Publications by authors named "Alexander M Chiaramonti"

Article Synopsis
  • Cigarette smoking negatively impacts the healing process of fractures, specifically delaying healing and increasing the risk of nonunion.
  • The study tested how cigarette smoke affects two types of bone healing (intramembranous vs. endochondral) using rat models with femur fractures treated with different methods.
  • Results showed that fractures treated with compression plating healed faster and more completely than those treated with intramedullary nailing, particularly in smoke-exposed animals, suggesting better surgical outcomes for smokers if compression plating is used.*
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Background: We sought to define "at risk" loading conditions associated with rotating-platform total knee arthroplasty (TKA-RP) implants that predispose to insert subluxation and spinout and to quantify tolerances for flexion-extension gap asymmetry and laxity in order to prevent these adverse events.

Methods: Biomechanical testing was performed on 6 fresh-frozen cadaveric limbs with a TKA-RP implant with use of a gap-balancing technique, followed by sequential femoral component revision with variable-thickness polyethylene inserts to systematically represent 5 flexion-extension mismatch and asymmetry conditions. Each configuration was subjected to mechanical loading at 0°, 30°, and 60°.

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Background: Although use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and low-dose irradiation has demonstrated efficacy in preventing heterotopic ossification (HO) after THA and surgical treatment of acetabular fractures, these modalities have not been assessed after traumatic blast amputations where HO is a common complication that can arise in the residual limb.

Questions/purposes: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of indomethacin and irradiation in preventing HO induced by high-energy blast trauma in a rat model.

Methods: Thirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats underwent hind limb blast amputation with a submerged explosive under water followed by irrigation and primary wound closure.

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Background: External beam irradiation is an accepted treatment for skeletal malignancies. Radiation acts on both cancerous and normal cells and, depending on the balance of these effects, may promote or impair bone healing after pathologic fracture. Previous studies suggest an adverse effect of radiation on endochondral ossification, but the existence of differential effects of radiation on the two distinct bone healing pathways is unknown.

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Background: Adequate irrigation of open musculoskeletal injuries is considered the standard of care to decrease bacterial load and other contaminants. While the benefit of debris removal compared with the risk of further seeding by high-pressure lavage has been studied, the effects of irrigation on muscle have been infrequently reported. Our aim in the present study was to assess relative damage to muscle by pulsatile lavage compared with bulb-syringe irrigation.

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Background: Surgeons and hospitals increasingly face penalty for complications and readmission following total joint arthroplasty; therefore, optimization of modifiable risk factors is paramount. Literature associates low vitamin D with risk of periprosthetic joint infection, and we hypothesized low vitamin D to be predictive of increased rate of complications and readmissions.

Methods: A retrospective review of 126 revision total joint arthroplasty patients between 2010 and 2014 was performed.

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