Today’s Top Story
State supreme court overturns ban on physician ownership of physician-owned physical therapy services.
The South Carolina Orthopaedic Association reports that the South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a law banning the integration of physical therapy and physician services. The court had previously determined that the state’s Physical Therapy Practice Act prohibited physical therapists (PTs) from working in a physician’s office and providing physical therapy to the physician’s patients through in-practice referrals. In its more recent decision, the court affirmed that the law violates a PT’s constitutional rights to equal protection and due process by allowing PTs to be employed by another PT but not employed by a physician. The court called the efforts to ban integrated services “anti-competitive protectionist legislation intended to protect personal financial interests.”
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AAOS has previously issued a position statement that reads, in part, “The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) believes that physical therapy is integral to providing high quality care for musculoskeletal disease and injury. Orthopaedic surgeons are best qualified to prescribe clinical and cost-effective use of this service.”
Read the complete position statement…
Read the court decision (PDF)…
Other News
Study: CAS may not offer significant advantage for cup placement in THA.
Findings from a study published in the October issue of the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR) suggest that computer-assisted surgery (CAS) for cup placement may not be associated with substantial advantage in function, wear rate, or survivorship at 10 years after total hip arthroplasty (THA). The authors conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 60 patients who underwent THA using either CAS or conventional technique for cup placement. At 10-year follow-up, no significant difference were found between cohorts in Harris Hip Score, acetabular linear wear, or survivorship free from aseptic loosening.
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Study: 2-screw cephalomedullary nail offers short-term advantages of single screw device for IF fixation, but fewer differences in mid-term.
A study published in the September issue of the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma finds no significant long-term difference in radiologic and functional outcomes after fixation of intertrochanteric fracture (IF) using either an integrated 2-screw cephalomedullary nail or a single-screw device. The research team conducted a prospective, randomized study of 104 patients with a mean age of 81.2 years. At 6 months, they found that 93 percent of patients in the 2-screw cohort had returned to their prefracture status, compared with 80 percent in the single-screw cohort. In addition, length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the 2-screw cohort. However, at 5 years, based on the 33 patients still available for follow-up, they found no significant implant-related complications or differences in terms of functional outcome between groups.
Read the abstract…
Study: Intraoperative fluoroscopy may offer reliable measure of correction of lateral coverage of the acetabular fragment during PAO.
According to a study published online in CORR, intraoperative fluoroscopy may be an accurate and reliable measure of correction of lateral coverage of the acetabular fragment during periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). Researchers retrospectively reviewed data on 121 patients (141 hips) who underwent PAO for symptomatic hip dysplasia at a single center. They found that the amount of intraoperative correction of lateral center-edge angle (LCEA) and acetabular index (AI) as measured on fluoroscopic images demonstrated substantial agreement with postoperative radiographs. In addition, interrater reliability for both LCEA and AI also demonstrated substantial agreement for preoperative, operative, and postoperative imaging.
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Study: What is the effect of subacromial lidocaine for rotator cuff tear?
Data published in the September issue of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research emphasize a need for care in performing subacromial lidocaine injections to treat rotator cuff tears. The researchers examined the effect of lidocaine on torn rotator cuff tendons in vitro (human tendons) and in vivo (rat tendons). They found that cell viability decreased after exposure to 0.1% lidocaine for 24?hours. At 2 and 4 weeks following surgery, the ultimate load to failure decreased more in the lidocaine group than in the control group, with significantly reduced stiffness in the lidocaine group 2 weeks after surgery. In addition, collagen organization significantly decreased in the lidocaine group by 4 weeks after surgery but returned to baseline at 8 weeks. Further, lidocaine caused cytotoxicity to tenocytes under both conditions, decreased biomechanical properties, and induced apoptosis and delay of collagen organization.
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Study: Collaborative care approach may help ease persistent concussion symptoms for adolescent patients.
A study published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics suggests that a collaborative care treatment approaches could improve outcomes for adolescent patients with persistent postconcussive symptoms. The researchers conducted a randomized trial of 49 patients aged 11 to 17 years with symptoms that persisted for at least one month following sports-related concussion. Of these patients, 25 received collaborative care (consisting of, among other things, cognitive behavioral therapy and a care manager) and 24 received standard care. At 6-month follow-up, researchers found that 13.0 percent of intervention patients and 41.7 percent of control patients reported high levels of postconcussive symptoms, and 78 percent of intervention patients and 45.8 percent of control patients reported ≥50 percent reduction in depression symptoms. The researchers noted no changes between cohorts in anxiety symptoms.
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Read the abstract…
AAOS Members only: Housing now open for the 2017 AAOS Annual Meeting.
Now is the best time to reserve a room for the 2017 AAOS Annual Meeting, to be held March 14–18 in San Diego. All official AAOS hotels not within walking distance will offer free shuttle bus service to the San Diego Convention Center. Housing is currently open for AAOS members only.
Learn more about the AAOS Annual Meeting…
Reserve your room…
