Today’s Top Story
Study: Periacetabular injection may offer greater pain reduction than intra-articular injection of bupivacaine for hip arthroscopy patients.
Findings from a study published online in the journal Arthroscopy suggest that periacetabular injection of bupivacaine may be superior to intra-articular injection for pain reduction following hip arthroscopy. The authors conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 42 consecutive patients scheduled for hip arthroscopy who received either preemptive intra-articular 20 mL of bupivacaine 0.5% injection (n = 21) or preemptive periacetabular 20 mL of bupivacaine 0.5% injection (n = 21). At 30 minutes and 18 hours postoperative, they found that visual analog scale scores were significantly lower in the periacetabular cohort compared with in the intra-articular cohort. The authors found no differences between groups with regard to analgesic consumption. Read the abstract…

Other News

Analyses compare candidate healthcare proposals.
A pair of analyses produced by the RAND Corporation for The Commonwealth Fund examine the healthcare proposals of U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. The authors created a synthetic population of individuals, families, health expenditures, and firms based on data from the April 2010 cross-section of the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation, the 2010 and 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and the 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey, to estimate how the candidates’ proposals would affect health insurance enrollment, consumers out-of-pocket spending, the federal deficit, and other outcomes. If adopted as proposed, the authors project that both candidates’ policies would be linked to a net increase in the federal deficit, while affecting the number of insured and consumer out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Read more…
Read the reports…

Study: What factors affect quality of life for patients with metastatic bone disease?
Data published online in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research look at factors associated with quality of life (QOL) for patients with metastatic bone disease. The researchers surveyed 202 patients with metastatic bone disease who presented at a single center, and found that younger age, smoking, pathologic fracture, and unemployment were associated with worse QOL, while current smoking status was associated with more pain interference. Overall, poor-prognosis cancers and pathologic fracture were associated with more anxiety, while single relationship status and pathologic fracture were associated with depression. The researchers note that QOL scores, pain interference scores, and anxiety scores were worse for patients with bone metastases compared with general US population values, although depression scores were comparable. Read the abstract…

Study: Cannabis use associated with poorer bone health.
According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom and published online in The American Journal of Medicine, heavy cannabis use may negatively impact bone health. The research team conducted a cross-sectional study of 200 cannabis users, 56 of whom were classified as moderate users and 144 of whom were classified as heavy; and 114 cigarette smokers as controls. They found that heavy cannabis users had lower total hip bone mineral density (BMD), lower spine BMD, lower body mass index (BMI), and higher fracture rate compared to participants in the control cohort. In addition, compared with controls, serum cross-linked C-telopeptide of type 1 collagen concentrations and serum N-terminal propeptide of type 1 procollagen concentrations were raised in heavy cannabis users, while serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were reduced. The research team notes that heavy cannabis use was an independent predictor of both spine and total hip BMD. However, mediation analysis suggested that the effect on spine BMD was indirect and mediated through low BMI. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Call For Volunteers: SMOAK workgroup.
AAOS is currently accepting applications for a workgroup to will develop a set of performance measures for surgical management of osteoarthritis of the knee (SMOAK). The Performance Measures Committee seeks an interdisciplinary work group of approximately 18 individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise:

  • Subject matter expertise
  • Consumer/patient/family perspective
  • Health care disparities
  • Performance measurement
  • Quality improvement
  • Purchaser perspective
  • Health Informatics

Applicants must have no relevant financial conflicts of interest and be willing to sign an attestation form declaring that they will maintain an absence of relevant conflicts for the duration of the measure development process and 2 full years following. Applications must be submitted by Nov. 30, 2016. For more information regarding the application process, contact Meghan Hough at 847-384-4323 or via email, at: hough@aaos.org.
Access the workgroup application…

Call for volunteers: NQF Cost and Resource Use Standing Committee.
AAOS seeks to nominate members to the National Quality Forum (NQF) Cost and Resource Use Standing Committee. The purpose of the committee is to evaluate newly submitted measures and measures undergoing maintenance review against the NQF Resource Use Measure Evaluation Criteria and make recommendations for endorsement. 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, a current curriculum vitae, a 100-word biosketch, and a letter of interest highlighting his or her expertise in the subject area. All supporting materials must be submitted to Kyle Shah by Nov. 1, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. CT, at: shah@aaos.org.
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)

Call for volunteers: Council on Education.
Dec. 16 is the deadline to apply for a position on the Council on Education (one board preparation and MOC course chair opening). The Council on Education plans and evaluates Academy educational programs in accordance with the policies and standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Applicants for this position must be active fellows with experience as a faculty member in Academy courses. Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)