Citations

Background: Hand and wrist injuries (HWIs) are common in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball players and can negatively affect performance. There is limited literature available on this topic. Purpose: To open a discussion on prevention strategies and encourage future research on HWIs in basketball athletes. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: HWIs sustained by male and female NCAA basketball players during the 2009-2010 through 2013-2014 academic years and reported to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP) database were utilized to characterize the epidemiology thereof. Rates and distributions of HWIs were identified within the context of mechanism of injury, injury recurrence, and time lost from sport. Results: Over the 5-year period, 81 HWIs in women and 171 HWIs in men were identified through the NCAA-ISP database. These were used to estimate 3515 HWIs nationally in women’s basketball athletes and 7574 HWIs nationally in men’s basketball athletes. The rate of HWIs in women was 4.20 per 10,000 athlete-exposures (AEs) and in men was 7.76 per 10,000 AEs, making men 1.85 times more likely to sustain HWIs compared with women. In men, HWIs were 3.31 times more likely to occur in competition compared with practice, while in women, HWIs were 2.40 times more likely to occur in competition than in practice. Based on position, guards, both men and women, were the most likely to suffer HWIs. Conclusion: HWIs were common in collegiate basketball players. Most injuries were new, and the majority of players were restricted from participation for less than 24 hours. Men were more likely to be injured compared with women, and injuries were most common in the setting of competition for both sexes. The majority of injuries was considered minor and did not extensively limit participation; however, prevention and detection remain important for optimal performance.

Background: Suspension training systems, which use body weight resistance under unstable conditions, may be effective for muscle strengthening in persons with scapular dyskinesis or subacromial impingement syndrome. Hypothesis: Greater arm, scapular, and trunk muscle recruitment will occur during horizontal abduction row exercises. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Level of Evidence: Level 5. Methods: Surface electromyography data were collected from 28 participants (14 men, 14 women). A total of 13 right-sided muscles were studied at a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz. Maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) were established. Participants completed 3 repetitions per exercise in random order. We compared muscle recruitment during 3 rowing exercises: low row, high row, and horizontal abduction row. Data were compared with repeated-measures analyses of variance and post hoc Bonferroni corrections. Results: For high row and horizontal abduction row conditions, the upper, middle, and lower trapezius and posterior deltoid demonstrated >60% MVIC magnitudes of recruitment, and the upper erector spinae demonstrated 40% to 60% MVIC magnitudes of recruitment, respectively. In contrast, in the low row exercise, 40% to 60% MVIC magnitudes of recruitment were observed only in the middle trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and posterior deltoid. Conclusion: With the suspension system, high row and horizontal abduction row exercises promote muscle strengthening (>50% MVIC) in the upper, middle, and lower fibers of the trapezius, posterior deltoid, and upper erector spinae. Clinical Relevance: Rowing exercises performed with suspension straps may be recommended for muscle strengthening in patients with scapular dyskinesis and subacromial impingement syndrome as well as for healthy persons in need of enhanced scapular muscle performance.

Blood plasma is a readily accessible source of extracellular vesicles (EVs), i.e., cell-secreted nanosized carriers that contain various biomolecules, including glycans. Previous studies have demonstrated that glycans play a major role in physiological and pathological processes, and certain plasma glycans have been associated with disease conditions. However, glycome studies have been limited by a lack of analytical techniques with the throughput capacity necessary to study hundreds of clinical samples. This study is the first to characterize the EV plasma glycome based on all major glycan classes. The results based on glycan node analysis revealed, as expected, that plasma-derived EVs have distinct glycan features from donor-matched whole plasma. Specifically, glycan nodes corresponding to those observed in chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, type I keratan sulfate, and type II keratan sulfate were enriched on EVs. The identification of specific differences in glycan features in plasma vs. plasma-derived EVs is relevant for understanding the physiological role of EVs and as a reference for future diagnostic studies. Additionally, the results indicate that EV glycan nodes do not substantially differ among a small set of healthy donors. These results lay the framework for the further evaluation of all EV glycan classes as diagnostic markers, therapeutic targets, and biologically active components in health and disease.

Objective To assess the cost-effectiveness of management strategies for patients presenting with chest pain and suspected coronary heart disease (CHD): (1) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR); (2) myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS); and (3) UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline-guided care. Methods Using UK data for 1202 patients from the Clinical Evaluation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Coronary Heart Disease 2 trial, we conducted an economic evaluation to assess the cost-effectiveness of CMR, MPS and NICE guidelines. Health outcomes were expressed as quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and costs reflected UK pound sterling in 2016–2017. Cost-effectiveness results were presented as incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and incremental net health benefits overall and for low, medium and high pretest likelihood of CHD subgroups. Results CMR had the highest estimated QALY gain overall (2.21 (95% credible interval 2.15, 2.26) compared with 2.07 (1.92, 2.20) for NICE and 2.11 (2.01, 2.22) for MPS) and incurred comparable costs (overall £1625 (£1431, £1824) compared with £1753 (£1473, £2032) for NICE and £1768 (£1572, £1989) for MPS). Overall, CMR was the cost-effective strategy, being the dominant strategy (more effective, less costly) with incremental net health benefits per patient of 0.146 QALYs (−0.18, 0.406) compared with NICE guidelines at a cost-effectiveness threshold of £15 000 per QALY (93% probability of cost-effectiveness). Results were similar in the pretest likelihood subgroups. Conclusions CMR-guided care is cost-effective overall and across all pretest likelihood subgroups, compared with MPS and NICE guidelines.

Importance: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a common treatment for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Although clinic-based assessments have demonstrated improvements in arm function after CIMT, whether these changes are translated and sustained outside of a clinic setting remains unclear. Objective: Accelerometers were used to quantify arm movement for children with CP 1 wk before, during, and 4 wk or more after CIMT; measurements were compared with those from typically developing (TD) peers. Design: Observational. Setting: Tertiary hospital and community. Participants: Seven children with CP (5 boys, 2 girls; average [ AVE ] age ± standard deviation [ SD ] = 7.4 ± 1.2 yr) and 7 TD peers (2 boys, 5 girls; AVE age ± SD = 7.0 ± 2.3 yr). Intervention: 30-hr CIMT protocol. Outcomes and Measures: Use ratio, magnitude ratio, and bilateral magnitude were calculated from the accelerometer data. Clinical measures were administered before and after CIMT, and parent surveys assessed parent and child perceptions of wearing accelerometers. Results: During CIMT, the frequency and magnitude of paretic arm use among children with CP increased in the clinic and in daily life. After CIMT, although clinical scores showed sustained improvement, the children’s accelerometry data reverted to baseline values. Children and parents in both cohorts had positive perceptions of accelerometer use. Conclusions and Relevance: The lack of sustained improvement in accelerometry metrics after CIMT suggests that therapy gains did not translate to increased movement outside the clinic. Additional therapy may be needed to help transfer gains outside the clinic. What This Article Adds: Accelerometer measurements were effective at monitoring arm movement outside of the clinic during CIMT and suggested that additional interventions may be needed after CIMT to sustain benefits.

Background: Palliative care has been identified as an area of low outpatient referral from our emergency department, yet palliative care has been shown to improve the quality of patient’s lives. Aim: This study investigates both provider and patient perspectives on palliative care for the purpose of identifying barriers to increased palliative care utilization within our healthcare system. Design: Two surveys were developed, one for patients/caregivers and one for healthcare providers. Setting/participants: This was a single-center study completed at a quaternary academic emergency department. A survey was sent to emergency medicine providers with 47% response rate. Research staff approached Emergency Department patients who had been identified to be high risk to fill out paper surveys with 76% response rate. Results: Only 28% of patients had already undergone palliative care, with an additional 25% interested in palliative care. Nearly half of the patients felt that they needed more resources to prevent hospital visits. Patients identified low understanding of palliative care and difficulty accessing appointments as barriers to consultation. Among providers, 98% indicated that they had patients who would benefit from palliative care. A majority of providers highlighted patient understanding of palliative care and access to appointments as barriers to palliative care. Notably, 52% of providers reported that emergency medicine provider knowledge was a barrier to palliative care consultation. Conclusions: Despite emergency department patients’ self-identified need for resources and emergency medicine providers’ recognition of patients who would benefit from palliative care, few patients receive palliative care consultation.

Objectives: The primary objectives were to report oncologic outcomes of transoral laser microsurgery with potassium-titanyl-phosphate (KTP) laser (TLM-KTP) ablation of early glottic cancer (EGC). The secondary objectives were to report vocal outcomes and to analyze factors that might influence outcomes. Methods: A multi-institutional, retrospective analysis of consecutive patients treated for T1 or T2 glottic squamous cell carcinoma undergoing TLM-KTP ablation with at least 2 years of follow-up was performed. Patients with prior radiation or surgery for laryngeal disease were excluded. Primary outcome measures included: surgical failures requiring radiation or laryngectomy, disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS). Secondary outcome measures included: pre- and postoperative Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) scores. The effects of smoking status, stage, and anterior commissure involvement on outcomes were analyzed. Results: Overall 88 patients met inclusion criteria (83% male, 79.5% current or former smokers). Mean age was 68 (standard deviation (SD): 12). Mean follow-up was 39.5 months (SD: 15.3). Staging included 50 T1a, 21 T1b, and 20 T2 tumors, including three metachronous second primaries. Radiation and/or laryngectomy avoidance was achieved in 87/88 (98.9%) of patients, inclusive of 24 patients requiring KTP re-treatments. Two patients had biopsy-proven recurrence (2.3%), but only 21 of 24 re-treated patients received a formal biopsy. No patients died from laryngeal cancer. DSS and OS were 100% and 92.3%, respectively. The mean VHI-10 scores were 19.3 preoperatively, 3.8 at 6-months postop, and 3.8 at 2-years postop. Smokers had a longer interval to re-treatment ( P = .03), patients with T2 lesions had a shorter interval to re-treatment (0.02), and patients with T2 lesions presented with worse initial VHI-10 scores (0.002). Conclusions: A multi-institutional, retrospective case series of TLM-KTP ablation of EGC demonstrated excellent oncologic outcomes when close surveillance and proactive re-treatments were utilized. Disease-specific survival, overall survival, and vocal function were excellent. Additional studies are necessary to further analyze the merits and risks of this treatment approach.

AbstractBackgroundFrailty and decreased functional status are risk factors for adverse kidney transplant (KT) outcomes. Our objective was to examine the efficacy of an exercise intervention on frailty and decreased functional status in a cohort of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsWe conducted a prospective study involving 21 adults with ≥stage 4 CKD who were (a) frail or pre‐frail by Fried phenotype and/or (b) had lower extremity impairment [short physical performance battery score ≤10]. The intervention consisted of two supervised outpatient exercise sessions per week for 8 weeks.ResultsAmong our cohort, median participant age was 62 years (interquartile range, 53‐67) and 85.7% had been evaluated for KT. Following the study, participants reported satisfaction with the intervention and multiple frailty parameters improved significantly, including fatigue, physical activity, walking time, and grip strength. Lower extremity impairment also improved (90.5%‐61.9%, P = .03). No study‐related adverse events occurred.ConclusionsPreliminary data from this study suggest that a supervised, outpatient exercise intervention is safe, acceptable, feasible, and associated with improved frailty parameters, and lower extremity function, in patients with advanced CKD. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine whether this prehabilitation strategy improves KT outcomes.

Objectives:To determine the radial nerve palsy (RNP) rate and predictors of injury after humeral nonunion repair in a large multicenter sample.Design:Consecutive retrospective cohort review.Setting:Eighteen academic orthopedic trauma centers.Patients/Participants:Three hundred seventy-nine adult patients who underwent humeral shaft nonunion repair. Exclusion criteria were pathologic fracture and complete motor RNP before nonunion surgery.Intervention:Humeral shaft nonunion repair and assessment of postoperative radial nerve function.Main Outcome:Measurements: Demographics, nonunion characteristics, preoperative and postoperative radial nerve function and recovery.Results:Twenty-six (6.9%) of 379 patients (151 M, 228 F, ages 18–93 years) had worse radial nerve function after nonunion repair. This did not differ by surgical approach. Only location in the middle third of the humerus correlated with RNP (P= 0.02). A total of 15.8% of patients with iatrogenic nerve injury followed for a minimum of 12 months did not resolve. For those who recovered, resolution averaged 5.4 months. On average, partial/complete palsies resolved at 2.6 and 6.5 months, respectively. Sixty-one percent (20/33) of patients who presented with nerve injury before their nonunion surgery resolved.Conclusion:In a large series of patients treated operatively for humeral shaft nonunion, the RNP rate was 6.9%. Among patients with postoperative iatrogenic RNP, the rate of persistent RNP was 15.8%. This finding is more generalizable than previous reports. Midshaft fractures were associated with palsy, while surgical approach was not.Level of Evidence:Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.