This study aimed to evaluate the impact on length of hospital stay from dedicated infectious diseases input for orthopaedic infection patients compared to sporadic infection specialist input. We conducted an observational cohort study of 157 adults with orthopaedic infections at a teaching hospital in the UK. The orthopaedic infections included were: osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, infected metalwork and prosthetic joint infections, and adults were aged 18 years or more. Prior to August 2016, advice on orthopaedic infection patients was adhoc with input principally from the on-call infectious diseases registrar and phone calls to microbiology whereas after August 2016 these patients received regular input from dedicated infectious diseases doctor(s). The dedicated input involved bedside reviews, medical management, correct antimicrobial prescribing, managing adverse drug reactions, increased use of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services especially self-administration of intravenous antibiotics and shared decision-making for treatment failure, whilst remaining under orthopaedic team care. Orthopaedic patients operated on for management of their infection between 29/8/16 and 15/3/17 were prospectively identified and orthopaedic operation records were used to retrospectively identified patients between 29/8/15 and 15/3/16. The length of stay was compared between the 2 groups.Aim
Method
Subluxation of the hip is common in patients with intermediate spinal muscular atrophy. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the influence of surgery on pain and function, as well as the natural history of subluxed hips which were treated conservatively. Thirty patients were assessed clinically and radiologically. Of the nine who underwent surgery only one reported satisfaction and four had recurrent subluxation. Of the 21 patients who had no surgery, 18 had subluxation at the latest follow-up, but only one reported pain in the hip. We conclude that surgery for subluxation of the hip in these patients is not justified.
