Grammatopoulos, George

Abstract Introduction: Low-dose computed tomography (CT) has been increasingly utilized in FAI due to its improved ability to characterize the complex and variable hip morphologies of FAI patients, compared to plain radiographs. This study defined FAI morphology between females and males as well as across adolescents, young adults, and older adults. Methods: A multi-center, prospective cohort of FAI patients undergoing primary arthroscopy was performed. Patients 14-45 years of age with idiopathic FAI were included. Low-dose CT was used for preoperative planning. Analysis focused on acetabular and femoral morphology and the differences between females/males and adolescents (A,14-18.9)/young adults (Y,19-24.9)/older adults (O,25+). Adolescents were the reference group during analysis. Results: There were 604 patients with CT data. Mean age was 24.9 years with 55.9% female. Males had more anterosuperior coverage (i.e. 64.2% vs 62.5% at 1:00), lower version (14.1° vs 18.0°), smaller femoral neck-shaft angles (130.9° vs 133.4°), and larger alpha angles (i.e. 72.1° vs 58.6° at 1:00) compared to females. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that females had associations with more femoral anteversion (OR: 1.05,CI: 1.03-1.07) and larger femoral neck-shaft angles (OR: 1.11,CI: 1.06-1.16). Males has associations with larger alpha angles at 1:00 (OR: 1.05,CI: 1.02-1.07) and 1:30 (OR: 1.03,CI: 1.00-1.06) as well as radial coverage at 1:00 (OR: 1.18,CI: 1.11-1.26). For females, adolescents had slightly less radial coverage at 2:00 (49.9%) compared to young (51.2%) and older adults (51.4%). Femoral neck-shaft angle decreased across age groups (A: 134.4°,Y: 133.0°,O: 132.7°). Alpha angles increased at 2:00 with age (A:54.6°,Y:55.3°,O:58.7°). Multivariable analysis had femoral neck-shaft angle decreasing for young (OR: 0.932,CI: 0.87) and older adults (OR:0.92,CI: 0.86-0.98) and it also had alpha angle at 1:15 increasing for young adults (OR: 1.03,CI: 1.00-1.06) and older adults (OR: 1.03,CI: 1.01-1.06). Males did not have any appreciable differences alpha angles, femoral version, or acetabular coverage across age groups. Conclusion: Differences in morphology identified on CT exist between females and males as well as across age groups for females. These differences may offer insight into disease pathomechanics between these patient populations. Further studies should confirm these findings and look at how they affect patient outcomes after treatment.

Abstract Introduction: Femoroacetabular impingement commonly causes labral and cartilage damage. Understanding what clinical and CT-morphological factors are associated with increased labral and acetabular cartilage damage may give insight into the FAI pathophysiology. The present study aims to identify factors associated with labral and cartilage damage. Method: This is a prospective, multicenter cohort of patients undergoing primary arthroscopy for treatment of symptomatic FAI. Enrollment was between 2020 and 2022. The current study investigated predictive factors of advanced labral damage (detachment or full-thickness tear length >4cm) and advanced acetabular cartilage damage (delamination or full-thickness defect ≥200mm2). Finally, we performed external validation for the previously reported RAPID score that predicts high-grade cartilage injury. Results: There were 647 patients in the cohort. For labral injuries, there were 384/647 (59.4%) detachments and 154/647 (23.8%) full-thickness defects, with labral tears ≥4cm was present in 100/558 (17.9%) hips. Older age (OR:1.04, p=0.002), males (OR:1.83,p=0.005), and larger alpha angles at 2:00 (OR:1.02,p=0.04) were associated with full-thickness labral injuries. Older age (OR:1.06,p<0.001) and larger alpha angles at 2:00 (OR:1.03,p=0.01) were associated with tears ≥4cm. 258/679 (38.0%) patients had delamination or full-thickness cartilage defects. Older age (OR:1.09,p<0.001), males (OR:1.91 p=0.003), decreased IRF (OR:0.95,p<0.001), higher femoral version (OR:1.02,p=0.04), and larger alpha angles at 1:30 (OR:1.06,p<0.001) were associated with delamination or defect cartilage injuries. Advanced acetabular cartilage damage ≥200mm2 was present in 109/679 (16.8%) hips and was associated with larger alpha angles at 2:00 (OR:1.07,p<0.001), decreased IRF (OR:0.95,p<0.001), and males (OR:2.52,p=0.002), and age (OR:1.05,p=0.002). For RAPID score external validation, we used our data for their model (sex, Tonnis OA Grade, radiographic alpha angle) and found an AUC of 0.685. With an adjusted model using CT alpha angles, AUC improved to 0.703. Our final model improved the AUC to 0.809 and included age, sex, IRF, femoral version, and CT alpha angles. Conclusion: FAI commonly has associated labral and cartilage injuries. The current study found multiple predictive factors for advanced labral and cartilage injuries as well as for larger lesions. A model including age, sex, IRF, femoral version, and CT alpha angles appears to best predict acetabular cartilage damage. Further research should investigate how these affect outcomes.

Abstract Introduction: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is increasingly used in less severe cases of hip osteoarthritis (OA).This paper aimed to determine 1) The prevalence of different degrees of OA before THA, 2) The association of pre-operative OA severity with the severity of baseline symptoms and 3) The association of pre-operative OA severity with outcomes post-THA. Methods: A retrospective study of a prospective database of all THAs at two tertiary academic centers between 2020 and 2021 was conducted. There were 803 patients in the database, with 109 being excluded due to incomplete data. There were 694 patients included, and the mean age and body mass index were 64.50±12.80 years and 28.45±5.90 kg/m2, respectively. Most patients were women (n=361; 52.0%). Radiographic analysis was performed to assess the degree of hip OA with the Tönnis grade (0 – 3; no OA – complete degradation). Patients had pre-operative patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of hip function via the Oxford Hip Score (OHS) and their overall well-being via the EQ-5D-5L, with follow-up and post-operative PROMs 12 months after surgery. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (IBM, Armonk, NY). Results: There were no differences in pre-operative OHS between Tönnis groups (18±6.26, n=14 in Tönnis 1, 21.19±8.27, n=260 in Tönnis 2 and 18.18±7.09, n=420 in Tönnis 3, p=0.14) After one year, the increase in OHS was 18.03±11.95, 18.32±10.96, and 24.32±9.98, respectively for Tönnis 1,2, and 3 (p<0.001). Thus, the percentage meeting the patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) was 57.1%, 60.8% and 72.6%. One year EQ-5D-5L was also highest in Tönnis 3 (47.5 ± 4.03, 79.6 ± 13.25 and 82.12 ± 11.67, p<0.001). Conclusion: The highest-grade OA before THA was correlated with the greatest improvements in hip function and quality of life. This study demonstrates that a conservative approach and re-education should be attempted in patients who have an absence of advanced radiographic OA.

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following total hip and total knee arthroplasty continues to be a leading cause of re-operation and revision arthroplasty. Not only is the treatment of PJI notoriously challenging, but success rates are variable. Regardless of the surgical strategy used, successful management of PJI requires a comprehensive surgical debridement focused at eradicating the underlying biofilm followed by appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Although systemic antimicrobial delivery continues to be a cornerstone in the treatment of PJI, many surgeons have started using local antibiotics to deliver higher concentrations of antibiotics directly into the vulnerable joint and adjacent soft tissues, which often have compromised vascularity. Available evidence on the use of topical powder, bone cement, and calcium sulphate carriers for local delivery of antibiotics during the initial treatment of PJI is limited to studies that are extremely heterogeneous. There is currently no level-1 evidence to support routinely using these products. Further, appropriately powered, prospective studies are needed to quantify the safety and efficacy of antibiotic-located calcium-sulphate carriers to justify their added costs. These products should not encourage surgeons to deviate from best practice guidelines, such as those recommended during the International Consensus Meeting on Musculoskeletal Infections.

» Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following hip hemiarthroplasty (HA) is a devastating complication, incurring immense health-care costs associated with its treatment and placing considerable burden on patients and their families. These patients often require multiple surgical procedures, extended hospitalization, and prolonged antimicrobial therapy. » Notable risk factors include older age, higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, inadequate antibiotic prophylaxis, non-antibiotic-loaded cementation of the femoral implant, longer duration of the surgical procedure, and postoperative drainage and hematoma. » Although the most frequent infecting organisms are gram-positive cocci such as Staphylococcus aureus , there is a higher proportion of patients with gram-negative and polymicrobial infections after hip HA compared with patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty. » Several surgical strategies exist. Regardless of the preferred surgical treatment, successful management of these infections requires a comprehensive surgical debridement focused on eradicating the biofilm followed by appropriate antibiotic therapy. » A multidisciplinary approach led by surgeons familiar with PJI treatment and infectious disease specialists is recommended for all cases of PJI after hip HA to increase the likelihood of treatment success.

AbstractThe periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is an extensive surgical procedure associated with potential risk to the adjacent neurovascular structures. A steep learning curve exists, with surgeon experience an important factor in outcome. Little detail exists of the osteotomies themselves, and how to make them safe and reproducible. This article describes our PAO technique with emphasis on specific safety steps. When performing the posterior column cut, migration of the osteotome beyond the lateral pelvis may lead to damage of the sciatic nerve. The safety features detailed include novel measurement of the posterior column width and the use of specific-width osteotomes to complete this osteotomy. To plan the cut, several computerized tomography-based measurements are taken starting just above the greater sciatic notch and continuing down to the inferior part of the acetabulum. The angle of this cut is determined by acetabular morphology and the width of the posterior column. These posterior column width measurements will determine the width of the osteotomes used to perform the cut with little risk that an osteotome will penetrate too far on the lateral side of the pelvis. To ensure the lateral cortex has been cut completely proximally, an osteotome with pre-measured depths may be used from a medial to a direct lateral trajectory. The senior author has been performing this modified approach since 2010 (n = 530 PAOs) and has witnessed no vascular injuries and no nerve injuries aside from minor lateral femoral cutaneous nerve issues. Utilization of these techniques has prevented any major nerve injury without the need for intraoperative electromyography.