Surgery (St Vincent's) - Research Publications
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ItemArthroplasty information on the internet(The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery, 2020-04)Aims: Total joint replacement (TJR) is a high-cost, high-volume procedure that impacts patientsā quality of life. Informed decisions are important for patients facing TJR. The quality of information provided by websites regarding TJR is highly variable. We aimed to measure the quality of TJR information online. Methods: We identified 10,800 websites using 18 TJR-related keywords (conditions and procedures) across the Australian, French, German and Spanish Google search engines. We used the Health on the Net (HON) toolbar to evaluate the first 150 websites downloaded for every keyword in each language. The quality of information on websites was inspected, accounting for differences by language and tertiles. We also undertook an analysis of English websites to explore types of website providers. Results: āTotal joint replacementā had the most results returned (150 million websites), and 9% of websites are HON-accredited. Differences in information quality were seen across search terms (p < 0.001) and tertiles (p < 0.001), but not between languages (p = 0.226). A larger proportion of HON-accredited websites were seen from keywords in the condition and arthroplasty categories. The first tertile contained the highest number of HON-accredited websites for the majority of search terms. Government/educational bodies sponsored the majority of websites. Conclusion: Clinicians must consider the shortage of websites providing validated information, with disparities in both number and quality of websites for TJR conditions and procedures. As such, the challenge for clinicians is to lead the design of reliable, accurate and ethical orthopaedic websites online and direct patients to them. This stands to reward both parties greatly.
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ItemWhat are the core recommendations for gout management in first line and specialist care? Systematic review of clinical practice guidelines(SPRINGERNATURE, 2023-06-15)BACKGROUND: Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis, increasing in prevalence and burden. Of the rheumatic diseases, gout is the best-understood and potentially most manageable condition. However, it frequently remains untreated or poorly managed. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) regarding gout management, evaluate their quality, and to provide a synthesis of consistent recommendations in the high-quality CPGs. METHODS: Gout management CPGs were eligible for inclusion if they were (1) written in English and published between January 2015-February 2022; focused on adults agedāā„ā18 years of age; and met the criteria of a CPG as defined by the Institute of Medicine; and (2) were rated as high quality on the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Gout CPGs were excluded if they required additional payment to access; only addressed recommendations for the system/organisation of care and did not include interventional management recommendations; and/or included other arthritic conditions. OvidSP MEDLINE, Cochrane, CINAHL, Embase and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and four online guideline repositories were searched. RESULTS: Six CPGs were appraised as high quality and included in the synthesis. Clinical practice guidelines consistently recommended education, commencement of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, colchicine or corticosteroids (unless contraindicated), and assessment of cardiovascular risk factors, renal function, and co-morbid conditions for acute gout management. Consistent recommendations for chronic gout management were urate lowering therapy (ULT) and continued prophylaxis recommended based on individual patient characteristics. Clinical practice guideline recommendations were inconsistent on when to initiate ULT and length of ULT, vitamin C intake, and use of pegloticase, fenofibrate and losartan. CONCLUSION: Management of acute gout was consistent across CPGs. Management of chronic gout was mostly consistent although there were inconsistent recommendations regarding ULT and other pharmacological therapies. This synthesis provides clear guidance that can assist health professionals to provide standardised, evidence-based gout care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol for this review was registered with Open Science Framework (DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UB3Y7 ).
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ItemElectronic medical records-a disappointing mirage for clinicians and research(Wiley, 2023-08-19)
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePatients' Views on AI for Risk Prediction in Shared Decision-Making for Knee Replacement Surgery: Qualitative Interview Study(JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC, 2023-09-18)BACKGROUND: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in decision-making around knee replacement surgery is increasing, and this technology holds promise to improve the prediction of patient outcomes. Ambiguity surrounds the definition of AI, and there are mixed views on its application in clinical settings. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to explore the understanding and attitudes of patients who underwent knee replacement surgery regarding AI in the context of risk prediction for shared clinical decision-making. METHODS: This qualitative study involved patients who underwent knee replacement surgery at a tertiary referral center for joint replacement surgery. The participants were selected based on their age and sex. Semistructured interviews explored the participants' understanding of AI and their opinions on its use in shared clinical decision-making. Data collection and reflexive thematic analyses were conducted concurrently. Recruitment continued until thematic saturation was achieved. RESULTS: Thematic saturation was achieved with 19 interviews and confirmed with 1 additional interview, resulting in 20 participants being interviewed (female participants: n=11, 55%; male participants: n=9, 45%; median age: 66 years). A total of 11 (55%) participants had a substantial postoperative complication. Three themes captured the participants' understanding of AI and their perceptions of its use in shared clinical decision-making. The theme Expectations captured the participants' views of themselves as individuals with the right to self-determination as they sought therapeutic solutions tailored to their circumstances, needs, and desires, including whether to use AI at all. The theme Empowerment highlighted the potential of AI to enable patients to develop realistic expectations and equip them with personalized risk information to discuss in shared decision-making conversations with the surgeon. The theme Partnership captured the importance of symbiosis between AI and clinicians because AI has varied levels of interpretability and understanding of human emotions and empathy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who underwent knee replacement surgery in this study had varied levels of familiarity with AI and diverse conceptualizations of its definitions and capabilities. Educating patients about AI through nontechnical explanations and illustrative scenarios could help inform their decision to use it for risk prediction in the shared decision-making process with their surgeon. These findings could be used in the process of developing a questionnaire to ascertain the views of patients undergoing knee replacement surgery on the acceptability of AI in shared clinical decision-making. Future work could investigate the accuracy of this patient group's understanding of AI, beyond their familiarity with it, and how this influences their acceptance of its use. Surgeons may play a key role in finding a place for AI in the clinical setting as the uptake of this technology in health care continues to grow.
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ItemDoes a consumer co-designed infographic increase knowledge of physical activity after total knee joint replacement? A randomised controlled trial(WILEY, 2023-12)PURPOSE: To determine if a consumer co-designed infographic increased knowledge of physical activity and self-efficacy for exercise after total knee joint replacement surgery. METHODS: Forty-four adults with primary knee joint replacement surgery were recruited from a public and a private hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Participants were randomly allocated to an experimental or control group. The experimental group received a consumer co-designed infographic. All participants received usual care. Primary outcome measures were knowledge of physical activity and self-efficacy for exercise. Outcomes were administered at baseline, week 1 and week 6. Semi-structured interviews with experimental group participants explored the acceptability, implementation and efficacy of the infographic. RESULTS: There were no between-group differences for knowledge of physical activity at week 1 (MD -0.02 units, 95% CI -0.9 to 0.9) or week 6 (MD 0.01 units, 95% CI -0.9 to 0.9). Self-efficacy for exercise increased at week 1 (MD 14.2 units, 95% CI 2.9-25.4) but was not sustained. Qualitative data showed that the infographic was embraced by some participants but not by others. CONCLUSIONS: A consumer co-designed infographic did not improve knowledge of physical activity but may have had a short-term positive effect on self-efficacy for exercise after knee joint replacement. Trial registration ACTRN12621000910808.
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ItemAssessing the Mortality Rate After Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: An Observational Study to Inform Future Economic Analysis(CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE INC MEDICAL PUBLISHERS, 2023-11)BACKGROUND: Previous research has focused on the perioperative or short-term (<1 year) mortality rate of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), leaving the long-term (>1 year) mortality rate unresolved. In this study, we calculated the mortality rate up to 15 years after primary TKA. METHODS: Data from the New Zealand Joint Registry from April 1998 to December 2021 were analyzed. Patients aged 45 years or older who underwent TKA for osteoarthritis were included. Mortality data were linked with national records from births, deaths, and marriages. To determine the expected mortality rates in the general population, age-sex-specific life tables from statistics New Zealand were used. Mortality rate was presented as standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) - a comparison of relative mortality rate between the TKA and general populations. In total, 98,156 patients with a median follow-up of 7.25 years (range, 0.00 to 23.74) were included. RESULTS: Over the entire follow-up period, 22,938 patients (23.4%) had died. The overall SMR for the TKA cohort was 1.08 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.09), suggesting that TKA patients have an 8% higher mortality rate compared to the general population. However, a reduction in short-term mortality rate was observed for TKA patients up to 5 years post TKA (SMR 5 years post TKA; 0.59 95% CI: 0.57 to 0.60]). On the contrary, a significantly increased long-term mortality rate was observed in TKA patients with greater than 11 years of follow-up, particularly in men over the age of 75 years (SMR 11 to 15 years post TKA for males ā„ 75 years; 3.13 [95% CI: 2.95 to 3.31]). CONCLUSION: The results suggest a reduction in short-term mortality rate for patients who undergo primary TKA. However, there is an increased long-term mortality rate particularly in men over the age of 75 years. Importantly, the mortality rates observed in this study cannot be causally attributed to TKA alone.
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ItemDifferences in Outcomes Between Initial Responders and Subsequent Responders to Health Questionnaires for Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: An Australian Tertiary Institutional Registry Study(CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE INC MEDICAL PUBLISHERS, 2023-12)BACKGROUND: Patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) questionnaires in national arthroplasty registries often have low response rates leading to questions about data reliability. In Australia, the SMART (St. Vincent's Melbourne Arthroplasty Outcomes) registry captures all elective total hip (THA) and total knee (TKA) arthroplasty patients with an approximate 98% response rate for preoperative and 12-month PROM scores. This high response rate is due to dedicated registry staff following up patients who do not initially respond (subsequent responders). This study compared initial responders to subsequent responders to find differences in 12-month PROM outcomes for THA and TKA. METHODS: All elective THA and TKA patients for osteoarthritis from 2012 to 2021 captured by the SMART registry were included. In total, 1,333 THA and 1,340 TKA patients were included. The PROM scores were assessed using the Veterans-RAND 12 (VR12) and Western Ontario and McMasters Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaires. The primary outcome was differences in mean 12-month PROM scores between initial and subsequent responders. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics and PROM scores were similar between initial and subsequent responders. However, 12-month PROM scores varied significantly. The adjusted mean difference showed that for the WOMAC pain score, subsequent responders scored 3.4 points higher in the THA cohort and 7.4 points higher in the TKA cohort compared to initial responders. Significant differences were also found in other WOMAC and VR12 scores for both THA and TKA cohorts at the 12-month timepoint. CONCLUSION: This study found that significant differences in PROM outcomes postsurgery occurred in THA and TKA patients based on response to PROM questionnaires, suggesting that loss to follow-up in PROM outcomes should not be treated as missing completely at random (MCAR).
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ItemIn the Dark About Physical Activity - Exploring Patient Perceptions of Physical Activity After Elective Total Knee Joint Replacement: A Qualitative Study(WILEY, 2022-06)OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to explore patient perceptions of and motivations for physical activity after total knee joint replacement. METHODS: Participants were purposively sampled after completing a public outpatient rehabilitation exercise group. Semistructured interviews were completed with 22 participants (mean age 70āyears, 45% women) 6 to 12 months after total knee joint replacement. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Themes were identified by an inductive and iterative process of data analysis. RESULTS: The main theme to emerge was participants were in the dark about physical activity. Participants were typically not familiar with physical activity guidelines and had difficulty distinguishing between low- and moderate-intensity physical activity. Three subthemes were identified: 1) people prioritize participation in meaningful life situations after total knee joint replacement, 2) rehabilitation was perceived to not explicitly address moderate-intensity physical activity levels, and 3) other health and social reasons replaced knee osteoarthritis as barriers to physical activity. CONCLUSION: Limited understanding of physical activity recommendations, prioritization of participation in meaningful life situations, rehabilitation that was impairment focused, and other health and social reasons appeared to contribute to low levels of moderate-intensity physical activity in adults after knee joint replacement. Addressing being in the dark about physical activity may be an important first step to increase the effectiveness of behavioral interventions designed to promote physical activity after total knee joint replacement.
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ItemElective surgery system strengthening: development, measurement, and validation of the surgical preparedness index across 1632 hospitals in 119 countries(ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2022-11-05)BACKGROUND: The 2015 Lancet Commission on global surgery identified surgery and anaesthesia as indispensable parts of holistic health-care systems. However, COVID-19 exposed the fragility of planned surgical services around the world, which have also been neglected in pandemic recovery planning. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel index to support local elective surgical system strengthening and address growing backlogs. METHODS: First, we performed an international consultation through a four-stage consensus process to develop a multidomain index for hospital-level assessment (surgical preparedness index; SPI). Second, we measured surgical preparedness across a global network of hospitals in high-income countries (HICs), middle-income countries (MICs), and low-income countries (LICs) to explore the distribution of the SPI at national, subnational, and hospital levels. Finally, using COVID-19 as an example of an external system shock, we compared hospitals' SPI to their planned surgical volume ratio (SVR; ie, operations for which the decision for surgery was made before hospital admission), calculated as the ratio of the observed surgical volume over a 1-month assessment period between June 6 and Aug 5, 2021, against the expected surgical volume based on hospital administrative data from the same period in 2019 (ie, a pre-pandemic baseline). A linear mixed-effects regression model was used to determine the effect of increasing SPI score. FINDINGS: In the first phase, from a longlist of 103 candidate indicators, 23 were prioritised as core indicators of elective surgical system preparedness by 69 clinicians (23 [33%] women; 46 [67%] men; 41 from HICs, 22 from MICs, and six from LICs) from 32 countries. The multidomain SPI included 11 indicators on facilities and consumables, two on staffing, two on prioritisation, and eight on systems. Hospitals were scored from 23 (least prepared) to 115 points (most prepared). In the second phase, surgical preparedness was measured in 1632 hospitals by 4714 clinicians from 119 countries. 745 (45Ā·6%) of 1632 hospitals were in MICs or LICs. The mean SPI score was 84Ā·5 (95% CI 84Ā·1-84Ā·9), which varied between HIC (88Ā·5 [89Ā·0-88Ā·0]), MIC (81Ā·8 [82Ā·5-81Ā·1]), and LIC (66Ā·8 [64Ā·9-68Ā·7]) settings. In the third phase, 1217 (74Ā·6%) hospitals did not maintain their expected SVR during the COVID-19 pandemic, of which 625 (51Ā·4%) were from HIC, 538 (44Ā·2%) from MIC, and 54 (4Ā·4%) from LIC settings. In the mixed-effects model, a 10-point increase in SPI corresponded to a 3Ā·6% (95% CI 3Ā·0-4Ā·1; p<0Ā·0001) increase in SVR. This was consistent in HIC (4Ā·8% [4Ā·1-5Ā·5]; p<0Ā·0001), MIC (2Ā·8 [2Ā·0-3Ā·7]; p<0Ā·0001), and LIC (3Ā·8 [1Ā·3-6Ā·7%]; p<0Ā·0001) settings. INTERPRETATION: The SPI contains 23 indicators that are globally applicable, relevant across different system stressors, vary at a subnational level, and are collectable by front-line teams. In the case study of COVID-19, a higher SPI was associated with an increased planned surgical volume ratio independent of country income status, COVID-19 burden, and hospital type. Hospitals should perform annual self-assessment of their surgical preparedness to identify areas that can be improved, create resilience in local surgical systems, and upscale capacity to address elective surgery backlogs. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery, NIHR Academy, Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel Research UK, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, and Medtronic.
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ItemAutomated elaborate resection planning for bone tumor surgery(SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2023-03)PURPOSE: Planning for bone tumor resection surgery is a technically demanding and time-consuming task, reliant on manual positioning of planar cuts in a virtual space. More elaborate cutting approaches may be possible through the use of surgical robots or patient-specific instruments; however, methods for preparing such a resection plan must be developed. METHODS: This work describes an automated approach for generating conformal bone tumor resection plans, where the resection geometry is defined by the convex hull of the tumor, and a focal point. The resection geometry is optimized using particle swarm, where the volume of healthy bone collaterally resected with the tumor is minimized. The approach was compared to manually prepared planar resection plans from an experienced surgeon for 20 tumor cases. RESULTS: It was found that algorithm-generated hull-type resections greatly reduced the volume of collaterally resected healthy bone. The hull-type resections resulted in statistically significant improvements compared to the manual approach (paired t test, pā<ā0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The described approach has potential to improve patient outcomes by reducing the volume of healthy bone collaterally resected with the tumor and preserving nearby critical anatomy.