An integrated educational and multimodal approach to achieving an opioid-free postoperative course after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

BACKGROUND: In the realm of shoulder surgery, arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (RCR) is one of the most painful procedures and is often associated with higher opioid consumption. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of preoperative and postoperative patient education and multimodal pain management to achieve an opioid-free postoperative recovery after RCR. METHODS: Sixty patients who underwent RCR were divided in 2 groups. All patientsreceived an interscalene nerve block and multimodal pain management. The opioid intervention group (OIG) in addition received preoperative education on expectations of pain, non opioid pain protocols, and alternate therapiesto minimize pain as well as customized postoperative instructions. Patients were compared on pain levels, opioid consumption, and outcomes scores preoperatively and at 48 hours, 2 weeks, and final follow-up. Patient-reported outcomes and opioid usage were compared and analyzed using student's t-tests and logistic regression. RESULTS: At 48 hours, 15% of OIG patients reported use of rescue opioids after surgery compared with 100% of control group patients. Zero percent of OIG patients reported opioid use at 2 weeks compared to 90% of control group patients (P = .0196). Patients in both groups showed significant improvements in all outcome scores (P ≤ .05). At 6 weeks, functional, Constant, and satisfaction outcome scores were all higher in the OIG (P < .05). At last follow-up, there were no significant differences for all patient-reported outcomes between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Application of patient education tools and innovative multimodal pain management protocols successfully eliminates the need for opioids while maintaining excellent patient satisfaction and outcomes.

What do patients think about opioids? a survey of patient perceptions regarding pain control after shoulder surgery.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing need to understand what barriers are present to reduce opioid consumption in orthopedic practice. The purpose of this study was to better understand patient perceptions and understanding of opioid use after shoulder surgery. METHODS: Eighty-five patients who underwent shoulder surgery anonymously completed a 27-question survey adapted from the Maryland Public Opinion Survey on Opioids with additional demographics. The patients were asked about pain expectations after surgery, use of and access to opioids, opioid perceptions, and information provided regarding safe use, storage, and disposal of opioids. RESULTS: When asked about receiving information regarding opioids, only 36% of the patients reported having a conversation with their physician. When asked about appropriate use, 10% agree it is permissible to take more than the recommended dosage of prescription narcotics if they are feeling more pain than usual and 8.5% of the patients reported taking an opioid to get high multiple times in the past year. Furthermore, a majority agreed that opioids may lead to other substance abuse with 76% reporting the risk of harm to be great, and only 55% believing that opioid abuse may lead to overdose or death. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons need to be aware that most patients expect to have significant pain after shoulder surgery and expect to be given necessary and continued amounts of opioids. This highlights the need for better counseling and innovative nonopioid pain management protocols. At the institutional level, more effort needs to be made on providing adequate education and disposal mechanisms to help reduce diversion and misuse.

Concussions in Soccer: An Epidemiological Analysis in the Pediatric Population.

BACKGROUND: As the popularity of youth soccer has increased in the United States, more attention has been focused on the effect of concussion injuries, with recent debate on whether heading should be disallowed. There is little evidence examining the epidemiology of these injuries. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and incidence of youth soccer-related concussions. We hypothesized that concussion rates will correlate with increased participation in youth soccer. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was used to collect data on concussion injuries that occurred during soccer in pediatric patients from 2008 through 2016. Soccer-related concussion injuries were identified using specific codes and were analyzed for variation in disposition. The types of contact were categorized into player-to-player, head-to-ball, player-to-post, and player-to-ground contacts. Contact types related to hospitalization were subanalyzed. RESULTS: A weighted total of 3285 concussion injuries were identified during the study period, with an average of 386 concussions each year. The average age was 13.5 years, and there were no differences seen in incidence between the sexes. The overall incidence of concussion injuries increased (r = 0.789), while hospitalizations decreased (r = -0.574). The most common cause of concussion was found to be player-to-player contact, followed by head-to-ground contact and then head-to-ball contact. Subanalysis showed that 13% of hospitalizations were due to head-to-ball contact, compared with 39% and 44% due to player-to-player contact and head-to-ground contact, respectively. The relative risk of hospitalization from a concussion due to head-to-ball contact was 7.06 compared with 22.60 due to head-to-ground contact. CONCLUSION: The incidence of concussion in youth soccer has been increasing over the past decade as predicted, given the growing participation rates in both male and female soccer players. The most common cause of concussion was player-to-player contact, and the majority of concussions resulting in hospitalization occurred because of head-to-ground contact.

Cov-MS: a community-based template assay for clinical MS-based protein detection in Sars-Cov-2 patients

Rising population density and global mobility are among the reasons why pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread so rapidly across the globe. The policy response to such pandemics will always have to include accurate monitoring of the spread, as this provides one of the few alternatives to total lockdown. However, COVID-19 diagnosis is currently performed almost exclusively by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Although this is efficient, automatable and acceptably cheap, reliance on one type of technology comes with serious caveats, as illustrated by recurring reagent and test shortages. We therefore developed an alternative diagnostic test that detects proteolytically digested SARS-CoV-2 proteins using Mass Spectrometry (MS). We established the Cov-MS consortium, consisting of fifteen academic labs and several industrial partners to increase applicability, accessibility, sensitivity and robustness of this kind of SARS-CoV-2 detection. This in turn gave rise to the Cov-MS Digital Incubator that allows other labs to join the effort, navigate and share their optimizations, and translate the assay into their clinic. As this test relies on viral proteins instead of RNA, it provides an orthogonal and complementary approach to RT-PCR, using other reagents that are relatively inexpensive and widely available, as well as orthogonally skilled personnel and different instruments. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD022550.

Innovative patient education and pain management protocols to achieve opioid-free shoulder arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: The creation of pain as the fifth vital sign led to skyrocketing opioid prescriptions and a crisis with addiction and abuse among Americans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a patient engagement model including education and innovative opioid-free multimodal pain management to achieve an opioid-free recovery after shoulder arthroplasty (SA). METHODS: Fifty patients undergoing SA were divided into 2 groups. In the opioid-free group (OFG), patients received additional preoperative education in combination with an innovative non-opioid multimodal pain management protocol and non-opioid alternatives. Patients were compared regarding pain levels and opioid consumption at 48 hours and at 2 weeks, as well as patient-reported outcome measures, using Student t tests. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in age (average, 69.76 years) (P = .14), American Society of Anesthesiologists grade (average, 2.25) (P = .24), sex, body mass index (average, 29.5) (P = .34), or comorbidity burden. In the OFG, 24% of patients reported use of rescue opioids (<2 pills) within the first 48 hours after surgery with complete cessation by 2 weeks postoperatively. Comparatively, in the control group, 100% of patients reported using opioids in the first 48 hours after surgery and 80% reported still taking opioids at 2 weeks postoperatively. Patients in both groups showed significant improvements in outcome scores (P ≤ .05), with the OFG reporting significantly higher American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons pain (P = .036) and Constant (P = .005) scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support complete elimination of opioid use by 2 weeks after SA using a patient engagement model with non-opioid-based alternative pain management. The elimination of opioid pain management did not diminish outcomes or patient satisfaction after SA.