Latest Clinical & Research News
Specialty: Orthopaedic Surgery
While men continue to greatly outnumber women in the field of orthopaedic surgery, especially in the subspecialty of hip and knee joint replacement, a recent study shows they do not have fewer post-surgical complications than their female colleagues.
Since 2019, Antonia F. Chen, MD, MBA, and several orthopaedic surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have been performing partial and total knee replacements using robotic-arm assisted surgery.
Affecting more than half of adults in the United States, low back pain, osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal trauma are the three most common musculoskeletal conditions leading to emergency department and physician visits and hospital stays. Nearly $800 billion, or about 5 percent of the U.S. economy, goes towards diagnosing, treating and managing musculoskeletal conditions.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital is using an innovative digital care platform to manage patients undergoing total hip and knee replacement surgery. Used by several surgeons, including Jeffrey K. Lange, MD, the digital tool enhances clinicians’ ability to deliver comprehensive care around the time of joint replacement surgery by educating, monitoring, and communicating with patients from scheduling to recovery.
Ronald L. Neppl, PhD, a molecular biologist in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, studies the molecular mechanisms that regulate the balance between anabolic and catabolic processes, and how imbalances in these physiological processes may lead to muscle atrophy.
For years, the American College of Surgeons has recommended that elderly patients undergo a geriatric assessment prior to total joint replacement, but many orthopaedic departments in the United States have been slow to adopt the practice.
In March, the Hip Society presented the 2019 Frank Stinchfield Award to Richard Iorio, MD, and his co-authors, honoring research that compared prosthetic joint infection (PJI) complication rates between the direct anterior approach (DA) and the non-anterior (NA) approach.
For over a decade, the Foot and Ankle Service in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has conducted research that places a strong emphasis on optimizing perioperative care for foot and ankle surgery patients.
In March, the Hip Society presented the 2019 Otto Aufranc Award to Antonia Chen, MD, MBA and her colleagues, honoring their research on opioid usage. Dr. Chen is the senior author of the award-winning paper, “Cluster-Randomized Trial of Opiate-Sparing Analgesia after Discharge from Elective Hip Surgery.”
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For patients with spinal metastases, it remains challenging for providers to choose between operative and nonoperative treatments, especially when life expectancy and quality of life are difficult to predict. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Andrew J. Schoenfeld, MD, MSc, and investigators in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, are using the New England Spinal Metastasis Score (NESMS) to navigate this complex decision-making process.
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