Arthroscopy for Knee Osteoarthritis Has Not Decreased After a Clinical Trial.

Background: Multiple clinical trials have shown that arthroscopy for knee osteoarthritis is not efficacious. It is unclear how these studies have affected orthopaedic practice in the USA.

Questions/purposes: We questioned whether, in the Veterans Health Administration system, rates of knee arthroscopy in patients with osteoarthritis have changed after publication of the initial clinical trial by Moseley et al.

Rotational references for total knee arthroplasty tibial components change with level of resection.

Background: Various landmarks can guide tibial component rotational alignment in routine TKA, but with the deeper tibial resection levels common in complex primary and revision TKAs, it is unknown whether these landmarks remain reliable.

Questions/purposes: We asked whether three techniques for determining tibial component rotation based on local anatomic landmarks are reliable deeper tibial resection levels.

Patients And Methods: The femoral transepicondylar axis was identified by three independent reviewers on MR images of knees from 24 men and 24 women and transposed at a traditional tibial resection level and at the level of the proximal, middle, and distal parts of the proximal tibiofibular joint.

Patients' abstinence status affects the benefits of 12-step self-help group participation on substance use disorder outcomes.

Background: Studies measuring the effectiveness of 12-step self-help group attendance have yielded mixed results but none of the prior studies have accounted for the potential impact of interim abstinence status.

Methods: Participants were 1683 patients with substance use disorders (SUD) from 88 community residential facilities. Self-report data were collected at baseline and 1- and 4-year follow-ups, and included measures of SUD severity, social resources, coping, and 12-step self-help group attendance.

The asthma trigger inventory: validation of a questionnaire for perceived triggers of asthma.

Background: Asthma patients' perceptions of triggers have been explored in a largely unstructured fashion in the past. We therefore developed and validated a questionnaire of commonly perceived asthma triggers.

Methods: Two hundred forty-seven primary care patients with asthma filled in an asthma trigger survey together with questionnaires on demographics, asthma-relevant information, perceived control of asthma, and general health status.

Predictors of outcome for patients with substance-use disorders five years after treatment dropout.

Objective: Few studies focus on the outcome of patients after they drop out of substance-use disorder (SUD) treatment, and there appear to be no prior studies of the long-term outcomes of these patients. The aim of this study is to determine how well such patients do after dropping out of treatment and to identify predictors of differential outcomes.

Method: Patients in 15 residential SUD treatment programs were assessed at treatment entry and at 5-year follow-up on their frequency and severity of substance use, expectancies and beliefs about substance use, and social resources and stressors.