Publications by authors named "Joseph Brinkman"

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using hamstrings autograft (HA) plus lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET), isolated all-soft-tissue quadriceps autograft (QA), and isolated HA.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed comparing high risk patients undergoing ACL reconstruction with isolated HA, isolated QA, or HA+LET from August 2013 to January 2023. High risk patients, as determined by high grade pivot shift or generalized ligament laxity, with at least 2 years of follow up were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Latarjet and other bony augmentation procedures are commonly used to treat anterior shoulder instability in the setting of significant glenoid bone loss. Although several fixation strategies have been reported, the biomechanical strength of these techniques remains poorly understood.

Purpose: To perform a systematic review of the biomechanical strength of glenoid bony augmentation procedures for anterior shoulder instability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To compare Medicaid and Medicare rates for the 20 most commonly billed orthopaedic sports medicine procedures.

Methods: Medicaid reimbursement rates were obtained from state-specific fee schedules. Medicare rates were collected from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Physician Fee Schedule, along with relative value units for each procedure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed trends in the economic and utilization of sliding hip screws (SHS) and intramedullary nails (IMN) for treating intertrochanteric femur fractures among Medicare patients over 21 years.
  • It found that the use of IMN significantly increased by 695%, while SHS use dropped by 96% during the same period.
  • Furthermore, physician reimbursements for both methods decreased, with SHS averaging $943.36 and IMN $999.88, indicating a possible cost-effectiveness in choosing SHS when suitable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study aimed to investigate the link between testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries using a large insurance database.
  • Researchers matched 160,839 patients on TRT for at least 3 months with controls who weren't on TRT, finding a significantly higher ACL injury rate in the TRT group (17.8 per 10,000 person-years) compared to controls (4.9 per 10,000 person-years).
  • The results showed all age groups over 25 and both males and females on TRT had a higher likelihood of ACL injuries, with males being 3.13 times and females 1.94 times more likely compared to their counterparts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To assess surgeon reimbursement for common arthroscopic procedures, including arthroscopic meniscal debridement and arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, in patients with differing risk profiles within the Medicare population.

Methods: A publicly available Medicare database was used to identify all cases of arthroscopic meniscal debridement and arthroscopic rotator cuff repair procedures billed to Medicare from 2013 to 2020. The surgeon reimbursement from Medicare was collected and adjusted for inflation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluates a new technique for preparing an autograft patch from the long head of the biceps to aid in repairing rotator cuff injuries.
  • It involved analyzing tissue samples from patients who underwent biceps tenodesis, comparing compressed and non-compressed samples for signs of tenocyte damage.
  • Results indicate that the compression process did not significantly harm the tenocyte morphology, suggesting it is a safe method for enhancing rotator cuff repairs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To analyze and quantify the change in United States of America Medicare reimbursement rates for the 30 most commonly performed spinal imaging procedures.

Materials And Methods: The Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was utilized to find and extract the 28 most billed spinal imaging procedures. All data was adjusted for inflation and listed in 2020 US dollars.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anterior glenohumeral instability is one of the most common injuries suffered from sport. Despite padding and conditioning, the shoulder joint remains particularly vulnerable to injury, especially in the setting of contact. The overall rate of anterior instability is reported to be 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Medicare (MCR) reimbursement for arthroplasty procedures has been declining, but little has been reported on Medicaid (MCD) reimbursement. We sought to determine MCD reimbursement rates using state MCD data for nine arthroplasty procedure codes and compare them to MCR rates.

Methods: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services physician fee schedule was used to collect MCR reimbursement rates, and state MCD fee schedules were accessed to collect MCD rates for nine procedures encompassing primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasty surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: This study seeks to evaluate the variability of Medicaid reimbursement and compare it with Medicare reimbursement using the 20 most commonly billed orthopaedic trauma Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes nationwide. The authors anticipate significant variability between states and hypothesize that Medicaid payment will be significantly less than Medicare payment.

Methods: The top 20 most common orthopaedic trauma surgery procedural codes were identified from a previous analysis performed by Haglin et al.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To assess outcomes of arthroscopic posterior capsular release among athletes for loss of terminal extension following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively collected data was performed for patients undergoing arthroscopic posterior capsular release for knee extension loss following ACL reconstruction between January 2014 and December 2019. Procedure indications included extension loss greater than 10° at least 3 months after ACL reconstruction that was refractory to physical therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To use Google trends to explore differences in public interest among types of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) autografts, specifically quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon, and hamstring tendon autografts, between 2008 and 2019.

Methods: Data were obtained by querying Google Trends for key terms and phrases for online search data ranging from January 2008 to December 2019. Relative search volumes were created based on searches related to ACL reconstruction with comparative analysis generated for search terms related to quadriceps ACL, patellar tendon ACL, and hamstring ACL autografts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patella baja is a known complication of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). There is a limited understanding of the association between patellar resurfacing and the incidence of patella baja. We aimed to compare rates of patella baja between unresurfaced and resurfaced patellas in patients undergoing TKA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Loss of shoulder function can be a complex condition to manage. Specifically, the definition between the terms pseudoparalysis and pseudoparesis remains inconsistent in the literature based on various factors including chronicity, present pathology, and the role of pain in the loss of function. There is also debate as to the optimal management strategies for these challenging conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

 Patients often turn to online reviews as a source of information to inform their decisions regarding care. Existing literature has analyzed factors associated with positive online patient ratings among hand and wrist surgeons. However, there is limited in-depth analysis of factors associated with low patient satisfaction for hand and wrist surgeons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Aseptic revisions are the most common reason for revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). Previous literature reports early periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates after aseptic rTKA to range from 3 to 9.4%.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Social determinants of health are implicated in the experience of knee osteoarthritis, a key component of which is access to care and healthcare utilization. The objective of this study was to describe difficulties in access to care and healthcare utilization in the United States knee osteoarthritis population.

Methods: The publicly available All of Us Database was utilized to conduct a retrospective cohort study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between risk and reimbursement for both surgeons and hospitals among Medicare patients undergoing primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA).

Methods: The "2021 Medicare Physician and Other Provider" and "2021 Medicare Inpatient Hospitals" files were used. Patient comorbidity profiles were collected, including the mean patient hierarchal condition category (HCC) risk score.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patellar tendon ruptures can be debilitating injuries. When incomplete, partial tears can be managed nonsurgically with immobilization and progressive rehabilitation. Although complete ruptures remain a relatively uncommon injury, they portend a high level of morbidity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is limited evidence related to the effects of autograft type on functional performance after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Purpose/hypothesis: This study aimed to compare biomechanical outcomes during a drop vertical jump (DVJ) between patients with a hamstring tendon (HT) autograft, quadriceps tendon (QT) autograft with bone block, QT autograft without bone block, and bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft at 6 months postoperatively in an adolescent population. The authors' hypothesized there would be differences in DVJ biomechanics between athletes depending on the type of autograft used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The massive irreparable rotator cuff tear remains a challenging condition for which there are many reported treatment options, including biceps tenotomy or tenodesis, subacromial decompression, cuff debridement, partial or augmented rotator cuff repair, bursal acromial reconstruction, balloon spacer placement, superior capsular reconstruction, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, and tendon transfer, among others. Optimally treating the condition relies on paying attention to several patient factors, including correctly identifying whether function loss is driven by pain or compromised shoulder kinematics. If pain is the primary limiting factor, then tuberoplasty, or "reversed subacromial decompression," seems to be a reliable option that can afford encouraging results in terms of pain and range of motion in correctly indicated individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biceps tenodesis has been proven to be an effective treatment for biceps tendon and superior labral pathology. Many techniques including both open and arthroscopic approaches have been reported. Open techniques afford management of the entire proximal biceps tendon but are limited by wound healing issues, increased bleeding, and increased surgical time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose Of Review: Massive irreparable rotator cuff tears (MIRCTs) present treatment challenges. Recently, superior capsule reconstruction (SCR) and anterior cable reconstruction have emerged as surgical options, but no single approach is superior. This review provides an overview of SCR and cable reconstruction techniques, including biomechanical studies, clinical outcomes, and surgical considerations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Arthroscopic management of hip femoroacetabular impingement shows reliable improvement in pain and patient-reported outcomes, high survivorship, and low conversion to total hip arthroplasty, particularly in the absence of dysplasia. Concomitant labral repair-or augmentation versus reconstruction when indicated- consistently shows better results than labral debridement. The effect of labral size on outcomes has been studies in several series.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF