Publications by authors named "Claudette Lajam"

Background: Jehovah's Witness patients refuse blood transfusion because of their religious beliefs making total hip arthroplasty (THA) challenging. This study aims to determine the safety of THA in Jehovah's Witness patients using standard perioperative protocols as well as evaluate the effectiveness of tranexamic acid (TXA) in controlling blood loss.

Methods: Databases from two tertiary academic centers were queried from 2003 to 2021 to identify THA patients.

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Background: Recent literature suggests a trend toward a higher comorbidity burden in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, the impact of increased comorbidities on the cost-effectiveness of TKA is underexplored. This study aimed to compare the financial implications and perioperative outcomes of patients with and without a high comorbidity burden (HCB).

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Background: Social determinants strongly influence overall health, including recovery after total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The modern electronic health record includes a list of individuals identified by patients as their primary contacts. We aimed to assess whether the relationship between patients and their documented primary contacts was associated with outcomes after TJA.

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Article Synopsis
  • * It highlights the risks of losing blood during surgery and looks at ways to do joint operations safely without using blood products.
  • * The article shows that with good planning and understanding of their beliefs, doctors can help these patients have successful surgeries.
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Background: This study aimed to evaluate the safety of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Jehovah's Witness patients compared to non-Jehovah's Witness patients using standard perioperative TKA protocols and assess the role of tranexamic acid (TXA) in managing blood loss in this population.

Methods: Patients undergoing TKA between 2011 and 2021 at 2 tertiary academic centers were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, preoperative and postoperative hematologic laboratory values, intraoperative TXA use, 90-day postoperative complications, and subsequent revisions were collected.

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Introduction: Following removal of total hip arthroplasty (THA) from the inpatient only (IPO) list by the Center for Medicare Services (CMS), arthroplasty surgeons face increased pressure to perform procedures on an outpatient (OP) basis. The purposes of the present study were to compare patients booked for THA as OP who required conversion to IP status postoperatively, to patients who were booked as, and remained OP, and to identify factors predictive of conversion from OP to IP status.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent a primary THA at our institution between January 1, 2020 and April 26, 2022.

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Background: Optimizing operating room (OR) scheduling accuracy is important for improving OR efficiency and maximizing value of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, data on factors that may impact TKA OR scheduling accuracy are limited.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of 7655 knee arthroplasties (6999 primary TKAs and 656 revision TKAs) performed between January 2020 and May 2023 was conducted.

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Background: The direct anterior approach (DAA) and posterior approach (PA) for total hip arthroplasty (THA) have advantages and disadvantages, but their physiologic burden to the surgeon has not been quantified. This study was conducted to determine whether differences exist in surgeon physiological stress and strain during DAA in comparison to PA.

Methods: We evaluated a prospective cohort of 144 consecutive cases (67 DAA and 77 PA).

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study analyzed the outcomes of 83 patients who underwent debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) for acute periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) to identify factors related to treatment failure.
  • - Key findings indicated that higher scores on the Charlson Comorbidity Index and elevated levels of C-reactive protein, synovial white blood cells, and PMN% were significantly linked to unsuccessful DAIR outcomes, particularly in total knee arthroplasty patients.
  • - The conclusions suggest that understanding these risk factors is crucial for effectively managing PJI, as some patients may require different surgical approaches instead of DAIR.
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Orthopaedic surgeons face increasing pressure to meet quality metrics due to regulatory changes and payment policies. Poor outcomes, including patient mortality, can result in financial penalties and negative ratings. Importantly, adverse outcomes often increase surgeon stress level and lead to job dissatisfaction and burnout.

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Background: Utilization of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) continues to rise among patients who have a high comorbidity burden (HCB). With changes in reimbursement models over the past decade, it is essential to assess the financial impact of HCB TKA on healthcare systems. This study aimed to examine trends in revenue and costs associated with TKA in HCB patients over time.

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Background: Since 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have mandated that patients have open access to their medical records. Many institutions use online portals, which allow patients to access their health information and communicate with care teams. Our research aimed to evaluate demographic patterns for online patient portal utilization in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

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Background: As worldwide utilization of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) broadens, demographic trends can help make projections to inform access to care. This study aimed to assess the temporal trends in the socioeconomic and medical demographics of patients undergoing TKA.

Methods: A retrospective review of 15,848 patients who underwent primary, elective TKA at an urban, New York City-based academic medical center between January 2013 and September 2022 was performed.

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Introduction: Optimizing operating room (OR) scheduling accuracy is important for OR efficiency, meeting patient expectations, and maximizing value for health systems. However, limited data exist on factors influencing the precision of Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) OR scheduling. This study aims to identify the factors influencing the accuracy of OR scheduling for THA.

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Introduction: While increased body mass index (BMI) in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) increases surgical complexity, there is a paucity of objective studies assessing the impact of patient BMI on the cardiovascular stress experienced by surgeons during THA. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of patient BMI on surgeon cardiovascular strain during THA.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated three fellowship-trained arthroplasty surgeons performing a total of 115 THAs.

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Background: Large language models (LLM) have unknown implications for medical research. This study assessed whether LLM-generated abstracts are distinguishable from human-written abstracts and to compare their perceived quality.

Methods: The LLM ChatGPT was used to generate 20 arthroplasty abstracts (AI-generated) based on full-text manuscripts, which were compared to originally published abstracts (human-written).

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Background: Liver cirrhosis is associated with increased perioperative morbidity. Our study used the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score to assess the impact of cirrhosis severity on postoperative outcomes following total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: A retrospective review identified 59 patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent primary TKA at a large, urban, academic center from January 2013 to August 2022.

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Background: Financial analyses of simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty versus staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty (simBTKA and staBTKA, respectively) have shown improved cost-effectiveness of simBTKA, though revenue and contribution margin (CM) for these procedures have not been investigated. Our analyses compared surgical outcomes, revenues, and CMs between simBTKA and staBTKA.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent simBTKA (both procedures done on the same day) and staBTKA (procedures done on a different day within one year) between 2012 and 2021.

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Proper predictive tools are essential to guide patient selection, optimization, category of surgical admission (inpatient, outpatient surgery), and discharge disposition, and predict the risk of readmissions and complications after orthopaedic procedures. Therefore, identification and optimization of patients' perioperative risk for surgery is essential, and understanding these basic concepts is crucial to maximizing patient care quality. It is important to define risk, stratify the existing preoperative attributes, and review key concepts of patient-specific risk calculation and documentation.

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Objective: To develop evidence-based consensus recommendations for the optimal timing of hip and knee arthroplasty to improve patient-important outcomes including, but not limited to, pain, function, infection, hospitalization, and death at 1 year for patients with symptomatic and radiographic moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis or advanced symptomatic osteonecrosis with secondary arthritis of the hip or knee who have previously attempted nonoperative therapy, and for whom nonoperative therapy was ineffective, and who have chosen to undergo elective hip or knee arthroplasty (collectively referred to as TJA).

Methods: We developed 13 clinically relevant population, intervention, comparator, outcomes (PICO) questions. After a systematic literature review, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to rate the quality of evidence (high, moderate, low, or very low), and evidence tables were created.

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Objective: To develop evidence-based consensus recommendations for the optimal timing of hip and knee arthroplasty to improve patient-important outcomes including, but not limited to, pain, function, infection, hospitalization, and death at 1 year for patients with symptomatic and radiographic moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis or advanced symptomatic osteonecrosis with secondary arthritis of the hip or knee who have previously attempted nonoperative therapy, and for whom nonoperative therapy was ineffective, and who have chosen to undergo elective hip or knee arthroplasty (collectively referred to as TJA).

Methods: We developed 13 clinically relevant population, intervention, comparator, outcomes (PICO) questions. After a systematic literature review, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to rate the quality of evidence (high, moderate, low, or very low), and evidence tables were created.

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Objective: To develop evidence-based consensus recommendations for the optimal timing of hip and knee arthroplasty to improve patient-important outcomes including, but not limited to, pain, function, infection, hospitalization, and death at 1 year for patients with symptomatic and radiographic moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis or advanced symptomatic osteonecrosis with secondary arthritis of the hip or knee who have previously attempted nonoperative therapy, and for whom nonoperative therapy was ineffective, and who have chosen to undergo elective hip or knee arthroplasty (collectively referred to as TJA).

Methods: We developed 13 clinically relevant population, intervention, comparator, outcomes (PICO) questions. After a systematic literature review, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to rate the quality of evidence (high, moderate, low, or very low), and evidence tables were created.

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Non-English-speaking patients face increased communication barriers when undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Surgeons may learn or have proficiency in languages spoken among their patients to improve communication. This study investigated the effect of surgeon-patient language concordance on outcomes after TJA.

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