Use of Publicly Obtained Data in Sports Medicine Research: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Publicly obtained data (POD) have recently been utilized frequently by sports medicine researchers to describe injury patterns, risk factors, and outcomes in elite athletes. The relative ease of this type of research that is based solely on internet and media sources has resulted in a near exponential increase in the number of these POD studies. PURPOSE: To systematically review the sports medicine literature for studies based solely on POD. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and bibliometric analysis; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: A systematic review of POD studies published since 2000 was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Studies of interest were those relying on publicly available injury reports or online media for data acquisition in collegiate, semiprofessional, and professional athletes. RESULTS: There were 209 POD studies published between 2000 and 2022, with 173 (82.8%) of these studies published after 2016. Studies were published most frequently on athletes participating in North American professional leagues: National Football League (n = 69 [28.4%]), Major League Baseball (n = 56 [23.0%]), National Basketball Association (n = 37 [15.2%]), and National Hockey League (n = 33 [13.6%]). The most common injuries assessed were head injuries/concussions (n = 43 [21.1%]), anterior cruciate ligament injuries (n = 33 [16.2%]), and ulnar collateral ligament injuries (n = 23 [11.3%]). One-quarter of the studies (n = 53 [25.4%]) reported only 1 POD source, and 1 study (0.5%) reported no source. Additionally, 65 studies (31.1%) listed nonspecific POD resources or solely cited previous literature to describe the POD search methodology and data acquisition. CONCLUSION: POD studies are exponentially increasing in number, particularly across major North American professional sports leagues, with significant variability in the injury of interest, search methodology, and number of data sources. The accuracy of the conclusions reached based on the POD methodology appears highly variable. Given the potential impact of these publications as both contributors to current knowledge and drivers of future research, the sports medicine community should be aware of the inherent biases and limitations of POD injury studies.

Team Approach: Hip Preservation Surgery.

The evaluation and treatment of adolescents and young adults with hip pain has seen tremendous growth over the past 20 years. Labral tears are well established as a common cause of hip pain but often occur because of underlying bony abnormalities. Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and acetabular dysplasia are now well-established causes of hip osteoarthritis and are increasingly treated in the prearthritic stage in hopes of improving symptoms and prolonging the longevity of the native hip. Beyond FAI and acetabular dysplasia, this patient population can present with a complex and variable group of underlying conditions that need to be taken into account. Expertise in the conservative management of this population, including physical therapy, is valuable to maximize the success. Preoperative, surgical, and postoperative decision-making and care in this population is complex and evolving. A comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to the care of this patient population has been used for over 20 years by our institution with great success. The purpose of this article is to review the "team-based approach" necessary for successful management of the spectrum of adolescent and young adult hip disorders.

The adjunct use of descending neurogenic-evoked potentials when transcranial motor-evoked potentials degrade into warning criteria in pediatric spinal deformity surgery: minimizing false-positive events.

PURPOSE: This studies objective was to evaluate the utility of descending neurogenic-evoked potentials (DNEPs) in the setting of transcranial motor-evoked potentials (TCeMEPs) degradation into warning criteria during pediatric spinal deformity surgery. METHODS: An institutional spinal cord monitoring database was queried to identify all primary and revision pediatric spinal deformity cases, < / = 21 years of age performed from 1/2006 to 12/2021, in which TCeMEPs were the primary motor tract assessment modality which degraded into warning criteria, with subsequent initiation of adjunct DNEPs. RESULTS: Fourteen surgical cases (0.42%; 3351 total cases) in fourteen patients met inclusion criteria. Mean age was 13.2 years (7.5-21.3). DIAGNOSES: syndromic (n = 7), kyphosis (n = 3), congenital (n = 2), and idiopathic (n = 2). Three-column osteotomies (3CO)were done in eight patients. TCeMEPs degraded into warning criteria during screw placement (n = 7), 3CO performance/closure (n = 4), or deformity correction (n = 3). DNEPs were present in all cases of warning-criteria TCeMEPs and one case had degradation of DNEPs. Intraoperative Stagnara wake-up tests were performed in only 2/14 cases, with one transient new neurologic deficit (NND). In this specific scenario, DNEPs sensitivity was 50%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value 100%, and negative predictive value 92% to detect aNND. CONCLUSION: DNEPs were useful in assessing spinal cord function in the setting of TCeMEP data degradation in complex pediatric deformity surgeries. DNEPs demonstrated a higher specificity and positive predictive value in this clinical setting than TCeMEPs when assessing long-term neurologic function after surgery. Based on this small cohort, DNEPs appear to be a useful adjunct modality to TCeMEPs, in this challenging clinical scenario.

Pediatric Open Long-Bone Fracture and Subsequent Deep Infection Risk: The Importance of Early Hospital Care.

The purpose of the current study was to identify risk factors for deep infection after an open long-bone fracture in pediatric patients. Systematic billing queries were utilized to identify pediatric patients who presented to a level I trauma center from 1998 to 2019 with open long-bone fractures. There were 303 open long-bone fractures, and 24 (7.9%) of these became infected. Fractures of the tibia/fibula (p = 0.022), higher revised Gustilo-Anderson type (p = 0.017), and a longer duration of time between the injury and hospital presentation (p = 0.008) were all associated with the presence of deep infection. Those who went on to have a deep infection also required more operative debridements (p = 0.022) and a total number of operative procedures (p = 0.026). The only factor that remained significant in multivariable regression was the duration between the injury and hospital presentation (OR 1.01 [95%CI 1.003-1.017]; p = 0.009), where the odds of deep infection increased by 1% for every minute of delayed presentation.