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ACL and meniscal injuries increase the risk of primary total knee replacement for osteoarthritis: a matched case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

18 September 2018

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate whether ACL injury (ACLi) or meniscal injury increases the risk of end-stage osteoarthritis (OA) resulting in total knee replacement (TKR). METHODS: A matched case-control study of all TKRs performed in the UK between January 1990 and July 2011 and recorded in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) was undertaken. The CPRD contains longitudinal data on approximately 3.6 million patients. Two controls were selected for each case of TKR, matched on age, sex and general practitioner location as a proxy for socioeconomic status. Individuals with inflammatory arthritis were excluded. The odds of having TKR for individuals with a CPRD-recorded ACLi were compared with those without ACLi using conditional logistic regression, after adjustment for body mass index, previous knee fracture and meniscal injury. The adjusted odds of TKR in individuals with a recorded meniscal injury compared with those without were calculated. RESULTS: After exclusion of individuals with inflammatory arthritis, there were 49 723 in the case group and 104 353 controls. 153 (0.31%) cases had a history of ACLi compared with 41 (0.04%) controls. The adjusted OR of TKR after ACLi was 6.96 (95% CI 4.73 to 10.31). 4217 (8.48%) individuals in the TKR group had a recorded meniscal injury compared with 669 (0.64%) controls. The adjusted OR of TKR after meniscal injury was 15.24 (95% CI 13.88 to 16.69). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that ACLi is associated with a sevenfold increased odds of TKR resulting from OA. Meniscal injury is associated with a 15-fold increase odds of TKR for OA.

Total or Partial Knee Arthroplasty Trial - TOPKAT: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

18 September 2018

BACKGROUND: In the majority of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee the disease originates in the medial compartment. There are two fundamentally different approaches to knee replacement for patients with unicompartmental disease: some surgeons feel that it is always best to replace both the knee compartments with a total knee replacement (TKR); whereas others feel it is best to replace just the damaged component of the knee using a partial or unicompartment replacement (UKR). Both interventions are established and well-documented procedures. Little evidence exists to prove the clinical and cost-effectiveness of either management option. This provides an explanation for the high variation in treatment of choice by individual surgeons for the same knee pathology.The aim of the TOPKAT study will be to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of TKRs compared to UKRs in patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis. METHODS/DESIGN: The design of the study is a single layer multicentre superiority type randomised controlled trial of unilateral knee replacement patients. Blinding will not be possible as the surgical scars for each procedure differ.We aim to recruit 500 patients from approximately 28 secondary care orthopaedic units from across the UK including district general and teaching hospitals. Participants will be randomised to either UKR or TKR. Randomisation will occur using a web-based randomisation system. The study is pragmatic in terms of implant selection for the knee replacement operation. Participants will be followed up for 5 years. The primary outcome is the Oxford Knee Score, which will be collected via questionnaires at 2 months, 1 year and then annually to 5 years. Secondary outcomes will include cost-effectiveness, patient satisfaction and complications data. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN03013488; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01352247.

Pain in knee osteoarthritis is associated with variation in the neurokinin 1/substance P receptor (TACR1) gene

18 September 2018

Behavioural physical activity interventions in participants with lower-limb osteoarthritis: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

18 September 2018

OBJECTIVE: To assess effectiveness of osteoarthritis interventions to promote long-term physical activity behaviour change. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Protocol registration PROSPERO CRD4201300444 5 (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/). STUDY SELECTION: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing physical activity interventions with placebo, no/or minimal intervention in community-dwelling adults with symptomatic knee or hip osteoarthritis. Primary outcomes were change in physical activity or cardiopulmonary fitness after a minimum follow-up of 6 months. DATA EXTRACTION: Outcomes were measures of physical activity (self-reported and objectively measured) and cardiovascular fitness. Standard mean differences between postintervention values were used to describe the effect sizes. RESULTS: 27,984 titles were screened and 180 papers reviewed in full. Eleven RCTs satisfied inclusion criteria, total study population of 2741 participants, mean age 62.2. The commonest reasons for study exclusion were follow-up less than 6 months and no physical activity measures. The majority of included interventions implement an arthritis self-management programme targeting coping skills and self-efficacy. Seven studies used self-report measures, the pooled effect of these studies was small with significant heterogeneity between studies (SMD 0.22 with 95% CI -0.11 to 0.56, z=1.30 (p=0.19) I(2) statistic of 85%). Subgroup analysis of 6-12 month outcome reduced heterogeneity and increased intervention effect compared to control (SMD 0.53, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.65, z=8.84 (p<0.00001) I(2) of 66%). CONCLUSIONS: Arthritis self-management programmes achieve a small but significant improvement in physical activity in the short term. Effectiveness of intervention declines with extended follow-up beyond 12 months with no significant benefit compared to control. The small number of studies (11 RCTs) limited ability to define effective delivery methods. Investigation of behavioural lifestyle interventions for lower limb osteoarthritis populations would benefit from consensus on methodology and outcome reporting. This includes use of validated physical activity reporting tools and planning for long-term follow-up.

Associations between preoperative Oxford hip and knee scores and costs and quality of life of patients undergoing primary total joint replacement in the NHS England: an observational study.

18 September 2018

OBJECTIVES: To assess how costs and quality of life (measured by EuroQoL-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D)) before and after total hip replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) vary with age, gender and preoperative Oxford hip score (OHS) and Oxford knee score (OKS). DESIGN: Regression analyses using prospectively collected data from clinical trials, cohort studies and administrative data bases. SETTING: UK secondary care. PARTICIPANTS: Men and women undergoing primary THR or TKR. The Hospital Episode Statistics data linked to patient-reported outcome measures included 602 176 patients undergoing hip or knee replacement who were followed up for up to 6 years. The Knee Arthroplasty Trial included 2217 patients undergoing TKR who were followed up for 12 years. The Clinical Outcomes in Arthroplasty Study cohort included 806 patients undergoing THR and 484 patients undergoing TKR who were observed for 1 year. OUTCOME MEASURES: EQ-5D-3L quality of life before and after surgery, costs of primary arthroplasty, costs of revision arthroplasty and the costs of hospital readmissions and ambulatory costs in the year before and up to 12 years after joint replacement. RESULTS: Average postoperative utility for patients at the 5th percentile of the OHS/OKS distribution was 0.61/0.5 for THR/TKR and 0.89/0.85 for patients at the 95th percentile. The difference between postoperative and preoperative EQ-5D utility was highest for patients with preoperative OHS/OKS lower than 10. However, postoperative EQ-5D utility was higher than preoperative utility for all patients with OHS≤46 and those with OKS≤44. In contrast, costs were generally higher for patients with low preoperative OHS/OKS than those with high OHS/OKS. For example, costs of hospital readmissions within 12 months after primary THR/TKR were £740/£888 for patients at the 5th percentile compared with £314/£404 at the 95th percentile of the OHS/OKS distribution. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that costs and quality of life associated with total joint replacement vary systematically with preoperative symptoms measured by OHS/OKS.

A variant in MCF2L is associated with osteoarthritis.

18 September 2018

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent, heritable degenerative joint disease with a substantial public health impact. We used a 1000-Genomes-Project-based imputation in a genome-wide association scan for osteoarthritis (3177 OA cases and 4894 controls) to detect a previously unidentified risk locus. We discovered a small disease-associated set of variants on chromosome 13. Through large-scale replication, we establish a robust association with SNPs in MCF2L (rs11842874, combined odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.17 [1.11-1.23], p = 2.1 × 10(-8)) across a total of 19,041 OA cases and 24,504 controls of European descent. This risk locus represents the third established signal for OA overall. MCF2L regulates a nerve growth factor (NGF), and treatment with a humanized monoclonal antibody against NGF is associated with reduction in pain and improvement in function for knee OA patients.

Serum Lipid Levels and Risk Of Hand Osteoarthritis: The Chingford Prospective Cohort Study.

18 September 2018

The development of hand osteoarthritis (HOA) could be linked to hyperlipidaemia. No longitudinal studies have addressed the relationship between serum lipid profile and HOA. The study aim was to determine the association between serum lipid profile and the incidence of radiographic hand osteoarthritis (RHOA). All women in a prospective population-based cohort from the Chingford study with available baseline lipid measurements and without RHOA on a baseline were included. Study outcome was the incidence of RHOA in year 11 of follow-up. Serum lipid profile variables were analysed as continuous variables and categorised into quartiles. The association between serum lipid profile and RHOA was modeled using multivariable logistic regression. Overall RHOA incidence was 51.6% (45.7-57.4%). An inverse association between HDL cholesterol levels and the incidence of RHOA was observed by quartile: OR of 0.36 [95%CI 0.17-0.75], 0.52 [95%CI 0.26-1.06], and 0.48 [95%CI 0.22-1.03]. Triglycerides levels showed a significant trend. No relationship was found with total or LDL cholesterol. Higher levels of HDL cholesterol appear to protect against RHOA after 11 years of follow-up. More research is needed to elucidate HOA risk factors, the mechanisms related to the lipid pathway, and the effects of lipid-lowering agents on reducing the incidence of OA.

Quality of life and symptomatic, radiographic knee osteoarthritis anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

18 September 2018

Anesthetic substance abuse: international perspectives and parallels.

3 July 2018

What are we injecting with our drugs?

3 July 2018

In preparation for a case, an anaesthetist opened a 20 ml glass vial of propofol and aspirated the propofol into a syringe via a blunt drawing-up needle. Increased resistance was felt with aspiration. On inspection, a shard of glass was found at the tip of the drawing-up needle. The shard was presumed to be from the propofol ampoule, and to have fallen into the solution upon snapping open its glass tip. This illustrative case raises the issue of contamination of drugs by particles introduced during the drawing-up process. It also highlights the possibility that during the drawing-up process, intravenous drugs may become contaminated not just with particles, but with microorganisms on the surface of the particles. In this article, we discuss relevant recent research of the implications of this type of drug contamination. We draw attention to the need for meticulous care in drawing up and administering intravenous drugs during anaesthesia, particularly propofol.