Surgeon Performance as a Predictor for Patient-Reported Outcomes After Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy.

Background: Surgeon performance has been investigated as a factor affecting patient outcomes after orthopaedic procedures to improve transparency between patients and providers.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to identify whether surgeon performance influenced patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) 1 year after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference in PROMs between patients who underwent APM from various surgeons.

Evaluation of Health Care Disparities in Patients With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: Does Race and Insurance Matter?

Background: It is unknown whether race- or insurance-based disparities in health care exist regarding baseline knee pain, knee function, complete meniscal tear, or articular cartilage damage in patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Hypothesis: Black patients and patients with Medicaid evaluated for ACLR would have worse baseline knee pain, worse knee function, and greater odds of having a complete meniscal tear.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Failure Rate and Clinical Outcomes of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Autograft Hamstring Versus a Hybrid Graft.

Purpose: To compare the revision rate and subjective outcome measures of autograft hamstring versus a soft tissue hybrid graft combining both autograft hamstring and tibialis allograft for isolated anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

Methods: A single-center retrospective, nonrandomized, comparative study of isolated ACL reconstruction revision rates for subjects who underwent arthroscopic reconstruction of the ACL using autograft hamstring or a soft tissue hybrid graft using both autograft hamstring and tibialis allograft was performed. Patients with isolated ACL tears were included and underwent anatomic single-bundle reconstruction using an independent tunnel drilling technique and a minimum of 24 months' follow-up.

Hybrid Graft Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Predictable Graft for Knee Stabilization.

Trauma to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a season-ending injury and involves months of activity modification and rehabilitation. The annual incidence of ACL tears in the United States is approximately 200,000, which allows for a broad range of individualized treatment options. Various surgical techniques, including transtibial and independent tunnel drilling, allograft and autograft tissue, and various implants, have been described in the literature.

Biomechanical analysis of posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with aperture femoral fixation.

The goal of this study was to determine whether single-tunnel-double-bundle-equivalent posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction using an aperture femoral fixation device better replicated normal knee kinematics than single-bundle reconstruction. Eight fresh-frozen human cadaver knees underwent arthroscopically assisted PCL reconstruction and were examined with a robotic testing system to assess knee joint kinematics under combinations of applied internal, neutral, and external rotational tibial torque and anteroposterior translational forces at 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and 120° flexion. Three conditions were tested: (1) intact PCL; (2) single-tunnel PCL reconstruction with anterolateral and posteromedial bundle fixation at 90°/90° (single bundle); and (3) 90°/0° (double-bundle equivalent), respectively.

Mouse growth and differentiation factor-5 protein and DNA therapy potentiates intervertebral disc cell aggregation and chondrogenic gene expression.

Background Context: Growth and differentiation factor-5 (GDF-5)-deficient mice showed abnormalities in intervertebral disc (IVD) structure and extracellular matrix. Adenovirus-mediated GDF-5 delivery can promote the growth of rabbit disc cells.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of recombinant GDF-5 protein and GDF-5 complementary DNA (cDNA) on the metabolism of IVD cells.

An adenosine A2A receptor agonist reduces interleukin-8 expression and glycosaminoglycan loss following septic arthrosis.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an adenosine A(2A) receptor agonist (ATL146e) might augment the current treatment regimen of antibiotics plus irrigation and debridement to prevent the arthritic effects associated with joint sepsis. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were injected into knees of rabbits, which were divided into 4 treatment groups (12 rabbits per group): no treatment, ATL146e only, antibiotics only, or antibiotics plus ATL146e. Analysis at days 1, 3, and 7 consisted of gross joint appearance, synovial fluid, serum, histologic, immunohistochemical, and biochemical analysis.

Collagen and proteoglycan abnormalities in the GDF-5-deficient mice and molecular changes when treating disk cells with recombinant growth factor.

Study Design: A magnetic resonance image, histologic, biochemical, and gene expression study was conducted to characterize the effects of growth and development factor-5 (GDF-5) deficiency on the health of the intervertebral disc.

Objective: To determine the effect of GDF-5 deficiency on extracellular matrix and gene expression on the intervertebral disc.

Summary Of Background Data: Developmental and degenerative changes in intervertebral disc are not fully understood.

Split-line pattern and histologic analysis of a human osteochondral plug graft.

The split-line pattern of collagen fibers in articular cartilage is oriented according to weight-bearing stresses. The importance of aligning the split-line pattern of articular cartilage in human osteochondral plug grafts relative to the surrounding cartilage has been proposed but not evaluated clinically. The purpose of this case report is to compare the articular split-line pattern with the histologic analysis of a specimen obtained from a patient who underwent an osteochondral plug transfer procedure with subsequent conversion to joint arthroplasty.

In vivo bioluminescent imaging of virus-mediated gene transfer and transduced cell transplantation in the intervertebral disc.

Study Design: Work presented here used a small animal model to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of in vivo bioluminescent imaging to studying degenerative disc disease.

Objectives: To determine the utility of in vivo bioluminescent imaging to monitor the temporal and spatial expression of genetically modified cells within the intervertebral disc of a rodent model.

Summary Of The Background Data: Noninvasive imaging of genetically engineered cells in the spine has the advantage of allowing events to be tracked without killing the animal and can be used to follow the time course of a particular therapy.

Reducing joint destruction due to septic arthrosis using an adenosine2A receptor agonist.

We assessed the efficacy of a new adenosine A2A agonist ATL146e, a potent inhibitor of white blood cell chemotaxis, to reduce cartilage damage in the treatment of septic arthrosis. A live septic arthrosis model was created using Staphylococcus aureus in rabbit knees. Animals were divided into five treatment groups: (1) untreated infected control, (2) antibiotics control, and antibiotics plus ATL146e for (3) 24, (4) 48, or (5) 72 h and assessed at 1, 4, and 7 days.