Early hip fracture surgery is safe for patients on direct oral anticoagulants

Abstract. Objectives:. To determine how preoperative direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use affects rates of blood transfusion, clinically important blood loss, and 30-day mortality in patients with hip fracture undergoing surgery within 48 hours of presentation to the emergency department. Design:. Retrospective cohort study. Setting:. Academic trauma center. Patients:. A total of 535 patients with hip fracture who underwent open cephalomedullary nail fixation or arthroplasty either taking a direct oral anticoagulant or no form of chemical anticoagulant/antiplatelet agent before presentation (control). Main Outcome Measures:. Demographics, time to surgery, type of surgery, blood transfusion requirement, clinically important blood loss, and 30-day mortality. Results:. Forty-one patients (7.7%) were taking DOACs. DOAC patients were older (81.7 vs. 77 years, P = 0.02) and had higher BMI (26.9 vs. 24.2 kg/m2, P = 0.01). Time from admission to surgery was similar between DOAC users (20.1 hours) and the control (18.7 hours, P > 0.4). There was no difference in receipt of blood transfusion (P = 0.4), major bleeding diagnosis (P = 0.2), acute blood loss anemia diagnosis (P = 0.5), and 30-day mortality (P = 1) between the DOAC and control group. This was true when stratifying by type of surgery as well. Conclusions:. Our results suggest that early surgery may be safe in patients with hip fracture taking DOACs despite theoretical risk of increased bleeding. Because early surgery has previously been associated with decreased morbidity and mortality, we suggest that hip fracture surgery should not be delayed because a patient is taking direct oral anticoagulants. Level of Evidence:. Prognostic Level III

Web-based patient portal access in an orthopedic adult reconstruction patient population

Background: We surveyed patients in an adult reconstruction practice as to their use of the Web-based portal provided by our electronic health record, seeking to reveal patterns of use and helpfulness. Methods: A total of 150 completed surveys were received. The survey queried demographics, the number of clinic visits, Internet access, portal activation, portal use frequency, and portal information questions and how patients answered them. Helpfulness was rated from 1 (not helpful) to 5 (very helpful). Statistical analysis included bivariate analysis and logistic regression, with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) reported. Results: The mean age was 67.6 years. Most were females (n = 97, 65.1%). Most (68.7%) patients used the portal. Younger age (OR, 0.94; CI, 0.90-0.99) and access to Internet (OR, 31.8; CI, 8.5-119.4) predicted portal use (P .373). Of all, 47.5% of patients were unclear about online chart information. Older age indicated being unclear of portal information (68.5 vs 66, P = .0002). Of those who clarified doubts regarding information (n = 67), 23 used the Internet (34.3%), 32 (47.7%) called the physician, and 12 (17.9%) asked a friend and/or family member. Most (90.3%) patients felt the portal was helpful in gathering health information. Conclusions: Age and Internet access affected portal usage; ability to understand chart information decreased with age. Most patients used the Internet or a family member to clarify doubts regarding portal information. The use of portal data resulted in 32 extra communications to the physician. Keywords: Electronic, Patient portal, Online, Access, Persona

YouTube is a poor source of patient information for knee arthroplasty and knee osteoarthritis

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the educational quality of YouTube videos pertaining to total knee arthroplasty and knee osteoarthritis. Methods: A systematic search for the terms “knee replacement” and “knee arthritis” was performed using YouTube's search function. Data from the 60 most relevant videos were collected for each search term. Quality assessment checklists with a scale of 0 to 10 points were developed to evaluate the video content. Videos were grouped into poor quality (grade 0-3), acceptable quality (grade 4-7), and excellent quality (grade 8-10), respectively. Results: Overall, 106 videos were categorized. For videos regarding total knee arthroplasty (n = 50), 64% of videos were of poor educational quality (32/50), 28% were of acceptable quality (14/50), and 8% were of good educational quality (4/50). Common missing information included discussion of surgical complications and implant duration. For videos regarding knee arthritis (n = 56), 66% of videos were of poor educational quality (37/56), 32% were of acceptable quality (18/56), and 2% were of good educational quality. Common missing information were causes and risk factors for knee arthritis and long-term prognosis. Conclusions: The present study suggests that YouTube is a poor educational source for patients regarding knee arthroplasty and knee arthritis. Recognizing the limitations of YouTube as well as which topics are not commonly presented may better guide physicians to educate their patients. Keywords: Internet, YouTube, Knee, Arthritis, Replacemen