Telehealth Visits have Lower Non-attendance than Traditional Orthopaedic Clinic Visits.

The use of telemedicine has rapidly expanded in the wake of the COVID pandemic, but its effect on patient attendance remains unknown for different clinicians. This study compared traditional in-clinic visits with telehealth visits by retrospectively reviewing all scheduled orthopaedic clinic visits. Results demonstrated lower rates of cancellations in patients scheduled for telehealth visits as compared to in-clinic visits, during the initial COVID pandemic. In general, physicians can expect a lower cancellation rate than non-physician practitioners.

Effects of one-week bilateral cerebellar iTBS on resting-state functional brain network and multi-task attentional performance in healthy individuals: A randomized, sham-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Cerebellar intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) modulates the excitability of the cerebral cortex and may enhance attentional performance. To date, few studies have conducted iTBS on healthy subjects for one week and used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the effect of multiple stimulation sessions on resting-state functional brain networks and the daily stimulation effect on attentional performance. METHODS: 16 healthy subjects participated in a one-week experiment, receiving bilateral cerebellar iTBS or sham stimulation and engaging in multi-task attentional training. The primary measures were the one-week attentional performance and pre- and post-experiment resting-state EEG activities. Amplitude Envelope Correlation (AEC) was used to construct the functional connectivity in the eye-open (EO) and eye-closed (EC) phases. RESULTS: At least three sessions of iTBS were required to enhance multi-task performance significantly, whereas only one or two sessions failed to elicit the improvement. Compared with the control group, iTBS induced significant changes in PSD, AEC functional connectivity, and AEC network properties during the EO phase, while it had little effect during the EC phase. During the EO phase, the network property changes of the iTBS subject were correlated with improved attentional performance. CONCLUSION: The multi-task performance requires multiple stimulations to enhance. iTBS affects the resting-state alpha band brain activities during the EO rather than the EC phase. The AEC network properties may serve as a biomarker to assess the attentional potential of healthy subjects.

What Are the Risk Factors for an Upper Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis After Orthopaedic Irrigation and Debridement and Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Placement?

BACKGROUND: Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) placement is necessary for delivery of intravenous (IV) antibiotics to treat bone and soft tissue infections. Upper extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) after PICC placement is a complication with unknown incidence in the orthopaedic literature. The major objectives of this study are Identifying the rate of upper extremity PICC-associated DVTs after orthopaedic procedures;Which orthopaedic subspecialties are most likely to encounter an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT?What surgeries or medical comorbidities are risk factors for upper extremity PICC-associated DVTs?Does type of DVT chemoprophylaxis decrease the risk of an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT? METHODS: A retrospective review of electronic medical records (EMR) was performed to include all patients undergoing irrigation and debridement (I&D) for treatment of orthopaedic surgery-related infections over a 10-year period. All patients with PICC placement were included for analyses. Age, sex, and medical comorbidities were extracted from the EMR. Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests, Fisher's exact tests, Chi-square tests, and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) tests were used to determine associations with DVT events for those with PICCs based on medical comorbidities, PICC lumen size, team placing the PICC, impact of implant removal, and protective effect of DVT chemoprophylaxis. Significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: Twenty-one of 660 patients (3.18% rate) were found to have an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT. A history of DVT (OR=8.99 [95% CI: 3.39, 49.42]) was significantly associated with an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT. The greatest risk for an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT was intramedullary implant removal (OR=12.43 [95% CI: 3.13, 49.52]). The type of DVT chemoprophylaxis did not significantly affect the likelihood of an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT. CONCLUSION: Intramedullary implant removal and a history of DVT are risk factors for an upper extremity PICC-associated DVT. The results of this study should be of particular interest to surgeons who do not typically give DVT prophylaxis and plan to perform surgery on patients with CHF, a history of a DVT, or plan to manipulate the intramedullary canal.

Responsiveness of routine diagnostic tests for vertebral osteomyelitis may be influenced by the infecting organism.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) becomes increasingly more prevalent as people age, and it is a condition seen frequently by referral center spine surgeons. It can take as long as 6 months for a proper diagnosis to be made. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the most common isolated organism in up to 80% of the affected population. The clinical presentation of vertebral osteomyelitis is typically non specific (back pain), which can make timely diagnosis challenging. Fever is often absent. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell count (WBC) and serum polymorphonuclear leukocyte percentage (PMN%) are traditionally used as first-line tests because of their perceived sensitivity to help diagnose vertebral osteomyelitis. It is not known whether these test values are affected by the infecting organism. PURPOSE: To determine whether individual first-line diagnostics differed based on infecting organism and whether certain organisms are associated with lower lab values. Additionally, this study sought to determine if VO caused by lower virulent (eg, culture-negative and nonpyogenic organisms) could contribute to delays in treatment due to lack of elevated biomarkers. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Single-center retrospective cohort study. PATIENT SAMPLE: We reviewed clinical data of 133 patients (60% male) diagnosed with VO from 2015-2019 in a US Midwest academic hospital. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Primary outcome measures included the maximum temperature upon presentation, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell count (WBC), and percentage neutrophils during the hospital admission. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were adult patients diagnosed with vertebral osteomyelitis who underwent blood culture and/or biopsy prior to treatment. All patients enrolled in the study were diagnosed with VO and confirmed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI findings associated with VO included destruction of endplates, increased signal in vertebral bodies, and the surrounding disc on T2-weighted imaging were confirmed. The patients had laboratory work up and clinical follow up regardless of positive culture or negative culture. The mean peak inflammatory marker levels were compared among organisms with student's t test. Demographics, comorbidities, and CCI were collected and multivariable logistic regression models were used. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to delineate separate, optimal cut offs for CRP, ESR, WBC, and PMN% for patients with culture positive osteomyelitis RESULTS: Patients' average age was 57.0±13.7 years with a mean BMI of 30.5±9.70 kg/m2, and a mean Charleston Comorbidity Index (CCI) of 3.17±2.35. Staphylococcus aureus and antibiotic resistant organisms (MRSA and VRE) demonstrated a higher mean CRP and ESR than culture negative, fungal and TB cases. Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic resistant organisms, and coagulase negative Staphylococcus demonstrated a higher mean WBC than culture negative as well as fungal and TB cases. Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic resistant organisms, coagulase negative Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus species had a higher mean peak PMN%, than culture negative as well as fungal and TB case. Temperature did not correlate with a diagnosis of osteomyelitis. CONCLUSIONS: Serum laboratory markers in the diagnosis of VO appear to be influenced by the infecting organism type. Laboratory values in patients diagnosed with VO with culture negative or non-pyogenic organisms are lower compared to antibiotic resistant and S. aureus organisms. Fever did not correlate with a diagnosis of VO.