Utility of noninvasive transcutaneous measurement of postoperative hemoglobin in total joint arthroplasty patients.

This study prospectively evaluated the clinical utility of a noninvasive transcutaneous device for postoperative hemoglobin measurement in 100 total hip and knee arthroplasty patients. A protocol to measure hemoglobin noninvasively, prior to venipuncture, successfully avoided venipuncture in 73% of patients. In the remaining 27 patients, there were a total of 48 venipunctures performed during the postoperative hospitalization period due to reasons including transcutaneous hemoglobin measurement less than or equal to 9 g/dL (19), inability to obtain a transcutaneous hemoglobin measurement (8), clinical signs of anemia (3), and noncompliance with the study protocol (18).

Surgeon perception of cancellous screw fixation.

Objectives: The ability of surgeons to optimize screw insertion torque in nonlocking fixation constructs is important for stability, particularly in osteoporotic and cancellous bone. This study evaluated screw torque applied by surgeons during synthetic cancellous fixation. It evaluated the frequency with which screws were stripped by surgeons, factors associated with screw stripping, and ability of surgeons to recognize it.