The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Nov 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialThe use of fibrin tissue adhesive to reduce blood loss and the need for blood transfusion after total knee arthroplasty. A prospective, randomized, multicenter study.
Total knee arthroplasty is associated with major postoperative blood loss of approximately 800 to 1200 milliliters, and blood transfusion is frequently required. With the increased concern about the risks of blood transfusion, various methods of blood conservation in orthopaedic surgery have been studied. The most appropriate solution, however, is to reduce the loss of blood during and after an operation. The present prospective, controlled, randomized study was designed to evaluate the hemostatic efficacy of the use of fibrin tissue adhesive in patients managed with total knee arthroplasty. ⋯ The use of fibrin tissue adhesive in total knee arthroplasty seems to be an effective and safe means with which to reduce blood loss and blood-transfusion requirements. Furthermore, the importance of these findings was enhanced by a significant reduction in blood loss, in the postoperative decrease in the level of hemoglobin, and in blood-transfusion requirements despite preoperative thromboprophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin.
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Oct 1997
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyQuality of data regarding diagnoses of spinal disorders in administrative databases. A multicenter study.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of data regarding diagnoses of spinal disorders in administrative databases at eight different institutions. The records of 189 patients who had been managed for a disorder of the lumbar spine were independently reviewed by a physician who assigned the appropriate diagnostic codes according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The age range of the 189 patients was seventeen to eighty-four years. ⋯ Other errors in coding were less frequent, but their implications for conclusions drawn from the information in administrative databases depend on the frequency of a diagnosis and its importance in an analysis. This study demonstrated that the accuracy of a diagnosis of a spinal disorder recorded in an administrative database varies according to the specific condition being evaluated. It is necessary to document the relative accuracy of specific ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes in order to improve the ability to validate the conclusions derived from investigations based on administrative databases.
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Nov 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialPrimary anterior dislocation of the shoulder in young patients. A ten-year prospective study.
Two hundred and forty-five patients who had had 247 primary anterior dislocations of the shoulder were followed for ten years in a multicenter study at twenty-seven Swedish hospitals. The ages of the patients at the time of the dislocation ranged from twelve to forty years. The patients were assigned to one of three treatment groups: immobilization with the arm tied with a bandage to the torso for three to four weeks after reduction of the dislocation; use of a sling, which was discontinued after the patient was comfortable; or immobilization for various durations. ⋯ Radiographs made for 208 shoulders at the ten-year follow-up examination were evaluated for post-dislocation arthropathy. Twenty-three shoulders (11 per cent) had mild arthropathy and eighteen (9 per cent) had moderate or severe arthropathy. Some of the shoulders that had arthropathy had had no recurrence.
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Jan 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialThe effects of recombinant human erythropoietin on perioperative transfusion requirements in patients having a major orthopaedic operation. The American Erythropoietin Study Group.
Two hundred patients who were scheduled for a major elective orthopaedic operation were enrolled in a prospective study and were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Group 1 consisted of sixty patients who received recombinant human erythropoietin, 300 international units per kilogram of body weight per day; Group 2, seventy-one patients who received recombinant human erythropoietin, 100 international units per kilogram of body weight per day; and Group 3, sixty-nine patients who received a placebo. A total of fifteen doses was given subcutaneously, beginning ten days before the operation and extending through the fourth postoperative day. ⋯ For patients who had a baseline hemoglobin level of more than 130 grams per liter, the two doses of recombinant human erythropoietin produced similar results, with 14 per cent (four) of the patients in Group 1 and 11 per cent (four) in Group 2 needing a transfusion; this was in contrast to a rate of transfusion of 36 per cent (fourteen) in Group 3 (the patients who received the placebo) (p = 0.03). The recombinant human erythropoietin was generally well tolerated, although one patient, who did not have a history of hypertension, had an increase in blood pressure, from a baseline level of 142/78 millimeters of mercury (18.93/10.40 kilopascals) to a level of 220/100 millimeters of mercury (29.33/13.33 kilopascals), after ten days of treatment with the higher dose. These data suggest that recombinant human erythropoietin, administered before and after major orthopaedic operations, can minimize the need for homologous red-blood-cell transfusion.