Factors Associated With Higher Utilization of Outpatient Physical Therapy for Patients Who Have Undergone Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Research has identified predictive factors for inpatient complications and short-term recovery following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA). Predictors that may influence length of care in outpatient physical therapy (PT) have yet to be examined. Doing so may improve the quality and efficiency of PT care following TKA and THA. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with a higher utilization of outpatient PT visits for patients who have had primary THA or TKA. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using a population of 5147 patients who underwent THA and TKA between January 2017 and October 2022. Demographic and clinical factors were analyzed to determine which factors influenced PT utilization. Results: Our multivariable linear regression model revealed that female sex, need for inpatient PT visits, and TKA as opposed to THA were significantly associated with an increase in outpatient PT visits. Older age, number of telerehabilitation visits, and history of depression were associated with fewer outpatient PT visits while accounting for all other variables. Conclusions: The results of this retrospective analysis may help to identify some potential factors including TKA vs THA, patient age, and a history of depression that can be evaluated prospectively in future studies to determine whether they predict subsequent outpatient PT utilization.

Reusable electrochemical cell for rapid separation of [¹8F]fluoride from [¹8O]water for flow-through synthesis of ¹8F-labeled tracers.

A brass-platinum electrochemical micro-flow cell was developed to extract [(18)F]fluoride from an aqueous solution and release it into an organic-based solution, suitable for subsequent radio-synthesis, in a fast and reliable manner. This cell does not suffer electrode erosion and is thus reusable while operating faster by enabling increased voltages. By optimizing temperature, trapping and release potentials, flow rates, and electrode materials, an overall [(18)F]fluoride trapping and release efficiency of 84 ± 5% (n=7) was achieved. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyze electrode surfaces of various metal-metal systems and the findings were correlated with the performance of the electrochemical cell. To demonstrate the reactivity of the released [(18)F]fluoride, the cell was coupled to a flow-through reactor and automated synthesis of [(18)F]FDG with a repeatable decay-corrected yield of 56 ± 4% (n=4) was completed in < 15 min. A multi-human dose of 5.92GBq [(18)F]FDG was also demonstrated.