Postoperative Management of Kirschner-Wire Fixation of All Phalangeal and Metacarpal Fractures at a Single Tertiary Care Center: A Retrospective Review.

Kirschner-wire (K-wire) fixation (KF) is the most common operative technique for hand fractures among Canadian plastic surgeons. However, postoperative rehabilitation varies widely and rely on low-quality studies and expert opinion. The study reviewed KFs of phalangeal and metacarpal fractures at a single academic center to quantify practice variation and patient outcomes.

Efficacy of Topical Antibiotic Powder Application in the Emergency Department on Reducing Deep Fracture-Related Infection in Type III Open Lower Extremity Fractures: A Multicenter Study.

Objectives: Deep fracture-related infections (FRIs) are a common complication of type III open lower extremity fractures, resulting in notable patient morbidity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether topical application of antibiotic (ABX) powder to type III open lower extremity fracture wounds upon presentation to the emergency department (ED) reduces the rate of FRI.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of ABX powder application compared with a historical cohort at 4 level 1 trauma centers.

High rate of complications with exchange nailing for femoral nonunions.

Objectives: To evaluate rates of nonunion repair, osseous healing, and outcomes in femoral nonunions with contemporary healing.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Five academic level 1 trauma centers.

Factors associated with failure of humerus nonunion surgery in patients with initial nonoperative management.

Objectives: To describe operative results after humerus nonunion surgery in patients whose initial humerus shaft fracture (OTA/AO code 12) was treated nonoperatively and to identify risk factors of nonunion surgery failure in the same population.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Nine academic level 1 trauma centers.

Do Percutaneously Applied Medial Proximal Tibia Plates Need To Go Beneath the Pes Tendons?

Background: Bicondylar tibial plateau fractures are often associated with significant soft tissue compromise making operative treatment challenging. Dual plating through a two-incision approach following temporary external fixation has been shown to improve complication rates although deep infection rates remain high.The objective was to evaluate early outcomes following a novel technique of percutaneous application of the medial plate superficial to the pes anserinus tendons.

Progression of Pilot Trials to Completed Randomized Controlled Trials in Plastic Surgery: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Well-designed pilot trials are essential in determining feasibility prior to initiating definitive randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and their implementation into clinical practice. The primary outcome of this study was to identify the number of pilot or feasibility studies in Plastic Surgery that progressed to a definitive RCT. Secondary outcomes included a) number of pilot studies expressing feasibility statements and outcomes and b) reporting quality.

Consecutive Microsurgical Cases Performed by Single Surgeon at a Canadian Tertiary Care Center: A Retrospective Review.

The practice of a microsurgeon evolves over time with experience, changes in clinical interest, and practice setting. Previous reports suggest that complication rates may be influenced by years of practice. The aim of this study was to analyze consecutive microsurgical cases performed by a single surgeon during the first half of their career in a broad microsurgical practice at a Canadian academic tertiary care center.

Outcomes Following Surgical Fixation of Upper Extremity Fractures in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Purpose: Moderate to severe (stage III-IV) chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) have been shown to be independent risk factors for sustaining a fragility fracture. High rates of complications and mortality are associated with fracture fixation in patients with CKD, but existing literature is limited. It is unknown how CKD stage III-IV or ESRD affects outcomes in upper-extremity fractures.

Outcomes Following Surgical Fixation of Distal Radius Fractures in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Purpose: Moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (CKD, stages III-IV) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD or CKD stage V) are known to be independent risk factors for fragility fracture. Altered bone and mineral metabolism contributes to greater complications and mortality rates in the setting of fractures, although most existing literature is limited to hip fractures. We hypothesized that patients with moderate-to-severe CKD or ESRD would have greater complication rates after surgical treatment of distal radius fractures compared with those without CKD.

An evaluation of the COVID-19 self-service digital contact tracing system in New Zealand.

Background: Digital contact tracing (DCT) aims to improve time-to-isolation (timeliness) and find more potentially exposed individuals (sensitivity) to enhance the utility of contact tracing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the public uptake of a DCT self-service survey and its integration with the Bluetooth exposure notification system within the New Zealand Covid Tracer App (NZCTA).

Methods: We adopted a retrospective cohort study design using community COVID-19 cases from February 2022 to August 2022 in New Zealand (1.

Use of Computed Tomography Angiography to Predict Complications in Tibia Fractures: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis.

Objectives: To assess the ability of computed tomography angiography identified infrapopliteal vascular injury to predict complications in tibia fractures that do not require vascular surgical intervention.

Design: Multicenter retrospective review.

Setting: Six Level I trauma centers.

Perioperative intravenous dexamethasone for patients undergoing colorectal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Dexamethasone is a glucocorticoid that is often administered intraoperatively as prophylaxis for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined its use in colorectal surgery. This systematic review aims to assess the postoperative impacts of dexamethasone use in colorectal surgery.

Effect of inactivated influenza vaccination on human coronavirus infection: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial in Hutterite colonies.

Background: Although influenza vaccines provide protection against influenza viruses, concern has been raised that they may increase susceptibility to non-influenza respiratory viruses. As pandemic lockdowns end, temporal overlap of circulation of seasonal influenza viruses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is expected. Understanding the impact of influenza vaccination on risk of coronavirus infection is therefore of considerable public health importance.

Sugammadex in Colorectal Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Traditionally, reversal of neuromuscular blocking agents following the completion of surgery was achieved with cholinesterase inhibitors. Recently, sugammadex has been increasingly relied upon. Sugammadex is a γ-cyclodextrin molecule that rapidly reverses steroidal neuromuscular blocking drugs.

Perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy: a case-based narrative review.

The periprocedural management of patients who are receiving vitamin K antagonists, direct oral anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapy is a common and challenging clinical scenario as the decision to interrupt or continue these medications is anchored on patient and procedure-related risks for bleeding and thrombosis. Adding to the complexity of clinical management is the fact that anticoagulants have varied pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and indications for clinical use. In many minimal-bleed-risk procedures, anticoagulants can be safely continued, without interruption, whereas in cases where anticoagulants cannot be safely continued, the timing of interruption and resumption, as well as the need for heparin bridging requires consideration.

Exploring the drivers and barriers to uptake for digital contact tracing.

Digital contact tracing has been deployed as a public health intervention to help suppress the spread of Covid-19 in many jurisdictions. However, most governments have struggled with low uptake and participation rates, limiting the effectiveness of the tool. This paper characterises a number of systems developed around the world, comparing the uptake rates for systems with different technology, data architectures, and mandates.

Complications With Surgical Treatment of Pediatric Supracondylar Humerus Fractures: Does Surgeon Training Matter?

Introduction: National trends reveal increased transfers to referral hospitals for surgical management of pediatric supracondylar humerus (SCH) fractures. This is partly because of the belief that pediatric orthopaedic surgeons (POs) deliver improved outcomes compared with nonpediatric orthopaedic surgeons (NPOs). We compared early outcomes of surgically treated SCH fractures between POs and NPOs at a single center where both groups manage these fractures.

Should policy makers trust composite indices? A commentary on the pitfalls of inappropriate indices for policy formation.

Background: This paper critically discusses the use and merits of global indices, in particular, the Global Health Security Index (GHSI; Cameron et al. https://www.ghsindex.

The Effect of Rotation on Intraoperative Fluoroscopic Evaluation of Hindfoot Alignment and How to Help Prevent Error.

Objective: Restoration of hindfoot alignment correlates with improved clinical and biomechanical outcomes after fracture care and reconstruction. Intraoperative assessment of alignment with fluoroscopy is challenging. This study was designed to determine the effect of rotation on the measurement of hindfoot alignment and to determine if any radiographic landmarks can be utilized to help surgeons identify appropriate rotation during intraoperative imaging.

Fusing Appearance and Spatio-Temporal Models for Person Re-Identification and Tracking.

Knowing who is where is a common task for many computer vision applications. Most of the literature focuses on one of two approaches: determining who a detected person is (appearance-based re-identification) and collating positions into a list, or determining the motion of a person (spatio-temporal-based tracking) and assigning identity labels based on tracks formed. This paper presents a model fusion approach, aiming towards combining both sources of information together in order to increase the accuracy of determining identity classes for detected people using re-ranking.

An evaluation of genetic causes and environmental risks for bilateral optic atrophy.

Purpose: To assess the clinical utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for the diagnosis of patients with optic atrophy (OA).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: 97 patients were referred to the McMaster University Medical Center (Hamilton, Ontario) for evaluation of bilateral OA.

The Military Extremity Trauma Amputation/Limb Salvage (METALS) Study: Outcomes of Amputation Compared with Limb Salvage Following Major Upper-Extremity Trauma.

Background: Severe upper-extremity injuries account for almost one-half of all extremity trauma in recent conflicts in the Global War on Terror. Few long-term outcomes studies address severe combat-related upper-extremity injuries. This study's objective was to describe long-term functional outcomes of amputation compared with those of limb salvage in Global War on Terror veterans who sustained severe upper-extremity injuries.

A Single RF Emitter-Based Indoor Navigation Method for Autonomous Service Robots.

Location-aware services are one of the key elements of modern intelligent applications. Numerous real-world applications such as factory automation, indoor delivery, and even search and rescue scenarios require autonomous robots to have the ability to navigate in an unknown environment and reach mobile targets with minimal or no prior infrastructure deployment. This research investigates and proposes a novel approach of dynamic target localisation using a single RF emitter, which will be used as the basis of allowing autonomous robots to navigate towards and reach a target.