WITHDRAWN: Surgical versus conservative interventions for anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in adults.

This review has been withdrawn, as of Issue 4, 2016, because it has been superseded by a new review (Monk AP, Davies LJ, Hopewell S, Harris K, Beard DJ, Price AJ. Surgical versus conservative interventions for treating anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 4.

Elevated risk of early reoperation in total hip replacement during the stage of unit closure: A population-based registry study of total hip and knee replacements in Finland, 1998-2011.

Background And Purpose: The effects of launch or closure of an entire arthroplasty unit on the first or last patients treated in these units have not been studied. Using a 3-year follow-up, we investigated whether patients who were treated at the launch or closure stage of an arthroplasty unit of a hospital would have a higher risk of reoperation than patients treated in-between at the same units.

Patients And Methods: From the Finnish Arthroplasty Register, we identified all the units that had performed total joint arthroplasty and the units that were launched or closed in Finland between 1998 and 2011.

Behavioral trait of morningness-eveningness in association with articular and spinal diseases in a population.

Earlier studies have revealed that the more the preference to schedule daily activities towards the evening hours is, the higher the odds for a range of health hazards are. Therefore, we wanted to analyze, whether the behavioral trait of morningness-eveningness is associated with articular and spinal diseases or those with musculoskeletal disorders. Participants (n = 6089), as part of the National FINRISK 2007 Study, were derived from the general population, aged 25 to 74 years, living in Finland.

Efficacy of zoledronic acid for chronic low back pain associated with Modic changes in magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Modic changes (MC) are associated with low back pain (LBP), but effective treatments are lacking. The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial was to evaluate the efficacy of zoledronic acid (ZA) for chronic LBP among patients with MC in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Inclusion criteria were LBP lasting ≥3 months, with an intensity of ≥6 on a 10-cm VAS or an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) of ≥30%, and MC in MRI.

Knee arthroscopy and exercise versus exercise only for chronic patellofemoral pain syndrome: 5-year follow-up.

Objective: To study the long-term outcome of arthroscopy in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), the authors conducted a randomised controlled trial. The authors also investigated factors predicting the outcome in patients with PFPS.

Methods: Fifty-six patients with PFPS were randomised into two groups: an arthroscopy group (N=28), treated with knee arthroscopy and an 8-week home exercise programme, and a control group (N=28), treated with a similar 8-week home exercise programme only.

Long-term results of surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomised controlled trial.

We randomised a total of 94 patients with long-standing moderate lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) into a surgical group and a non-operative group, with 50 and 44 patients, respectively. The operative treatment comprised undercutting laminectomy of stenotic segments, augmented with transpedicular-instrumented fusion in suspected lumbar instability. The primary outcome was the Oswestry disability index (ODI), and the other main outcomes included assessments of leg and back pain and self-reported walking ability, all based on questionnaire data from 85 patients at the 6-year follow-up.

Disease burden of prosthetic joint infections after hip and knee joint replacement in Finland during 1999-2004: capture-recapture estimation.

We evaluated the Finnish Hospital Infection Program (SIRO) conducting incidence surveillance for prosthetic joint infection (PJI) from 1999 to 2004. We estimated its sensitivity using capture-recapture methods and assessed the disease burden of PJIs after hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasties (N = 13 482). The following three data sources were used: SIRO, the Finnish Arthroplasty Register (FAR), and the Finnish Patient Insurance Center (FPIC), which were cross-matched, and 129 individual PJIs were identified.

The effect of waiting time on health-related quality of life, pain, and physical function in patients awaiting primary total hip replacement: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This prospective randomized study assessed the effect of waiting time (WT) on health outcomes in Finnish patients admitted to hospital for primary total hip replacement (THR).

Methods: A total of 395 consecutive patients with a need for a primary THR because of osteoarthritis and who were placed on the waiting list between August 2002 and November 2003. After placement on the waiting list, the patients were randomly assigned to a short WT ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effect of waiting time on health and quality of life outcomes and costs of medication in hip replacement patients: a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of waiting time on health and quality of life outcomes and costs of medication in total hip replacement (THR) patients in a randomized clinical trial.

Methods: 395 THR patients were recruited into the study. When placed on the waiting list, patients were randomized into a short (< or =3 months) or a non-fixed waiting time (NFWT) (>3 months) group.

Knee arthroscopy and exercise versus exercise only for chronic patellofemoral pain syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Arthroscopy is often used to treat patients with chronic patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). As there is a lack of evidence, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to study the efficacy of arthroscopy in patients with chronic PFPS.

Methods: A total of 56 patients with chronic PFPS were randomized into two treatment groups: an arthroscopy group (N = 28), treated with knee arthroscopy and an 8-week home exercise program, and a control group (N = 28), treated with the 8-week home exercise program only.

Manipulation under anesthesia with home exercises versus home exercises alone in the treatment of frozen shoulder: a randomized, controlled trial with 125 patients.

We aimed to determine the effect of manipulation under anesthesia in frozen shoulder patients. A blinded randomized trial with a 1-year follow-up was performed at 3 referral hospitals in Southern Finland. We randomly assigned 125 patients with clinically verified frozen shoulder to the manipulation group (n = 65) or control group (n = 60).

Is longer waiting time associated with health and social services utilization before treatment? A randomized study.

Objective: To determine whether longer waiting time for major joint replacement is associated with health and social services utilization before treatment.

Methods: When placed on the waiting list, patients were randomized to short ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Evaluating waiting time effect on health outcomes at admission: a prospective randomized study on patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joint.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of waiting on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pain and physical function in patients awaiting primary total knee replacement (TKR) due to osteoarthritis.

Methods: Some 438 patients awaiting TKR were randomized to a short waiting time (WT) group (< or =3 months) or a non-fixed WT group. In the final assessment, 310 patients (213 women) with a mean age of 68 years were included.

The effect of co-morbidities on health-related quality of life in patients placed on the waiting list for total joint replacement.

Background: Co-morbidity is a powerful predictor of health care outcomes and costs, as well as an important cofounder in epidemiologic studies. The effect of co-morbidities is generally related to mortality or complications. This study evaluated the association between co-morbidity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients awaiting total joint replacement.

Uninstrumented in situ fusion for high-grade childhood and adolescent isthmic spondylolisthesis: long-term outcome.

Background: Intermediate-term radiographic studies have shown that anterior and circumferential techniques result in high fusion rates in patients with high-grade spondylolisthesis, whereas posterolateral fusion is less successful. We are not aware of any long-term comparative studies in which these three methods have been evaluated with regard to functional outcome, including systematic spinal mobility and trunk strength measurements.

Methods: Sixty-nine of eighty-three consecutive patients with high-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis who underwent posterolateral (twenty-one), anterior (twenty-three), or circumferential (twenty-five) uninstrumented spondylodesis between 1977 and 1991 participated in the study.

Patient outcomes after simultaneous bilateral total hip and knee joint replacements.

Simultaneous arthroplasties are increasingly being performed during one single anaesthetic event. No national nosocomial surveillance systems have yet reported data on this issue. We compared patient populations undergoing bi- and unilateral total hip (THA) and total knee (TKA) arthroplasties in terms of two outcome variables, deep surgical site infections (SSI) and mortality, by analysing surveillance data from the Finnish Hospital Infection Programme (SIRO).

Surgical or nonoperative treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis? A randomized controlled trial.

Study Design: A randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of decompressive surgery as compared with nonoperative measures in the treatment of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Summary Of Background Data: No previous randomized trial has assessed the effectiveness of surgery in comparison with conservative treatment for spinal stenosis.

The treatment of disc-herniation-induced sciatica with infliximab: one-year follow-up results of FIRST II, a randomized controlled trial.

Study Design: A randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the long-term efficacy of infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), in patients with acute/subacute sciatica secondary to herniated disc.

Summary Of Background Data: The results of experimental studies and our open-label trial support the use of infliximab in sciatica.

Long-term outcome after posterolateral, anterior, and circumferential fusion for high-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis in children and adolescents: magnetic resonance imaging findings after average of 17-year follow-up.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study to evaluate the long-term result of posterolateral (PLF), anterior (AF), and circumferential fusion (CF) for isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Objectives: To assess the long-term effects of PLF, AF, or CF for high-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis on lumbar spine in children and adolescents by using MRI.

Summary Of Background Data: Short- and mid-term clinical and plain radiographic results of isthmic spondylolisthesis and of PLF, AF, and CF in severe slip are well documented.

Effectiveness of microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation: a randomized controlled trial with 2 years of follow-up.

Study Design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess effectiveness of microdiscectomy in lumbar disc herniation patients with 6 to 12 weeks of symptoms but no absolute indication for surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: There is limited evidence in favor of discectomy for prolonged symptoms of lumbar disc herniation.

Treatment of severe spondylolisthesis in adolescence with reduction or fusion in situ: long-term clinical, radiologic, and functional outcome.

Study Design: Retrospective follow-up study with two cohorts: one treated with reduction and the other with fusion in situ.

Objective: To assess the long-term effects of reduction versus fusion in situ on lumbar spine in children and adolescents with severe L5 isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Summary Of Background Data: Severe isthmic spondylolisthesis is commonly treated with fusion in situ, but modern surgical techniques and instrumentation permit the reduction of a severely slipped fifth lumbar vertebra.