AAOS endorses back pain guidelines

Michael H. Heggeness, MD, PhD

For the first time ever, the AAOS has endorsed clinical practice guidelines generated by another medical specialty society. At its meeting in June, the AAOS Board of Directors approved the endorsement of the American Pain Society’s Guideline on Management of Low Back Pain.

Update: PRP in Orthopaedics

Barbara D. Boyan, PhD

Platelet rich plasma (PRP) has been used clinically since the 1970s. Recent advances in methods for PRP preparation and use have made it possible for surgeons to take advantage of this concentrated form of growth factors and cytokines that are naturally present in blood clots. The concept is attractive because the patient’s own blood is used, limiting the potential for disease transmission. This is also a major limitation to the predictability of PRP as a therapeutic modality.

Quantifying impaired thumb movement in CTS

Jay D. Lenn

OREF grant recipient seeks new treatment approaches Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common hand disorder that affects an estimated 3.7 percent of the general population in the United States. Although the disorder rarely causes serious disability, it can disrupt common daily activities, require time off from work, and result in substantial medical expenses. Currently, a diagnosis of CTS relies largely on subjective, qualitative, or nonspecific methods.

Beyond the Decade: A new future

Joshua J. Jacobs, MD

Looking back and beyond as the Bone and Joint Decade draws to a close At the Bone and Joint Decade Global Network Conference, held in October 2009 in Washington, D.C., healthcare professionals and patient advocates from around the world, including the leaders of many orthopaedic societies, reached the following consensus: The Decade will continue, as will many of its programs.

OMeGA grants make the grade

Rhonda Taira

Reports from the 21 residency programs that received OMeGA Medical Grants Association grants for the 2009–2010 academic year indicate that the OMeGA grant was either very effective (95.2 percent) or effective (4.8 percent) in helping achieve the program’s objectives. OMeGA’s residency/general education grants are intended to help with a program’s basic needs. In 2009–2010, 71.4 percent of grant monies was used for visiting professors’ expenses, 23.8 percent was used for cadavers, and 4.

Sexual dimorphism and osteoarthritis: The role of leptin

E. Anne Ouellette, MD, MBA; Anna-Lena Makowski, HTL

The differences between men’s and women’s expression of hereditary osteoarthritis (OA) are now well known. Not only are women more often affected by OA than men, but obese women have a higher risk of OA developing than obese men do. The risk of OA development in obese individuals increases by between 9 percent and 13 percent per kilogram increase in body weight. Biomechanical factors are the major causes of OA in weight-bearing joints.

A bridge from bench to bedside

Annie Hayashi

ORS forum to focus on the past and future of orthopaedic clinical research Orthopaedic clinicians and researchers will conduct a one-day Clinical Research Forum: “Learning from the past, looking to the future,” at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) annual meeting on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, in Long Beach, Calif.