 “POWER” account, through which members pay for healthcare services until the deductible amount is met, at which point the health plan becomes solely responsible for paying further claims. In addition, preventive services are provided outside the deductible.
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Study: CD34+BMP2 cells may help accelerate graft-bone integration after ACL reconstruction.
According to a rat study published online in AJSM, CD34+ cells derived from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tissue and transduced with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) may help accelerate graft-bone integration following ACL reconstruction. The authors isolated ACL-derived CD34+ cells from human tissue and virally transduced them to express BMP-2, and introduced the cells via cell sheets wrapped around tendon autografts prior to reconstruction in a rat model of ACL injury. There were four cohorts: CD34+BMP2 (100 percent), CD34+BMP2 (25 percent), CD34+ (untransduced), and a control group containing no cells. Based on micro–computed tomography analyses, the authors found that bone tunnels in the CD34+BMP2 (100 percent) and CD34+BMP2 (25 percent) groups had the smallest cross-sectional areas, with graft-bone integration occuring most rapidly in the CD34+BMP2 (25 percent) group. Overall, tensile load to failure was significantly greater in groups containing stem cells at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery, with tensile strength greatest in the CD34+BMP2 (100 percent) group at 4 weeks, and in the CD34+BMP2 (25 percent) group at 8 weeks.
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Senator urges FTC investigation into practice of balance billing.
In a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has requested that the agency investigate the practice of balance billing. An article published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine found that balance billing occurred in 22 percent of patient visits covered by a single commercial insurer. “Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act generally prohibits ‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce,’” the senator writes. “I urge the FTC to investigate this issue to ensure that consumers are protected against surprise ‘out-of-network’ bills.”
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Read the letter (PDF)…
Per-capita healthcare spending grew by 5.0 percent and overall health spending grew by 5.8 percent in 2015.
A report released by the Office of the Actuary at the CMS finds that per-capita healthcare spending grew by 5.0 percent and overall health spending grew by 5.8 percent in 2015. Overall, the report finds that healthcare spending grew 2.1 percentage points faster than the overall economy in 2015, resulting in a 0.4 percentage-point increase in the health spending share of gross domestic product (GDP). The report concludes that 2015 expenditure growth was primarily the result of increased use and intensity of services as citizens gained healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as continued significant growth in spending for retail prescription drugs. However, it also notes that in the decade prior to the passage of the ACA, healthcare spending increased on average 2.8 percentage points faster than GDP.
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Read the report (PDF)…
AAOS announces new online, open access journal.
AAOS has announced the forthcoming launch of JAAOS: Global Research & Reviews—a new, online-only journal that will serve as an open access companion to the Journal of the AAOS (JAAOS). The open access approach will permit orthopaedic surgeons and other professionals with an interest in orthopaedics to read and learn from manuscripts submitted by respected authors from all over the world. JAAOS: Global Research & Reviews will publish review and research articles, surgical techniques, case reports, and commentary. All manuscripts submitted to JAAOS: Global Research & Reviews will undergo the same rigorous peer review and strong ethical standards that have helped maintain JAAOS as a top journal in the field of orthopaedics.
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Learn more or submit a manuscript…
Call for volunteers: AAOS Emergency Medical Services Program Product Line series editor.
Dec. 16 is the last day to submit your application for the position of series editor designee for AAOS’s Emergency Medical Services product line. Applicants for this position must be active or emeritus fellows with extensive knowledge or current experience as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or emergency medical services director.
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)
