Erik Schnaser

Objectives: Little data exist regarding the outcomes of total hip arthroplasty (THA) after acetabular fracture treatment failure. We hypothesize that these patients achieve a lower level of function than those who undergo primary THA for osteoarthritis (atraumatic). Design: Retrospective review. Control group consisted of sequential patients who underwent a primary THA for osteoarthritis and were 60 years or older at the time of surgery. Setting: Level I Academic Trauma Center. Patients: One hundred seventy-one patients older than 60 years when they sustained an acetabular fracture were included in this study. Seventeen (10%) patients were converted to THA. Control patients were treated with primary THA for osteoarthritis. Main Outcome Measures: Musculoskeletal function assessment scores and Harris Hip scores were obtained after a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Results: Thirteen patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation, 3 underwent nonoperative treatment, and 1 received an acute THA. The most common fracture patterns converted to THA were associated both column (n = 5) and posterior column with posterior wall (n = 5). The average time to conversion to THA was 35 months. When compared with controls, patients who had THA after an acetabular fracture had significantly higher Musculoskeletal Function Assessment scores and significantly lower Harris Hip scores, indicating worse level of function. Conclusions: Patients who undergo THA after acetabular fracture have significantly worse functional outcome scores when compared with patients who undergo a primary THA for osteoarthritis. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS-Am) began publishing the level of evidence (LOE) for manuscripts in 2003. From 1975 to 2005 JBJS-Am saw a trend towards higher leveled studies. We aimed to demonstrate trends in the country of origin of manuscripts published in JBJS-Am, and hypothesized that not only were more publications coming from groups outside of North America, but that the studies originating within North America were of higher LOE. All articles published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American) in 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 were independently evaluated by two reviewers and graded based on country, LOE (using the JBJS-Am LOE guidelines), and study type. For articles published after 2003 we used the level and study type published within the manuscript. The proportion of publications from North America decreased in 2005 and 2010 when compared to the previous 20 years (p>.03), but the overall number of publications appeared stable. Overall, there was an increase in Level I (r>.74, p>.03), Level II (r>.79, p>.02), and Level III (r>.95, p<.001) evidence studies. There was a statistically significant decrease in North American Level IV studies (r>-.81, p>.01) and an increase in international Level IV studies (r>.70, p>.04). International groups have increased therapeutic (r>.86, p<.01) and diagnostic studies (r>.93, p<.001). In North America and internationally, prognostic studies have not changed. North American groups have increased economic and decision analysis research (r>.69, p>.04). Over the past 30 years JBJS-Am has become more internationally diverse. International groups are publishing more therapeutic and diagnostic research than in the past, while North American groups have increased economic and decision analysis research. There has been a global effort towards higher leveled research.

This study evaluated pre- and postoperative clinical and structural outcome data on anterosuperior rotator cuff tears involving the supraspinatus and subscapularis treated by arthroscopic methods. Between June 2006 and October 2007, a total of 155 consecutive patients underwent an arthroscopic repair for a supraspinatus or supraspinatus and infraspinatus (superior) rotator cuff tear. Of these, 44 (28%) were identified on preoperative imaging to have involvement of the subscapularis. Confirmation of subscapularis tears occurred during arthroscopic repair of the superior rotator cuff. If the subscapularis was found to be torn, it was documented, and an arthroscopic repair was performed. Postoperative clinical and radiographic outcomes were assessed with the belly press and lift-off tests, range of motion, strength, pain score, Constant score, and either a magnetic resonance imaging arthrogram or a computed tomography arthrogram at an average of 15 months postoperatively. Failure was determined based on rotator cuff integrity on radiologic studies. Sixteen of the 44 anterosuperior rotator cuff tears identified on preoperative imaging were found to have a full-thickness subscapularis tear requiring repair on arthroscopic examination. On preoperative imaging, subscapularis tears were all either grade 1 or grade 2 (no complete grade 3 tears). Mean follow-up was 16.9 months (range, 13–24 months). Compared with preoperative values, significant postoperative improvements occurred in Constant scores, forward flexion, strength, and pain scores ( P <.01). Patients also showed significant improvements in both the lift-off and belly press tests ( P <.001). Mean postoperative patient satisfaction was 7.9 (range, 5–10) with 10 (59%) of 17 patients being extremely satisfied. Two of the 17 patients with an anterosuperior rotator cuff tear had confirmed retears of the supraspinatus (1 partial and 1 full-thickness) with no radiographic evidence of retear of any of the subscapularis repairs at most recent follow-up.

This CORR Insights™ is a commentary on the article "Locking Buttons Increase Fatigue Life of Locking Plates in a Segmental Bone Defect Model" by Tompkins et al. available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-012-2664-1 .

Orthopedic wear particles activate a number of intracellular signaling pathways associated with inflammation in macrophages and we have previously shown that the phosphoinositol‐3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is one of the signal transduction pathways that mediates the in vitro activation of macrophages by orthopedic wear particles. Since PI3Kγ is primarily responsible for PI3K activity during inflammation, we hypothesized that PI3Kγ mediates particle‐induced osteolysis in vivo. Our results do not strongly support the hypothesis that PI3Kγ regulates the overall amount of particle‐induced osteolysis in the murine calvarial model. However, our results strongly support the conclusion that variability in the amount of particle‐induced osteolysis between individual mice is reduced in the PI3Kγ^−/− mice. These results suggest that PI3Kγ contributes to osteolysis to different degrees in individual mice and that the mice, and patients, that are most susceptible to osteolysis may be so, in part, due to an increased contribution from PI3Kγ. © 2011 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 29:1649–1653, 2011

Background: The arthroscopic double-row transosseous-equivalent (TOE) rotator cuff repair is growing in popularity. The current body of literature supports this technique; however, the number of patients in these studies is relatively small. The authors conducted this study to learn more about the natural history of this construct in a large sample of patients.