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| Today’s Top Story
Retrospective Study Investigates the Impact of Restrictive Opioid Regulation on Opioid Prescribing for TKA Patients
Restrictive opioid legislation was found to be associated with reduced postoperative opioid prescriptions per patient following total knee arthroplasty (TKA), according to a study published online in the Journal of the AAOS ®. Prescription opioid quantity in morphine milligram equivalents (MME), quantity of refills, and number of prescribers up to 90 days postsurgery were compared between TKA patients prior to and after legislation implementation. The average total MME decreased by over 30 percent for all time periods for the post-law group; however, the quantity of opioid refills remained unchanged (1.6 versus 1.6).
Read the abstract… |
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| In Other News
Study: How Does COVID-19 Vaccination Status Affect Treatment Outcomes in Elderly Patients with Hip Fractures?
HIP International published a study which found that COVID-19 vaccination was protective against the need for ICU-level care and decreased the rate of minor complications in elderly patients being treated for hip fractures. Hospital quality measures and outcomes were retrospectively collected from 329 unvaccinated (NV), 14 partially vaccinated (PV), and 138 fully vaccinated (FV) patients, as well as 25 patients who received a booster shot (BV). The overall rate of minor complications for the NV, PV, FV, and BV groups were 37.99 percent, 21.34 percent, 28.26 percent, and 20.00 percent, respectively. FV patients had the lowest need for ICU-level care (5.8 percent).
Read the abstract… |
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| Study: Worse Outcomes Associated with Interfacility Transfer versus Direct Admission Patients with Lower Orthopaedic Trauma
A prognostic study compared the rates of complications and readmissions in lower extremity orthopaedic trauma patients admitted via interfacility transfer (IT) to direct admission (DA) patients from home. The study was published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. There were 7,167 and 32,330 patients in the IT and DA groups, respectively. Preoperative comorbidities, adverse events, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions 30-days postsurgery were compared between groups. Patients in the IT group had significantly higher rates of mortality (3.3 percent versus 1.4 percent) and readmission (5.8 percent versus 4.8 percent) compared to patients in the DA group.
Read the abstract… |
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| Retrospective Study Characterizes Complications in 822 Patients after Volar Locking Plate Fixation of Distal Radius Fractures
A retrospective study of the complications in 822 patients who had been surgically treated for a distal radius fracture with ORIF using volar plating and screws was published in the Journal of Hand Surgery. With a mean follow-up time of 2.8 years, the overall rate of complications was 12.3 percent. Of these, 4.8 percent were considered major complications and 7.5 percent were defined as minor complications. The most common were complications that led to hardware removal (2.7 percent), wound-related problems that did not require surgical revision (2.2 percent), and carpal tunnel syndrome (1.9 percent).
Read the abstract… |
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| Advocacy News
Department of Health and Human Services Pauses Surprise Billing Arbitration after Texas Court Decision
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are asking parties involved in surprise billing disputes to put payment determinations on hold following a Texas court’s decision last week. The federal judge ruled in favor of the Texas Medical Association and organizations like AAOS supporting the lawsuit, saying that the arbitration process established under the No Surprises Act “continues to place a thumb on the scale” in favor of insurers. Along with pausing new determinations, arbiters should recall any determinations made after Feb. 6 but can continue working through other parts of the dispute resolution process as they wait for further guidance from federal regulators.
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| AAOS Now
The Educational Power of Surgical Videos Will Be on Full Display at the AAOS 2023 Annual Meeting
In this edition of Education Now, Andrew H. Schmidt, MD, FAAOS, chair of the AAOS Education Council, discusses the importance of surgical videos in orthopaedic training, emphasizing the various educational opportunities using high-quality, high-definition videos that will be available at the AAOS 2023 Annual Meeting, including OrthoDome and the Orthopaedic Video Theater. Plus, Dr. Schmidt shares his tips for maximizing your time during the meeting.
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