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Bacteriophages infect, replicate inside bacteria, and are released from the host through lysis. Here, we evaluate the effects of repetitive doses of the Staphylococcus aureus phage 191219 and gentamicin against haematogenous and early-stage biofilm implant-related infections in Galleria mellonella.

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Fracture-related infections (FRIs) are a devastating complication of fracture management. However, the impact of FRIs on mental health remains understudied. The aim of this study was a longitudinal evaluation of patients’ psychological state, and expectations for recovery comparing patients with recurrent FRI to those with primary FRI.

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The aim of this study was to determine the fracture haematoma (fxH) proteome after multiple trauma using label-free proteomics, comparing two different fracture treatment strategies.

Aims. Hand trauma, consisting of injuries to both the hand and the wrist, are a common injury seen worldwide. The global age-standardized incidence of hand trauma exceeds 179 per 100,000. Hand trauma may require surgical management and therefore result in significant costs to both healthcare systems and society. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common following all surgical interventions, and within hand surgery the risk of SSI is at least 5%. SSI following hand trauma surgery results in significant costs to healthcare systems with estimations of over £450 per patient. The World Health Organization (WHO) have produced international guidelines to help prevent SSIs. However, it is unclear what variability exists in the adherence to these guidelines within hand trauma. The aim is to assess compliance to the WHO global guidelines in prevention of SSI in hand trauma. Methods. This will be an international, multicentre audit comparing antimicrobial practices in hand trauma to the standards outlined by WHO. Through the Reconstructive Surgery Trials Network (RSTN), hand surgeons across the globe will be invited to participate in the study. Consultant surgeons/associate specialists managing hand trauma and members of the multidisciplinary team will be identified at participating sites. Teams will be asked to collect data prospectively on a minimum of 20 consecutive patients. The audit will run for eight months. Data collected will include injury details, initial management, hand trauma team management, operation details, postoperative care, and antimicrobial techniques used throughout. Adherence to WHO global guidelines for SSI will be summarized using descriptive statistics across each criteria. Discussion. The Hand and Wrist trauma: Antimicrobials and Infection Audit of Clinical Practice (HAWAII ACP) will provide an understanding of the current antimicrobial practice in hand trauma surgery. This will then provide a basis to guide further research in the field. The findings of this study will be disseminated via conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2024;5(4):361–366

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The aim of this study was to perform the first population-based description of the epidemiological and health economic burden of fracture-related infection (FRI).

Aims. This study aimed to investigate the risk of postoperative complications in COVID-19-positive patients undergoing common orthopaedic procedures. Methods. Using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Programme (NSQIP) database, patients who underwent common orthopaedic surgery procedures from 1 January to 31 December 2021 were extracted. Patient preoperative COVID-19 status, demographics, comorbidities, type of surgery, and postoperative complications were analyzed. Propensity score matching was conducted between COVID-19-positive and -negative patients. Multivariable regression was then performed to identify both patient and provider risk factors independently associated with the occurrence of 30-day postoperative adverse events. Results. Of 194,121 included patients, 740 (0.38%) were identified to be COVID-19-positive. Comparison of comorbidities demonstrated that COVID-19-positive patients had higher rates of diabetes, heart failure, and pulmonary disease. After propensity matching and controlling for all preoperative variables, multivariable analysis found that COVID-19-positive patients were at increased risk of several postoperative complications, including: any adverse event, major adverse event, minor adverse event, death, venous thromboembolism, and pneumonia. COVID-19-positive patients undergoing hip/knee arthroplasty and trauma surgery were at increased risk of 30-day adverse events. Conclusion. COVID-19-positive patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery had increased odds of many 30-day postoperative complications, with hip/knee arthroplasty and trauma surgery being the most high-risk procedures. These data reinforce prior literature demonstrating increased risk of venous thromboembolic events in the acute postoperative period. Clinicians caring for patients undergoing orthopaedic procedures should be mindful of these increased risks, and attempt to improve patient care during the ongoing global pandemic. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2023;4(9):704–712

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This is a multicentre, prospective assessment of a proportion of the overall orthopaedic trauma caseload of the UK. It investigates theatre capacity, cancellations, and time to surgery in a group of hospitals that is representative of the wider population. It identifies barriers to effective practice and will inform system improvements.

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The aim of this investigation was to compare risk of infection in both cemented and uncemented hemiarthroplasty (HA) as well as in total hip arthroplasty (THA) following femoral neck fracture.

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This study evaluated the definitions developed by the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS) 2021, the International Consensus Meeting (ICM) 2018, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) 2013, for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).

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Despite multiple trials and case series on hip hemiarthroplasty designs, guidance is still lacking on which implant to use. One particularly deficient area is long-term outcomes. We present over 1,000 consecutive cemented Thompson’s hemiarthroplasties over a ten-year period, recording all accessible patient and implant outcomes.

Aims. This observational cross-sectional study aimed to answer the following questions: 1) how has nonunion incidence developed from 2009 to 2019 in a nationwide cohort; 2) what is the age and sex distribution of nonunions for distinct anatomical nonunion localizations; and 3) how high were the costs for surgical nonunion treatment in a level 1 trauma centre in Germany?. Methods. Data consisting of annual International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 diagnosis codes from German medical institutions from 2009 to 2019, provided by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), were analyzed. Nonunion incidence was calculated for anatomical localization, sex, and age groups. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were determined and compared with a two-sample z-test. Diagnosis-related group (DRG)-reimbursement and length of hospital stay were retrospectively retrieved for each anatomical localization, considering 210 patients. Results. In 2019, a total of 11,840 nonunion cases (17.4/100,000 inhabitants) were treated. In comparison to 2018, the incidence of nonunion increased by 3% (IRR 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 1.99, p = 0.935). The incidence was higher for male cases (IRR female/male: 0.79, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.82, p = 0.484). Most nonunions occurred at the pelvic and hip region (3.6/100,000 inhabitants, 95% CI 3.5 to 3.8), followed by the ankle and foot as well as the hand (2.9/100,000 inhabitants each). Mean estimated DRG reimbursement for in-hospital treatment of nonunions was highest for nonunions at the pelvic and hip region (€8,319 (SD 2,410), p < 0.001). Conclusion. Despite attempts to improve fracture treatment in recent years, nonunions remain a problem for orthopaedic and trauma surgery, with a stable incidence throughout the last decade. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2022;11(8):541–547

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Preprint servers allow authors to publish full-text manuscripts or interim findings prior to undergoing peer review. Several preprint servers have extended their services to biological sciences, clinical research, and medicine. The purpose of this study was to systematically identify and analyze all articles related to Trauma & Orthopaedic (T&O) surgery published in five medical preprint servers, and to investigate the factors that influence the subsequent rate of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Aims. Hand trauma accounts for one in five of emergency department attendances, with a UK incidence of over five million injuries/year and 250,000 operations/year. Surgical site infection (SSI) in hand trauma surgery leads to further interventions, poor outcomes, and prolonged recovery, but has been poorly researched. Antimicrobial sutures have been recognized by both the World Health Organization and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence as potentially effective for reducing SSI. They have never been studied in hand trauma surgery: a completely different patient group and clinical pathway to previous randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of these sutures. Antimicrobial sutures are expensive, and further research in hand trauma is warranted before they become standard of care. The aim of this protocol is to conduct a feasibility study of antimicrobial sutures in patients undergoing hand trauma surgery to establish acceptability, compliance, and retention for a definitive trial. Methods. A two-arm, multicentre feasibility RCT of 116 adult participants with hand and wrist injuries, randomized to either antimicrobial sutures or standard sutures. Study participants and outcome assessors will be blinded to treatment allocation. Outcome measures will be recorded at baseline (preoperatively), 30 days, 90 days, and six months, and will include SSI, patient-reported outcome measures, and return to work. Conclusion. This will inform a definitive trial of antimicrobial sutures in the hand and wrist, and will help to inform future upper limb trauma trials. The results of this research will be shared with the medical community through high impact publication and presentation. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2022;3(7):529–535

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With the ageing population, fragility fractures have become one of the most common conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate whether microbiological outcomes and fracture-healing in osteoporotic bone is worse than normal bone with fracture-related infection (FRI).

Aims. The new COVID-19 variant was reported by the authorities of the UK to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 14 December 2020. We aim to describe the clinical characteristics and nosocomial infection rates in major trauma and orthopaedic patients comparing the first and second wave of COVID-19 infection. Methods. A retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected trauma database was reviewed at a level 1 major trauma centre from 1 December 2020 to 18 February 2021 looking at demographics, clinical characteristics, and nosocomial infections and compared to our previously published first wave data (26 January 2020 to 14 April 2020). Results. From 1 December 2020 to 18 February 2021, 522 major trauma patients were identified with a mean age of 54.6 years, and 53.4% (n = 279) were male. Common admissions were falls (318; 60.9%) and road traffic accidents (RTAs; 71 (13.6%); 262 of these patients (50.2%) had surgery. In all, 75 patients (14.4%) tested positive for COVID-19, of which 51 (68%) were nosocomial. Surgery on COVID-19 patients increased to 46 (61.3%) in the second wave compared to 13 (33.3%) in the first wave (p = 0.005). ICU admissions of patients with COVID-19 infection increased from two (5.1%) to 16 (20.5%), respectively (p = 0.024). Second wave mortality was 6.1% (n = 32) compared to first wave of 4.7% (n = 31). Cardiovascular (CV) disease (35.9%; n = 14); p = 0.027) and dementia (17.9%; n = 7); p = 0.030) were less in second wave than the first. Overall, 13 patients (25.5%) were Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME), and five (9.8%) had a BMI > 30 kg/m. 2. The mean time from admission to diagnosis of COVID-19 was 13.9 days (3 to 44). Overall, 12/75 (16%) of all COVID-19 patients died. Conclusion. During the second wave, COVID-19 infected three-times more patients. There were double the number of operative cases, and quadruple the cases of ICU admissions. The patients were younger with less dementia and CV disease with lower mortality. Concomitant COVID-19 and the necessity of major trauma surgery showed 13% mortality in the second wave compared with 15.4% in the first wave. In contrast to the literature, we showed a high percentage of nosocomial infection, normal BMI, and limited BAME infections. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(8):661–670

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We aimed to evaluate the long-term impact of fracture-related infection (FRI) on patients’ physical health and psychological wellbeing. For this purpose, quality of life after successful surgical treatment of FRIs of long bones was assessed.

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The primary objective was to determine the incidence of COVID-19 infection and 30-day mortality in patients undergoing foot and ankle surgery during the global pandemic. Secondary objectives were to determine if there was a change in infection and complication profile with changes introduced in practice.