ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common idiopathic inflammatory arthritis affecting 0.8 % of the population. It can cause significant hand and wrist damage and dysfunction. Recent advances in anti-rheumatic treatments have the potential to decrease the prevalence of hand deformities in patients with RA. Our aim was to investigate whether there has been a decline over 22-years in the number of hand surgical procedures being undertaken for patients with RA and whether this correlates with the introduction of new anti-rheumatic therapies. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, population-based (Derbyshire) study of all patients with RA who underwent hand surgery at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre from 1990 to 2012. Index procedures included (1) teno-synovectomy and soft tissue procedures, (2) wrist arthrodesis/arthroplasty and (3) finger arthrodesis. RESULTS: A total of 297 procedures were performed in 153 Derbyshire patients with RA over the 22-year period, with mean age at surgery 59 years (range 24-88 years). The female to male ratio was 2.5:1. The overall trend showed a peak in 2004 and a subsequent decline thereafter. This coincides with an increasing tendency by local rheumatologists to introduce earlier and more intensive conventional disease-modifying drugs and biological therapies for more resistant disease. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a decline in the number of hand surgery procedures being performed on patients with RA during our 22-year population-based study. It indicates that medical treatments and strategies have been successful at preventing disease progression.
ABSTRACT
The 2007 review by Visnes and Bahr concluded that athletes with patella tendinopathy should be withdrawn from sport whilst engaging in eccentric exercise (EE) rehabilitation programs. However, deprivation of sport is associated with a number of negative psychological and physiological effects. Withdrawal from sport is therefore a decision that warrants due consideration of the risk/benefit ratio. The aim of this study was to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to warrant withdrawal of athletes from sport during an eccentric exercise rehabilitation program. A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify relevant randomised trials. Data was extracted to determine whether athletes were withdrawn from sport, what evidence was presented to support the chosen strategy and whether this affected the clinical outcome. Seven studies were included. None of these reported high quality evidence to support withdrawal. In addition, three studies were identified in which athletes were not withdrawn from sport and still benefited from EE. This review has demonstrated that there is no high quality evidence to support a strategy of withdrawal from sport in the management of patella tendinopathy.
