Non-operative treatment of metacarpal fractures and patient-reported outcomes: a multicentre snapshot study.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate practice variation in non-operative treatment methods and immobilisation duration for metacarpal fractures, and to evaluate patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: Conducted in 12 Dutch hospitals over three months in 2020, this study included adult patients with non-operatively treated solitary metacarpal fractures. Fractures were classified into intra-articular base, extra-articular base, shaft, neck, and intra-articular head fractures.

Anatomical distribution and treatment of paediatric hand fractures: a multi-centre study of 749 patients in the Netherlands.

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Effectiveness of a digital vs face-to-face preoperative assessment: A randomized, noninferiority clinical trial.

Study Objective: Digitalizing the preoperative assessment clinic can be a solution to keep up with the growing demand for surgery. It remains unclear if a digital preoperative assessment clinic is as safe, and effective in terms of patient health outcomes and experience compared to face-to-face consultations. This study aimed to compare quality of recovery and mental state in patients undergoing a digital preoperative assessment versus regular face-to-face consultations.

Environmental DNA metabarcoding reveals comparable responses to agricultural stressors on different trophic levels of a freshwater community.

Freshwater habitats are under stress from agricultural land use, most notably the influx of neonicotinoid pesticides and increased nutrient pressure from fertilizer. Traditional studies investigating the effects of stressors on freshwater systems are often limited to a narrow range of taxa, depending heavily on morphological expertise. Additionally, disentanglement of multiple simultaneous stressors can be difficult in field studies, whereas controlled laboratory conditions do not accurately reflect natural conditions and food webs.

Patient Perceived Involvement in Their Treatment is Influenced by Factors Other Than Independently Rated Clinician Communication Effectiveness.

We analyzed (1) the correspondence of patient and clinician perceived patient involvement in decision making and ratings made by independent observer's independent ratings, as well as (2), factors associated with patient-perceived involvement, among patients seeking hand specialty care. During 63 visits, the patient, their hand specialist, and 2 independent observers each rated patient involvement in decision making using the 9-item shared decision-making questionnaire for patients and clinicians, and the 5-item observing patient involvement scale (OPTION-5). We also measured health literacy (Newest Vital Sign), patient and visit characteristics (gender, age, race, years of education, occupation, marital status, and family present).

The mitochondrial genome of (Hydrozoa, Leptothecata).

The hydrozoan species (Hargitt, 1924) is widely distributed in tropical marine waters around the world. Here we report the complete linear mitochondrial genome of from Sint Eustatius (Lesser Antilles). The mitochondrial genome with a length of 14,320 bp encodes for 13 protein-coding genes, two tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes.

Clinician Factors Rather Than Patient Factors Affect Discussion of Treatment Options.

Background: Shared decision-making aims to combine what matters most to a patient with clinician expertise to develop a personalized health strategy. It is a dialogue between patient and clinician in which preferences are expressed, misconceptions reoriented, and available options are considered. To improve patient involvement, it would help to know more about specific barriers and facilitators of patient-clinician communication.

Functional traits explain crayfish invasive success in the Netherlands.

Biological invasions by nonindigenous species can have negative effects on economies and ecosystems. To limit this impact, current research on biological invasions uses functional traits to facilitate a mechanistic understanding of theoretical and applied questions. Here we aimed to assess the role of functional traits in the progression of crayfish species through different stages of invasion and determine the traits associated with invasive success.

Medium to Long-Term Follow-Up After Pyrocarbon Disc Interposition Arthroplasty for Treatment of CMC Thumb Joint Arthritis.

Purpose: Pyrocarbon disc interposition arthroplasty has been designed for the surgical treatment of Eaton-Glickel grade II/III carpometacarpal thumb joint arthritis. This study presents the results of this technique with a minimum 5-year follow up.

Methods: We assessed 4 questionnaires for patient-reported outcome measurements in a cross-sectional study: the Patient-Rated Wrist and Hand Evaluation, Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire, Michigan Hand Questionnaire, and questions about satisfaction at the 5-year follow up.

Increased performance of DNA metabarcoding of macroinvertebrates by taxonomic sorting.

DNA-based identification through the use of metabarcoding has been proposed as the next step in the monitoring of biological communities, such as those assessed under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Advances have been made in the field of metabarcoding, but challenges remain when using complex samples. Uneven biomass distributions, preferential amplification and reference database deficiencies can all lead to discrepancies between morphological and DNA-based taxa lists.

Missed Empathic Opportunities During Hand Surgery Office Visits.

Empathy (conveyance of an understanding of a patient's situation, perspective, and feelings) deepens the therapeutic alliance and leads to better health outcomes. We studied the frequency and nature of empathic opportunities and physician responses in patients visiting a hand surgeon. We also sought patient characteristics associated with the number of patient-initiated-clues and missed opportunities by surgeons.

The effects of spatial and temporal replicate sampling on eDNA metabarcoding.

Background: The heterogeneous nature of environmental DNA (eDNA) and its effects on species detection and community composition estimates has been highlighted in several studies in the past decades. Mostly in the context of spatial distribution over large areas, in fewer occasions looking at spatial distribution within a single body of water. Temporal variation of eDNA, similarly, has mostly been studied as seasonality, observing changes over large periods of time, and often only for small groups of organisms such as fish and amphibians.

Uncovering bacterial and functional diversity in macroinvertebrate mitochondrial-metagenomic datasets by differential centrifugation.

PCR-free techniques such as meta-mitogenomics (MMG) can recover taxonomic composition of macroinvertebrate communities, but suffer from low efficiency, as >90% of sequencing data is mostly uninformative due to the great abundance of nuclear DNA that cannot be identified with current reference databases. Current MMG studies do not routinely check data for information on macroinvertebrate-associated bacteria and gene functions. However, this could greatly increase the efficiency of MMG studies by revealing yet overlooked diversity within ecosystems and making currently unused data available for ecological studies.

DNA barcode reference libraries for the monitoring of aquatic biota in Europe: Gap-analysis and recommendations for future work.

Effective identification of species using short DNA fragments (DNA barcoding and DNA metabarcoding) requires reliable sequence reference libraries of known taxa. Both taxonomically comprehensive coverage and content quality are important for sufficient accuracy. For aquatic ecosystems in Europe, reliable barcode reference libraries are particularly important if molecular identification tools are to be implemented in biomonitoring and reports in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Abnormal soft palate movements in patients with microtia.

Introduction: Microtia is a congenital malformation of the auricle, ranging in severity. It can be isolated or associated with (craniofacial) anomalies. Most of these anomalies together are described as being part of the oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS).

The future of biotic indices in the ecogenomic era: Integrating (e)DNA metabarcoding in biological assessment of aquatic ecosystems.

The bioassessment of aquatic ecosystems is currently based on various biotic indices that use the occurrence and/or abundance of selected taxonomic groups to define ecological status. These conventional indices have some limitations, often related to difficulties in morphological identification of bioindicator taxa. Recent development of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding could potentially alleviate some of these limitations, by using DNA sequences instead of morphology to identify organisms and to characterize a given ecosystem.

Gradual Onset Diseases: Misperception of Disease Onset.

Purpose: Gradual onset diseases (eg, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, and trapeziometacarpal arthrosis) tend to go unnoticed for years. When a slowly progressive disease transitions from asymptomatic to symptomatic, it may seem like an acute event. The primary aim of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who perceive the slowly progressive disease as having started within 1 year.

Carpal Coalitions on Radiographs: Prevalence and Association With Ordering Indication.

Purpose: Carpal coalitions are common and usually incidental to the indication for wrist radiographs. It is not clear if, or when, carpal coalitions cause pain. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of incidental carpal coalitions by evaluating radiographs taken for various indications and to test the association of demographic variables and ordering indications with the finding of a carpal coalition.

Patients With Limited Health Literacy Ask Fewer Questions During Office Visits With Hand Surgeons.

Background: In the midst of rapid expansion of medical knowledge and decision-support tools intended to benefit diverse patients, patients with limited health literacy (the ability to obtain, process, and understand information and services to make health decisions) will benefit from asking questions and engaging actively in their own care. But little is known regarding the relationship between health literacy and question-asking behavior during outpatient office visits.

Questions/purposes: (1) Do patients with lower levels of health literacy ask fewer questions in general, and as stratified by types of questions? (2) What other patient characteristics are associated with the number of questions asked? (3) How often do surgeons prompt patients to ask questions during an office visit?

Methods: We audio-recorded office visits of 84 patients visiting one of three orthopaedic hand surgeons for the first time.

Kirschner wire pin site infection in hand and wrist fractures: incidence rate and risk factors.

Unlabelled: Kirschner wires are widely used for skeletal fixation of unstable fractures, but the pin tracks create a potential pathway through the skin and into the bone for bacteria to cause an infection. We tested the null hypothesis that there are no demographic, patient-related, injury, or treatment variables independently associated with the occurrence of pin site infection after percutaneous fixation of hand and wrist fractures using Kirschner wires. A retrospective review of 1213 patients with one or more fractures of the hand and wrist treated with percutaneous Kirschner wire fixation identified 85 patients (7%) who had additional treatment with oral antibiotics, early pin removal, or reoperation related to a pin site infection.

Money for medication: a randomized controlled study on the effectiveness of financial incentives to improve medication adherence in patients with psychotic disorders.

Background: Non-adherence with antipsychotic medication is a frequently occurring problem, particularly among patients with psychotic disorders. Prior research has generally shown encouraging results for interventions based on 'Contingency Management' (CM), in which desirable behaviour is encouraged by providing rewards contingent upon the behaviour. However, little is known about the application of CM on medication adherence in patients with psychotic disorders.

Chemotherapy response evaluation with FDG-PET in patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the value of F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for early assessment of chemotherapy response in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Methods: Dynamic FDG-PET was carried out before and at 2 (n = 50) and 6 months (n = 19) after the start of treatment. Quantitative Patlak analysis [metabolic rate of glucose (MRGlu)] and a simplified method to measure glucose metabolism [standardized uptake value (SUV)] were evaluated.

Chemotherapy response evaluation with 18F-FDG PET in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Unlabelled: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the value of (18)F-FDG PET for the assessment of chemotherapy response in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Furthermore, part of the objective of this study was to compare 2 methods to quantify changes in glucose metabolism.

Methods: In 51 patients, dynamic (18)F-FDG PET was performed before and at 5-8 wk into treatment.

The outcome of a long-term follow-up of pancreatic function after recovery from acute pancreatitis.

Context: It is generally assumed that pancreatic function recovers completely after mild but not after severe acute pancreatitis.

Objective: To evaluate both pancreatic function and quality of life in patients who had recovered from acute pancreatitis in a long-term follow-up study.

Participants: Thirty-four patients (mean age: 56 years) who had recovered from biliary (n=26) or post ERCP (n=8) acute pancreatitis.