More than 70 million adults in the United States are impacted by osteoarthritis (OA). Symptomatic articular cartilage loss that progresses to debilitating OA is being diagnosed more frequently and earlier in life, such that a growing number of active patients are faced with life-altering healthcare decisions at increasingly younger ages. Joint replacement surgeries, in the form of various artificial arthroplasties, are reliable operations, especially for older (>65 years), more sedentary patients with end-stage OA, but have major limitations for younger, more active patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe estimation of surgical blood loss is routinely performed during and after surgical procedures and has morbidity and mortality implications related to the risk of under- and over-resuscitation. The strategies for estimating surgical blood loss include visual estimation, the gravimetric method, the colorimetric method, formula-based methods, and other techniques (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Acute fracture-related infections are challenging problems, affecting up to 20% of orthopaedic trauma patients. High recurrence rates, secondary surgeries, and rehospitalizations lead to increased healthcare costs and are major burdens to patients. Bacteriophage therapy offers a potential alternative treatment option to address these challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) over static cold storage in liver transplantation has been shown to reduce posttransplant risks of early allograft dysfunction, primary nonfunction, and ischemic cholangiopathy, and its increasing use has played a role in the expanded utilization of marginal livers. While studies have demonstrated improved clinical outcomes using NMP over static cold storage preservation, real-time intraoperative data reflecting the quality and viability of NMP livers is limited. This retrospective, single-center study compared NMP versus static cold storage livers in first-time recipients of liver transplants through the evaluation of synthetic coagulation function as measured by thromboelastography and conventional coagulation testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this 12-month long, preclinical large animal study using a canine model, we report that engineered osteochondral grafts (comprised of allogeneic chondrocyte-seeded hydrogels with the capacity for sustained release of the corticosteroid dexamethasone [DEX], cultured to functional mechanical properties, and incorporated over porous titanium bases), can successfully repair damaged cartilage. DEX release from within engineered cartilage was hypothesized to improve initial cartilage repair by modulating the local inflammatory environment, which was also associated with suppressed degenerative changes exhibited by menisci and synovium. We note that not all histological and clinical outcomes at an intermediary time point of three months paralleled 12-month outcomes, which emphasizes the importance of studies in valid preclinical models that incorporate clinically relevant follow-up durations.
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