A Comparison of Two Dosing Regimens of ASA Following Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare short-term side effects of aspirin (ASA) 325 mg vs ASA 81 mg orally twice daily (PO BID) when used as thromboembolic prophylaxis following primary total joint arthroplasty.

Methods: A 1-year prospective cohort study was performed on 643 primary unilateral total joint arthroplasty patients operated on by a single surgeon. Two hundred eighty-two patients were administered ASA 325 mg PO BID and 361 patients were administered ASA 81 mg PO BID for 1 month.

Prevalence of Poor Bone Quality in Women Undergoing Spinal Fusion Using Biomechanical-CT Analysis.

Study Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of vertebral bone quality in spine-fusion patients at a single medical center.

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of osteoporosis and fragile bone strength in a spine-fusion population of women with an age range of 50 years to 70 years. Fragile bone strength is defined as the level of vertebral strength below which a patient is at as high a risk of future vertebral fracture as a patient having bone density-defined osteoporosis.

Smoking cessation and bone healing: optimal cessation timing.

Smoking is a worldwide epidemic. Complications related to smoking behavior generate an economic loss around $193 billion annually. In addition to impacting chronic health conditions, smoking is linked to increased perioperative complications in those with current or previous smoking history.

Evaluation of a novel technique for wound closure using a barbed suture.

Background: Suture knots present several disadvantages in wound closure, because they are tedious to tie and place ischemic demands on tissue. Bulky knots may be a nidus for infection, and they may extrude through skin weeks after surgery. Needle manipulations during knot-tying predispose the surgeon to glove perforation.

Intramuscular neuromuscular electric stimulation for poststroke shoulder pain: a multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of intramuscular neuromuscular electric stimulation (NMES) in reducing poststroke shoulder pain.

Design: Multicenter, single-blinded, randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Ambulatory centers of 7 academic rehabilitation centers in the United States.

Biaxial failure behavior of bovine tibial trabecular bone.

Multiaxial failure properties of trabecular bone are important for modeling of whole bone fracture and can provide insight into structure-function relationships. There is currently no consensus on the most appropriate form of multiaxial yield criterion for trabecular bone. Using experimentally validated, high-resolution, non-linear finite element models, biaxial plain strain boundary conditions were applied to seven bovine tibial specimens.

Measuring children's coping.

Using a transactional model of stress and coping, a measure of children's coping is offered and applied in a semi-structured interview in which specific coping styles are assessed. Data from 176 school-age children yielded findings on age and gender differences along with other preliminary suggestions of the validity of the instrument.

Reporting practices of psychiatrists who knew of sexual misconduct by colleagues.

Of 1423 psychiatrists responding to a national survey, 65% reported treating patients who had been sexually involved with previous therapists. Respondents saw these prior involvements as harmful in 87% of cases but reported the sexual abuse in only 8% of cases. The majority, however, favored mandatory reporting of such incidents.

Temperament as a moderator of children's stressful experiences.

Data on 158 children, six and nine years old, are analyzed for the relationship between stress and behavior. Undesirable life events and intense "hassles" were particularly correlated with behavioral symptoms. Statistically, temperament appears to moderate this influence but, lacking appreciable variance of symptoms in the models including these interaction effects, the more parsimonious main-effects concept may be more useful.