Perceived complexity of total hip arthroplasty: results of a survey of orthopedic surgeons.

OBJECTIVE: No analysis of the perception of the complexity of total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been performed so far. This study aimed to evaluate the perceived complexity of the disorders faced by orthopedic surgeons in the evaluation process prior to THA. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A three-part online survey was administered to orthopedic surgeons. In the first part, the participants were asked questions about demographic and academic knowledge, as well as their experiences with THA. In the second part, it was asked to rate the complexity of certain disorders, such as soft tissue abnormalities, ankylosis/arthrodesis, dysplastic hip, high dislocated hip, post-traumatic arthrosis, protrusio acetabuli, etc., on a scale of one to five. Perceived complexity was classified as mild if the calculated mean score was <1.67, moderate if it was between 1.67 and 3.34, and complex if it was >3.34. In the last section, the effects of perceived complexity on surgical preferences were investigated. RESULTS: THA administered for femoral neck fracture was graded as the least complex surgical challenge (mean score of 1.85±0.99), while high dislocated hip (Crowe III-IV) was scored with the highest mean score of 4.10±0.99. None of the disorders were evaluated as easy by orthopedic surgeons. Disorders of the high dislocated hip (Crowe III-IV) and protrusio acetabuli were identified as the most complicated cases by surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: Perception of complexity affected preference for surgical approach. Besides, the level of education after participating in a course related to THA may affect the preferences of orthopedic surgeons when planning an operation.

Irritable temperament profile prevails among patients with boxer fractures.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this prospective study was to examine the temperament dimensions of the patients with boxer fracture and compare them with age- and sex-matched controls. METHODS: We performed a prospective analysis investigating affective temperaments of the 102 patients with boxer fractures and compared them with 100 sex- and age-matched controls that were referred to the emergency department due to incidental soft-tissue trauma. Affective temperament of the patients was evaluated by Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-Auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A). Both incidences of dominant affective temperaments of boxer fracture cases with previously validated normal Turkish population and controls and differences between mean values of temperament scores were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients with boxer fractures was 25.6 (range 17-47) and 27.7 years (range 17-49) for controls. We found that dominant irritable temperament (n = 10; 9.7%) had significantly higher incidence from both control group and normal Turkish population (p < 0.001). In addition, there was significant difference between anxious temperament scores of two groups (p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: The understanding of mood of patients with boxer fractures will help us to enhance treatment plan and may prevent further intentional injuries by providing an insight into better controlling physical health of the patients.