ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Anterior knee pain commonly affects young women resulting in the declination of the quality of life. One of the possible pathologies causing this symptom is chondromalacia patellae (CMP). Although CMP is used to describe the softening of patellar articular cartilage, it remains a general descriptive term as it cannot be associated with a specific pathophysiologic mechanism. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of injectable PRP on patients with anterior knee pain in absence of altered patellofemoral joint anatomy. METHODS: For this purpose, 43 patients of the affected population were recruited to participate in this non-randomized controlled trial, 28 patients in the injection group and 15 in the only-physiotherapy group. While patients in the experimental group received three PRP injections and one injection of hyaluronic acid (HA), comparators received the standard physical therapy regimen. The treatment choice was based on patients own decree. Patients between the ages of 18 to 50 years with anterior knee pain and positive Clarke´s sign were eligible for inclusion. Patients with evident anatomical abnormalities, chronic conditions affecting the knee and severe symptoms such as blocking, were excluded from the study. Patient related measures (PROMS) in the form of the VAS and the Kujala scores were the main outcome of interest. All outcomes were measured at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months after the treatment. RESULTS: Although an improvement was seen in both groups, a statistically significant difference favoring the injection of PRP over the physiotherapy-only group was observed (p < 0.001). The superiority of the therapeutic modality under investigation was observed at 3 and 6 months after the initial diagnosis was made. Furthermore, the results of this study revealed a significant improvement at 3 and 6 months when compared to baseline measures. The analysis of the patients age showed a negative correlation when baseline values were compared to measures at 3 and 6 months, meaning younger patients had more benefit from the treatment. DISCUSSION: The main results of this study affirm the positive effects of PRP and HA for the treatment of anterior knee pain described by previous research and the subsequent improvement of the quality of life. Relatively little information was found in the literature search regarding the therapeutic effects of PRP on anterior knee pain and chondropathies. While a previous radiologic study found no evidence regarding the effect of PRP, this study found a benefit when comparing PROMs between patient groups.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As large language models (LLMs) are becoming increasingly integrated into different aspects of health care, questions about the implications for medical academic literature have begun to emerge. Key aspects such as authenticity in academic writing are at stake with artificial intelligence (AI) generating highly linguistically accurate and grammatically sound texts. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to compare human-written with AI-generated scientific literature in orthopedics and sports medicine. METHODS: Five original abstracts were selected from the PubMed database. These abstracts were subsequently rewritten with the assistance of 2 LLMs with different degrees of proficiency. Subsequently, researchers with varying degrees of expertise and with different areas of specialization were asked to rank the abstracts according to linguistic and methodological parameters. Finally, researchers had to classify the articles as AI generated or human written. RESULTS: Neither the researchers nor the AI-detection software could successfully identify the AI-generated texts. Furthermore, the criteria previously suggested in the literature did not correlate with whether the researchers deemed a text to be AI generated or whether they judged the article correctly based on these parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The primary finding of this study was that researchers were unable to distinguish between LLM-generated and human-written texts. However, due to the small sample size, it is not possible to generalize the results of this study. As is the case with any tool used in academic research, the potential to cause harm can be mitigated by relying on the transparency and integrity of the researchers. With scientific integrity at stake, further research with a similar study design should be conducted to determine the magnitude of this issue.
ABSTRACT
To determine patients' knowledge about ionising radiation used in diagnostic imaging and whether they were adequately informed about the procedure they were referred to. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University Hospital Merkur, Zagreb, Croatia during 2019-20. A questionnaire with 14 questions was given to patients in waiting rooms for imaging examinations. Statistical analysis was conducted using the standard software package. Chi-square with Yates correction was used to determine differences in patients' answers between those who received the explanation about the procedure and those who did not. The differences depending on the educational level were also evaluated. The survey was completed by 374 participants (200 women, 174 men) with a mean age of 55.45 ± 15.92 y. Of all patients, 8.63% had no formal education or only finished elementary school, 52.83% had finished high school and 38.55% had a college or a higher degree. The referring physicians informed 63.66% of participants about the radiological exam they were being referred to, and 226 thought that the given explanation was sufficient. Most patients knew that some radiological procedures use ionising radiation. Only 47.37% of respondents correctly identified MRI as a non-ionising method, whereas 37.40% of participants recognised chest X-ray as the modality with the lowest radiation dose. Higher-educated patients had better knowledge of radiological procedures and the potential risks. The study demonstrated suboptimal patients' knowledge about ionising radiation, and additional efforts in their education are needed.
