Publications by authors named "Catherine Curtin"

Objectives: To investigate the barriers and facilitators to rehabilitation experienced by individuals with cervical SCI after upper limb (UL) reconstructive surgery.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study with a follow-up period of up to 24 months. Data collection occurred at two academic and two Veterans Affairs medical centers in the United States.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Large language models (LLMs) show potential for automated fall detection by analyzing unstructured data from clinical notes, leading to promising results in two healthcare systems.
  • * The Mixtral-8×7B zero-shot model performed best, achieving high positive predictive value and recall in both Stanford Health Care and the Veterans Health Administration, paving the way for future LLM applications in fall prediction and prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Predictive models show promise in healthcare, but their successful deployment is challenging due to limited generalizability. Current external validation often focuses on model performance with restricted feature use from the original training data, lacking insights into their suitability at external sites. Our study introduces an innovative methodology for evaluating features during both the development phase and the validation, focusing on creating and validating predictive models for post-surgery patient outcomes with improved generalizability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Nerve transfer (NT) and tendon transfer (TT) surgeries can significantly improve hand function and independence for those with cervical spinal cord injuries, but caregivers face their own challenges in the process.
  • A study explored the experiences of these caregivers, focusing on their daily activities, mental health, and feelings of burden before and after their loved ones underwent surgery.
  • Results showed that while surgeries offered hope, caregivers felt an increased burden post-surgery, especially after TT, and highlighted the need for healthcare providers to better support caregivers throughout the surgical and recovery process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Injury to saphenous nerve branches is frequent during knee surgery and can result in chronic pain. This saphenous neuralgia remains challenging to treat. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is a new potential non-pharmacologic treatment option.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Opioids are commonly prescribed for postoperative pain, but may lead to prolonged use and addiction. Diabetes impairs nerve function, complicates pain management, and makes opioid prescribing particularly challenging.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included a cohort of postoperative patients from a multisite academic health system to assess the relationship between diabetes, pain, and prolonged opioid use (POU), 2008-2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Treatment of surgical pain is a common reason for opioid prescriptions. Being able to predict which patients are at risk for opioid abuse, dependence, and overdose (opioid-related adverse outcomes [OR-AE]) could help physicians make safer prescription decisions. We aimed to develop a machine-learning algorithm to predict the risk of OR-AE following surgery using Medicaid data with external validation across states.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The start of Stanford's brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) experience dates back to 1983, when Dr. Vincent Rod Hentz visited Dr. Alain Gilbert on sabbatical.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: In-hospital falls are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has designated fall prevention as a major focus area. The objective of this report is to assess the performance of a new sensor-enabled wearable system to prevent patient falls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Neuroma-induced neuropathic pain is associated with loss of function and reduced quality of life. No consistently effective standard-of-care treatment has been defined. Neurocap, a bioresorbable nerve capping device, has been designed to isolate the nerve stump from surrounding tissues to reduce development of symptomatic end-neuromas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Learning Objectives: After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Understand the anatomy of the median and ulnar nerves. 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology with the potential to enhance patient care by reducing pain and anxiety for a variety of medical procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate an immersive VR program as a nonpharmacologic intervention to reduce anxiety and increase satisfaction in patients undergoing wide-awake, local-only hand surgery. The secondary aim was to assess providers' experience with the program.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Procedure rooms (PRs) are increasingly used for hand surgeries, but few studies have directly compared surgical site infection (SSI) rates between the PR and operating room. We tested the hypothesis that procedure setting is not associated with an increased SSI incidence in the VA population.

Methods: We identified carpal tunnel, trigger finger, and first dorsal compartment releases performed at our VA institution from 1999 to 2021 of which 717 were performed in the main operating room and 2,000 were performed in the PR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: This study assessed whether adding trigger finger or carpal tunnel release at the time of thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroplasty would increase postoperative opioid use, readmissions, complications, or development of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Methods: Using the IBM MarketScan Research Databases from 2012 through 2016, the authors identified two CMC arthroplasty groups. The CMC-only group only had a CMC arthroplasty on the day of operation; the multiple-procedures group had a CMC arthroplasty and concurrent carpal tunnel or trigger finger release.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The minor procedure room (MPR) offers numerous advantages over the traditional operating room for performing many common hand surgeries. MPRs require less space, are subject to more practical architectural design standards, and facilitate more judicious use of disposable materials and unnecessary instruments than common hand surgeries. MPRs reduce costs to the system and patient at every step of the surgical workflow and improve efficiency by removing preoperative and postoperative monitoring requirements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Opiates used for acute pain are an established risk factor for chronic opioid use (COU). Patient characteristics contribute to progression from acute opioid use to COU, but most are not clinically modifiable. To develop and validate machine-learning algorithms that use claims data to predict progression from acute to COU in the Medicaid population, Adult opioid naïve Medicaid patients from 6 anonymized states who received an opioid prescription between 2015 and 2019 were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Compression of the peroneal nerve is recognized as a common cause of falls. The superficial course of the peroneal nerve exposes it to trauma and pressure from common activities such as crossing of legs. The nerve can be exposed also to distress due to metabolic problems such as diabetes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The internet is an important information source for hand surgery fellowship applicants. A previous analysis of hand fellowship websites in 2014 demonstrated they were often inaccessible and incomplete. Given the increased importance of virtual information, we performed an updated assessment of the accessibility and content of hand fellowship program websites.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is a known adverse event following upper-limb surgery performed under brachial plexus regional anesthesia (RA). When PNI is noted after surgery, patients and providers often have questions about which factors might have contributed to this complication. This systematic review evaluates the literature on hand and shoulder surgeries performed under ultrasound-guided, plexus RA to identify factors potentially associated with PNI, including the surgery location and block type.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: People with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) identify improving upper extremity (UE) function as a top priority. In addition to comprehensive rehabilitation, UE surgeries, including nerve and tendon transfers, enhance function. However, barriers exist to disseminating information about surgical options to enhance UE function.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF