RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) is an increasingly popular treatment modality for glenohumeral joint arthritis in association with rotator cuff arthropathy. A prolonged hospital stay following joint arthroplasty risks increased complications for patients plus financial implications for institutions. We hypothesized that RSA could be safely and effectively carried out as an outpatient procedure with reduced risks to patients and institutional costs. METHODS: Patients attending our institution for RSA during March 2015 to August 2018 were reviewed preoperatively for consideration for RSA as an outpatient procedure. The inclusion criteria were arthritis of the shoulder having failed conservative management, age older than 50 years, and intact deltoid muscle function. Patients were excluded if they underwent RSA for trauma or for revision following previous total shoulder replacement or hemiarthroplasty. Overall health, social circumstances, and individual wishes were considered. RESULTS: A total of 21 patients underwent RSA as an outpatient procedure. The mean age was 74 years (range, 59-84 years). There were 8 male and 13 female patients. No overnight stays were required in patients in whom outpatient surgery was planned. The Oxford Shoulder Score increased from a mean of 16 (range, 4-30) preoperatively to a mean of 31 (range, 7-35) at 6 months postoperatively; it was a mean of 36 (range, 7-48) at 12 months postoperatively. Of the patients, 88% were "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the service and 81% would undergo the surgical procedure again as a day-case procedure. CONCLUSION: RSA as an outpatient procedure can be carried out effectively with high patient satisfaction rates in carefully selected patients.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: While the benefits of regional analgesia (RA) for preoperative pain relief in hip fracture (HF) in elderly patients are well recognised, this service is yet to be established in many UK emergency departments (EDs). We set out to discover how widely RA is adopted in the UK EDs. METHODS: In April-July 2010, we conducted a postal survey of 218 UK EDs, followed up with fax reminders for non-respondents. RESULTS: A total of 147/218 (67%) EDs completed the survey. Sixty five (44%) respondents reported use of RA blocks for HF. The commonest stated reasons for not using RA were lack of trained staff (36%) or appropriate equipment (22%). RA users practiced femoral nerve block most widely (60% of EDs) followed by fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) (22%). DISCUSSION: It is more a lack of trained staff and suitable equipment that prevents RA blocks being widely adopted in the UK. We advocate FICB in HF patients, which is an easy landmark-based block that can be safely performed by ED doctors. Our survey initiated multidisciplinary consultation and development of a protocol for preoperative FICB in HFs in our teaching hospital ED. CONCLUSIONS: RA for HFs is not widely used in UK EDs, proving that there is room for improvement .The finding that RA blocks are performed by the ED medical staff in 84% of the responding EDs practising RA was reassuring for developing the service in our hospital. FICB should be considered as an alternative to parenteral analgesia in adult patients with HF.
