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The purpose of this work was to provide a simple method to determine reactive strength during the 6-meter timed hop test (6mTH) and evaluate its association with isokinetic peak torque in patients following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Twenty-nine ACLR patients who were at least four months from surgery were included in this analysis. Participants were brought into the laboratory on one occasion to complete functional testing. Quadriceps and hamstring isokinetic testing was completed bilaterally at 60, 180, and 300 deg∙s-1, using extension peak torque from each speed as the outcome measure. The 6mTH was completed bilaterally using a marker-based motion capture system, and reactive strength ratio (RSR) was calculated from the vertical velocity of the pelvis during the test. An adjustment in RSR was made using the velocity of the 6mTH test to account for different strategies employed across participants. Repeated measures correlations were used to determine associations among isokinetic and hop testing variables. A two-way mixed analysis of variance was used to determine differences in isokinetic and hop testing variables between operated and non-operated legs and across male and female participants. Moderate positive associations were found between RSR (and adjusted RSR) and isokinetic peak torque at all speeds (r =.527 to.577). Mean comparisons showed significant main effects for leg and sex. Patients showed significant deficits in their operated versus non-operated legs in all isokinetic and hop testing variables, yet only isokinetic peak torque and timed hop time showed significant differences across male and female groups. Preliminary results are promising but further development is needed to validate other accessible technologies available to calculate reactive strength during functional testing after ACLR. Pending these developments, the effects of movement strategies, demographics, and levels of participation on RSR can then be explored to translate this simple method to clinical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) using the quadriceps tendon is an increasingly popular technique. Both partial-thickness quadriceps tendon (PT-Q) and full-thickness quadriceps tendon (FT-Q) graft depths are employed. Hypothesis/Purpose: This study was designed to assess isokinetic peak torque, average power, and total work during knee extension in patients with FT-Q or PT-Q grafts for ACLR. We hypothesized that both groups would show lower isokinetic values for the operated side, with greater deficits in the FT-Q group than in the PT-Q group. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 26 patients who underwent ACLR with either an FT-Q or PT-Q graft were recruited between June 2021 and November 2021. Patients underwent isokinetic knee extension testing at > 1 year after surgery. Mixed repeated-measures analysis of covariance with least square difference post hoc testing was used to determine significant differences or interactions for all variables. Results: Peak torque was significantly lower for the operated limb than the nonoperated limb in the FT-Q group (mean difference [MD] ± standard error [SE], −38.6 ± 8.3 Nċm [95% CI, −55.7 to −21.5 Nċm]; P <.001; d = 0.90) but not in the PT-Q group (MD ± SE, −7.3 ± 7.7 Nċm [95% CI, −23.2 to 8.5 Nċm]; P =.348; d = 0.20). Similarly, average power for the operated limb was lower than that for the nonoperated limb in the FT-Q group (MD ± SE, −53.6 ± 13.4 W [95% CI, −81.3 to −26.9 W]; P <.001; d = 0.88) but not in the PT-Q group (MD ± SE, –4.1 ± 12.4 W [95% CI, −29.8 to 21.5 W]; P =.742; d = 0.07), and total work was lower for the operated limb compared with the nonoperated limb in the FT-Q group (MD ± SE, −118.2 ± 27.1 J [95% CI, −174.3 to −62.2 J]; P <.001; d = 0.96) but not in the PT-Q group (MD ± SE, −18.3 ± 25.1 J [95% CI, −70.2 to 33.6 J]; P =.472; d = 0.15). Conclusion: The FT-Q group showed significant deficits in the operated limb compared with the nonoperated limb for all isokinetic variables. In contrast, no significant differences were found between the nonoperated and operated limbs for the PT-Q group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To contribute to future quadriceps tendon harvest and fixation guidelines in the setting of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by comparing 2-year patient-reported subjective knee outcome scores and incidence of graft-related complications between the shorter harvest all-inside tibial-femoral suspensory fixation (TFSF) approach versus the longer harvest standard tibial interference screw fixation technique.Methods: Patients who underwent primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with all soft tissue quadriceps tendon autograft from January 2017 to May 2019 were identified for inclusion. Patients were matched into 2 cohorts of 62 based on reconstruction technique. All patients completed baseline and minimum 2-year International Knee Documentation Committee, Tegner Activity Level, and Lysholm questionnaires and were queried regarding subsequent procedures and complications to the operative knee.Results: Average graft length for the all-inside TFSF was 69.55 (95% confidence interval 68.99-70.19) mm versus 79.27 (95% confidence interval 77.21-81.34) mm in the tibial screw fixation cohort (P = .00001). Two-year Lysholm scores were greater in the TFSF cohort (P = .04) but were not clinically significant. There was no difference in 2-year International Knee Documentation Committee (P = .09) or Tegner (P = .69) scores between cohorts, but more patients in the TFSF cohort returned to or exceeded their baseline activity level compared with the tibial screw fixation cohort (73% vs 61%, P = .25). Seven patients in the TFSF cohort versus 13 in the tibial screw fixation cohort reported anterior knee pain or kneeling difficulty (P = .22). There were no differences in reported complications.Conclusions: All-inside soft-tissue quadriceps tendon autograft with TFSF resulted in clinically comparable subjective outcome scores at 2 years to tibial screw fixation. There were also no differences in complications or reports of anterior knee pain or kneeling difficulty. All-inside TFSF can be a viable alternative to tibial screw fixation for all-soft tissue quadriceps autograft.Level Of Evidence: III, comparative therapeutic trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Orthopedic specialties have begun to embrace telehealth as an alternative to in-person visits. We have not found studies assessing telehealth in sports medicine. Our goal is to evaluate patient perception of telehealth in an orthopedic sports medicine practice. Methods: Institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained. The first 100 patients 18 years and older who had their initial videoconference telehealth appointment with our sports medicine providers from March to April 2020 were contacted at the conclusion of their visit. Surveys assessed satisfaction with telehealth, the provider, and whether attire played a role in their perception of the quality of the telehealth visit. Results: Patients on average stated excellent satisfaction with their visit (4.76 out of 5) and their provider (4.98 out of 5). Patients slightly disagreed with the notion that telehealth is equivalent to in-person provider visits (2.95 out of 5). This did not affect their perception to telehealth itself. It did not discourage patients from recommending telehealth or their provider to future patients. Patients overall felt that attire of the provider does not influence their opinion as to the standard of care they received. Returning patients versus new patient visits were more likely to recommend telehealth to others (4.83 vs. 4.56, p = 0.04). The responses from both groups were overwhelmingly positive. Conclusion: Telehealth is a viable clinic option in an orthopedic sports medicine clinic. Patients who have seen providers in-person previously are more likely to recommend telehealth versus new patients. New patients were satisfied with their telehealth experience. Level of Evidence:IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although claims of increased injury rates with Thursday night National Football League (NFL) games exist, a paucity of data exist substantiating these claims. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of rest between games on in-game injury rates as it pertains to overall injury incidence, location, and player position. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiologic study. Methods: Data were obtained from official NFL game books for regular season games from all 32 teams for the 2013-2016 seasons. All in-game injuries recorded in official game books were included. Rest periods between games were classified as short (4 days), regular (6-8 days), or long (≥10 days). Overall observed injury rates per team-game were analyzed in relation to different rest periods using negative binomial regression. For results with significant overall findings, pairwise comparisons were tested using the Wald chi-square test. Exploratory secondary analyses were performed in a similar fashion to assess differences in injury rates for the different rest periods when stratified by anatomic location and player position. Results: A total of 2846 injuries were identified throughout the 4 seasons. There was an overall significant difference in injuries per team-game between short, regular, and long rest (P =.01). With short rest, an observed mean of 1.26 injuries per game (95% CI, 1.06-1.49) was significantly different from the 1.53 observed injuries per game with regular rest (95% CI, 1.46-1.60; P =.03), but not compared with the 1.34 observed injuries per game with long rest (P =.56). For player position, only the tight end, linebacker, and fullback group demonstrated significant differences between the injury rates for different rest categories. Quarterback was the only position with more injuries during games played on Thursday compared with both regular and long rest. This specific analysis was underpowered and the difference was not significant (P =.08). No differences were found regarding injury rates in correlation with differences in rest periods with different injury locations. Conclusion: A short rest period between games is not associated with increased rates of observed injuries reported in NFL game books; rather, our data suggest there are significantly fewer injuries for Thursday night games compared with games played on regular rest. Future research correlating rest and quarterback injury rates is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tibial tubercle osteotomy (TTO) is a procedure that can be used as an alternative to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or to address patellar instability in patients experiencing dislocation events. The purpose of this paper is to systematically evaluate the most cited articles pertaining to TTO through bibliometric analysis., Methods: A search using the Web of Science database with keywords pertaining to TTO was conducted in April 2024. Articles with the most citations that met all inclusion criteria were analyzed to determine information such as level of evidence (LoE), article topic, journal of publication, year published, country of origin, and institution of origin., Results: The average number of citations was 79 (range of 42-334). The decade with the most publications was from 2010 to 2019 (n = 26; 52%). Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research was the journal with the largest number of published articles (n = 9, 18%). The United States (US) (n = 25; 50%) and France (n = 4; 8%) were the two countries with the most publications. Mayo Clinic (n = 3, 6 %), Ohio State University (n = 3, 6%), and Rush University (n = 3, 6%) were the institutions contributing the most articles. The LoE most reported was level 4 (n = 22; 44%). Topics were primarily related to clinical outcomes (n = 38; 76%)., Conclusion: This analysis revealed that most articles were related to clinical outcomes and have been published since 2000. By analyzing the characteristics of the most cited articles, an understanding of current research and identification of areas for further exploration can be determined for TTO., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Level of Evidence: III., Competing Interests: The authors, their immediate families, and any research foundation with which they are affiliated did not receive any financial payments or other benefits from any commercial entity related to the subject of this article. M.G.B discloses Arthrex: other financial or material support, paid consultant and LifeNet Health: paid consultant. The Manuscript submitted does not contain information about medical device(s) and/or drug(s). All authors significantly contributed to the document and have reviewed the final manuscript., (© 2024 Professor P K Surendran Memorial Education Foundation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.)

Background: Orthopedic specialties have begun to embrace telehealth as an alternative to in-person visits. We have not found studies assessing telehealth in sports medicine. Our goal is to evaluate patient perception of telehealth in an orthopedic sports medicine practice. Methods: Institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained. The first 100 patients 18 years and older who had their initial videoconference telehealth appointment with our sports medicine providers from March to April 2020 were contacted at the conclusion of their visit. Surveys assessed satisfaction with telehealth, the provider, and whether attire played a role in their perception of the quality of the telehealth visit. Results: Patients on average stated excellent satisfaction with their visit (4.76 out of 5) and their provider (4.98 out of 5). Patients slightly disagreed with the notion that telehealth is equivalent to in-person provider visits (2.95 out of 5). This did not affect their perception to telehealth itself. It did not discourage patients from recommending telehealth or their provider to future patients. Patients overall felt that attire of the provider does not influence their opinion as to the standard of care they received. Returning patients versus new patient visits were more likely to recommend telehealth to others (4.83 vs. 4.56, p  = 0.04). The responses from both groups were overwhelmingly positive. Conclusion: Telehealth is a viable clinic option in an orthopedic sports medicine clinic. Patients who have seen providers in-person previously are more likely to recommend telehealth versus new patients. New patients were satisfied with their telehealth experience. Level of Evidence: IV.

OBJECTIVE. Coronal tibiofemoral (TF) subluxation has generated interest in the last several years due to newfound clinical implications of its presence. However, controversy within the literature concerning how to measure and calculate coronal TF subluxation on radiographic imaging remains. The purpose of this study was to describe how coronal TF subluxation is being measured and calculated in the literature with the goal of describing a reproducible and validated technique for clinical adoption. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A PubMed literature search was performed in March 2020 according to PRISMA guidelines. The terms "tibiofemoral subluxation" and "tibial femoral subluxation" were included in the search. Criteria of interest included radiographic view and evaluation, anatomic landmarks used, and measurement validity. RESULTS. Review of relevant literature resulted in 744 articles, 16 of which met our inclusion criteria. A wide range of measuring techniques, anatomic landmarks, and radiographic views were used with varying validity. Full-limb radiographic views were the most common. Six studies measured the translation of the mechanical axes of the tibia and femur. Eight studies measured the translation of either femoral condyle in reference to the tibial plateau. Coordinate-based software with the iterative closest point algorithm was used in two studies. Whether coronal TF subluxation should be divided by tibial plateau width to account for knee size was controversial. CONCLUSION. A variety of approaches exist for diagnosing and quantifying coronal TF subluxation because of the lack of clear anatomic landmarks within the TF joint that can be used to measure coronal TF subluxation in the horizontal plane. Even when using the same anatomic landmarks, studies varied on how to measure coronal TF subluxation radiographically and whether knee size should be accounted for. Further studies are necessary to standardize (via inter- and intraobserver validation with a control group) an easy, reproducible, and minimally biased approach to measuring coronal TF subluxation on radiographic imaging. We believe our systematic review succinctly provides the necessary information to either develop such a tool or encourage future studies to compare existing techniques to find the most reliable and clinically useful approach for evaluating coronal TF subluxation.

Massive irreparable rotator cuff tears can be a challenging problem for arthroscopists in the perioperative setting because the typical treatment, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, may not be the best option for all patients. Superior capsular reconstruction (SCR) is an advancing treatment option for patients with rotator cuff tears that are neither amenable to primary repair nor ideal for arthroplasty. Patient selection, which is strongly dependent on preoperative imaging findings, is an important step in obtaining favorable surgical outcomes. The tissue quality and tear type are particularly important when considering SCR for a patient. When unsuccessful SCR is suspected, postoperative MRI of the shoulder offers the surgeon and radiologist a means of evaluating the integrity and fixation of the graft. Fluid-sensitive MRI sequences are best for examining the final SCR construct, with high-signal-intensity fluid interruptions within the graft and the presence or worsening of shoulder arthropathy indicating graft failure. The indications for SCR are discussed, and the normal postoperative MRI findings after SCR are described in this review. In addition, the common types of SCR graft failure and associated imaging findings are described and illustrated. © RSNA, 2020.

Football has the highest injury rate amongst popular American sports. Of those injuries that end seasons or careers, the knee is the most common culprit. This is of particular concern because knee injuries are most common in football. This article reviews 4 of the most common knee injuries in American football, with emphasis on epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment outcomes. The injuries reviewed are tears of the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament, medial patellofemoral ligament, and posterior cruciate ligament.

Lateral epicondylitis is a common cause of elbow pain, frequently responsive to nonoperative management. There are multiple operative techniques for persistently symptomatic patients who have exhausted conservative therapies. Little is known regarding US national trends in operative management of lateral epicondylitis. We conducted a study to investigate changes in use of ambulatory procedures for lateral epicondylitis. Cases of lateral epicondylitis were identified using the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery and were analyzed for trends in demographics and use of ambulatory surgery. Between 1994 and 2006, the population-adjusted rate of ambulatory surgical procedures increased from 7.29 to 10.44 per 100,000 capita. The sex-adjusted rate of surgery for lateral epicondylitis increased by 85% among females and decreased by 31% among males. Most patients were between ages 40 and 49 years, and the largest percentage increase in age-adjusted rates was found among patients older than 50 years (275%) between 1994 and 2006. Use of regional anesthesia increased from 17% in 1994 to 30% in 2006. Private insurance remained the most common payer. Awareness of the increasing use of ambulatory surgery for lateral epicondylitis may lead to changes in health care policies and positively affect patient care.

Background: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most frequently injured ligament in the knee for which surgery is performed. United States national estimates of ACL reconstruction vary widely., Purpose: This study sought to use the most recently available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data to investigate changes in the utilization of inpatient and ambulatory surgery for ACL tears in the United States., Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study., Methods: The National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery, conducted in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2006 (data from 1994, 1996, and 2006 were used in the study), and the National Hospital Discharge Survey, conducted between 1990 and 2007, were used to identify cases of ACL reconstruction. The data were analyzed for trends in demographics, treatment, and utilization., Results: Between 1994 and 2006, the population-adjusted estimate of the rate of ACL reconstructions increased by 37% (33.0/100,000 capita or 86,837 total procedures to 45.1/100,000 capita or 134,421 total procedures). There was an increase in the proportion of females undergoing reconstruction in both the ambulatory (30% to 40%) and inpatient (29% to 47%) settings over the study period, with a 304% increase in the sex-adjusted estimate of the rate of female ambulatory procedures between 1994 and 2006. Age-adjusted estimates of the rates of ambulatory ACL reconstruction increased among all age groups, with a 924% increase in patients less than 15 years of age. Concurrent meniscectomy remained relatively constant in the ambulatory (37% to 40%) and inpatient (37% to 33%) settings between 1994 and 2007. Private insurance was the largest compensator, representing 77% of cases in 2006. Between 1994 and 2006, the use of peripheral nerve blocks during ambulatory surgery increased from 0.7% to 30.8%., Conclusion: The rate of ACL reconstruction increased dramatically between 1990 and 2007 based on the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery and National Hospital Discharge Survey databases, which represents the most up-to-date publicly available data. Knowledge of this increase and national practice patterns may aid policy makers and surgeons in appropriately allocating health care resources to ensure quality patient care.