Editorial Commentary: Knee Lateral Femoral Osteochondral Allografts Are Not Recommended for Medial Femoral Condylar Defects: If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit,Don’t Wear It!

Treatment of large articular cartilage defects of the knee is challenging, particularly in young, high-demand patients. Osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation is a viable treatment option, providing fully mature articular cartilage during a single operation while avoiding donor site morbidity. Indications are symptomatic, full-thickness articular cartilage defects >3 cm². Contraindications include a “kissing” lesion of the corresponding articular cartilage surface, uncorrected ligamentous instability, malalignment, peripheral osteophytes, joint-space narrowing, or absence of >50% of the meniscus in the affected compartment. Matching for size and contour is crucial; therefore, we use medial femoral condyle (MFC) allografts for MFC lesions and lateral femoral condyle (LFC) allografts for LFC lesions, and do not recommend LFC grafts for the MFC. Survival rates are 78.7% and 72.8% at 10 and 15 years, respectively.     

Editorial Commentary: Suprascapular Nerve Decompression Can Be Effective,But Should You Have the Nerve to Do It?

Isolated suprascapular neuropathy that requires surgical decompression is rare. Arthroscopic suprascapular nerve decompression is an effective treatment for correctly indicated patients, but identifying which patients would benefit from decompression is challenging. While good outcomes and low complication rates after arthroscopic suprascapular nerve decompression have been reported by expert surgeons, this procedure has potential for neurovascular injury in inexperienced hands. Given the rarity of the condition, the difficulty with accurate diagnosis, and the potential risks from surgical intervention, we believe that these patients are best treated in a tertiary referral practice.     

Editorial Commentary: The All-Epiphyseal Anterior Cruciate Ligament Distal Femoral Approach: Sockets or Tunnels?

I believe that the distal femoral approach for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in the skeletally immature athlete with 3 to 6 years of remaining growth is best performed with an all-inside, all-epiphyseal technique using sockets rather than an outside-in approach creating tunnels. A shorter socket rather than a longer tunnel exposes a smaller surface area of the lateral distal femoral physis to potential compromise and resultant valgus malalignment. In addition, exiting the lateral femoral aspect of the epiphysis with a full-diameter tunnel as compared with a smaller diameter drill hole used to prepare a socket places the posterior articular cartilage, the lateral collateral ligament and anterolateral ligament footprints, and the popliteus tendon insertion at risk. My preference for sockets is also related to my belief that they provide a superior biologic milieu for graft incorporation compared with a full-length tunnel with the attendant violation of the lateral femoral cortex of the epiphysis.     

Editorial Commentary: Stabilize the Patella to Achieve Functional Gain but Don’t Neglect the Cartilage That May Cause Long-Term Pain! Trochlear Dysplasia Plays a Role in Both

While trochlear dysplasia is commonly discussed as a major risk factor for recurrent patellar instability, it also has a strong relationship with the development of patellofemoral cartilage lesions. Patellofemoral instability frequently occurs in teens and young adults, and the high prevalence of associated cartilage damage unfortunately sets patients up for the progression of degenerative changes of the patellofemoral joint at an early age. The judicious use of magnetic resonance imaging can help identify the presence of chondral lesions, allowing for urgent management of associated osteochondral fractures or open discussions and patient education about the possibility of performing a cartilage restoration procedure concurrently with patellar stabilization surgery. The location and presence of patellofemoral chondral lesions should be considered when contemplating the concurrent use of tibial tubercle osteotomy as part of the patellar stabilization procedure.     

Editorial Commentary: Urgency Toward Arthroscopic Bankart Repair Is Essential for Anterior Shoulder Dislocation: You Don’t Have to Fix After the First Dislocation,but Definitely Before the Second!

While still hotly debated, primary arthroscopic management of the first-time anterior shoulder dislocation has an extensive list of known benefits: lower overall health care costs, improved patient-reported outcomes, a vast reduction in secondary instability, and higher quality-of-life measures. Yet, despite these meaningful contributions to health care quality, we continue to bypass the predictable success of an acute arthroscopic Bankart repair in order to tempt fate with “a trial” of nonoperative care for our young, high-risk collision athletes. Whether for the in-season athlete, the “early responder” with limited apprehension, subluxations with spontaneous reduction, or those stoically committed to nonsurgical care, we as physicians are often complicit in this shared risk taking and ceremonial weighing of the risks and benefits for treatment options after primary shoulder instability. Even just 1 additional episode of instability recurrence can double (or triple) the rate of glenohumeral bone loss. Furthermore, subsequent anterior shoulder instability compromises subjective shoulder function, heightens risk of secondary recurrence and/or revision, and increases the likelihood of requiring more advanced surgical management, such as with a Latarjet or other anterior bone block procedure. We must maintain a sense of urgency toward surgical treatment, particularly in young, high-demand athletes with persistent instability. To parrot the wisdom of our shoulder mentors, hear my humble plea: you don’t have to fix the shoulder after the first anterior dislocation, but you should definitely do it before the second!     

Editorial Commentary: Arthroscopic Bankart Repair With Remplissage,Irrespective of Glenoid Bone Loss,May Be Advantageous Over Latarjet: Don’t Widen the Lane,Just Fill in the Pothole!

Anterior glenohumeral instability has an incidence of 21.9 individuals per 100,000 in the general population. When recurrent instability occurs, bone loss to the anteroinferior glenoid can occur. The concept of “on-track” and “off-track” Hill–Sachs lesions is significant in cases of bipolar bone loss, because if humeral-sided bony injury also requires treatment, a remplissage combined with arthroscopic Bankart repair (ABR) may be an alternative to a Latarjet procedure. The Latarjet often is touted as a “definitive,” because it adds bone to increase the glenoid surface area that the humeral head must travel to dislocate, and adds the dynamic “sling effect” of the conjoint tendon to further tension the lower part of the subscapularis in abduction and reduce anterior-directed forces. However, compared with ABR plus remplissage, Latarjet shows a greater risk of complications: as high as a 7.37 times relative risk. As an evidence-based surgeon who believes in the power of soft-tissue repair plus ABR, I prefer to avoid the increased complication risks of a primary Latarjet when possible. Also, my patients describe the postoperative shoulder as feeling more like the contralateral, unaffected shoulder after ABR than Latarjet.     

Editorial Commentary: When It Comes to Patient Outcome,Femoral Tunnel Vision May Miss the ‘Point’ in Knee Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction

Surgeons care deeply about optimizing femoral tunnel position in medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction. We use a combination of anatomy, isometry, and fluoroscopy to determine the appropriate position of our graft. Although malposition does increase the risk of surgical complication, it is unclear whether femoral tunnel position actually matters for clinical outcome. Surgeons should avoid “tunnel vision” in medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction by recognizing the combination of anatomic, biomechanical, patient-specific, and technique-dependent variables that may drive patient satisfaction and subjective outcome.     

Editorial Commentary: Working Around the Coracoid—The Lighthouse to the Shoulder

Working around the coracoid has now become commonplace in arthroscopic shoulder surgery. No longer is there a safe side and a “suicide”; therefore, it is important to recognize the potential for neurovascular injury when surgery is performed about the coracoid. Although safe zones and distances are important, when more complex procedures are performed arthroscopically, direct visualization and identification of neurovascular structures is critical in avoiding iatrogenic injury.     

Editorial Commentary: Save the Meniscal Root,Why Not?

The repair of the meniscal root in medial meniscal posterior root tears is receiving increasing interest as more and more research highlights the positive effects of this procedure on the biomechanical restoration of the meniscus. As a testament to the findings of these studies, an international consensus statement recently acknowledged, with several supporting findings from both biomechanical and clinical studies, the effectiveness of meniscal root repairs. Various root repair techniques have been developed with the overarching goal of restoring the structure and function of the meniscus. Yet several challenges such as obtaining robust and long-term healing of degenerative tissue and minimizing meniscal extrusion remain to be overcome.     

Editorial Commentary: How Far Can the Arthroscope Reach in the Ankle Joint?

Surgical access to pathology of the talar dome (e.g., osteochondral lesions of the talus) can be limited because of the ankle joint congruity. When considering arthroscopic treatment, anterior arthroscopy with the ankle in plantar flexion or posterior arthroscopy with the ankle in dorsiflexion is used. The surgeon should carefully assess different clinical and radiologic aspects to plan the optimal operative approach. Meticulous physical examination, including ankle range of motion and possible palpation of a talar lesion, in combination with exact lesion localization on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging usually provide sufficient preoperative information. Most lesions with the anterior border localized on or anterior to the midline of the talus are accessible by anterior arthroscopy. In the case of preoperative doubt concerning the intraoperative accessibility, a computed tomography scan of the ankle in full plantarflexion is used to mirror arthroscopic reachability. Intraoperative surgical tricks to increase accessibility to the lesion may consist of an adjunct soft-tissue distraction device, reduction of the distal tibial rim, and treating the lesion from anteriorly to posteriorly, thereby gaining further exposure to the lesion throughout the procedure.     

Does Patient Perception Differ Following Adductor Canal Block and Femoral Nerve Block in Total Knee Arthroplasty? A Simultaneous Bilateral Randomized Study

Background

Femoral nerve block (FNB) has been used as part of the multimodal analgesia after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but leads to weakness in the quadriceps muscles. Recently, adductor canal block (ACB) was reported to provide effective pain relief while sparing the strength of the quadriceps. This simultaneous bilateral randomized study investigated whether patients perceived differences between ACB and the FNB after same-day bilateral TKA.

Is Adductor Canal Block Better Than Femoral Nerve Block in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty? A GRADE Analysis of the Evidence Through a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is associated with intense postoperative pain with a need for early ambulation to gain function and prevent postoperative complications. Compared with femoral nerve block (FNB), adductor canal block (ACB) can relieve postoperative pain and preserve quadriceps muscle strength. This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate which analgesic method provides better pain relief and functional recovery after TKA.

Editorial Commentary: Myth Buster—Is Femoral Retroversion a Contraindication to Hip Arthroscopy in Femoroacetabular Impingement?

Hip arthroscopy can effectively address cam and pincer impingement by reshaping bone prominences or bone edges. However, hip arthroscopy cannot be used to correct severe bone torsion abnormalities such as acetabular or femoral retroversion. As a result, some surgeons contraindicate hip arthroscopy in patients with femoral retroversion absent correction of the torsion abnormalities. However, recent research has suggested that hip arthroscopy absent osteotomy, with a focus on labral preservation and thorough correction of underlying cam and pincer bony abnormalities, achieves positive outcomes. Still, although femoral retroversion should not be considered a contraindication for hip arthroscopy, patients should be carefully counseled about residual symptoms.     

Editorial Commentary: Cartilage Damage in the Hip: Can We Predict Outcome?

Cartilage damage is frequently seen during hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement or trauma. Currently, microfracture is the most common procedure for treating severe chondral defects. Studies have suggested that the presence of acetabular cartilage lesions can cause poor outcomes. Defects of the femoral head are seen less frequently, and less research exists on how these lesions contribute to outcomes. Although the presence of cartilage damage may be a predictor of poorer outcomes, one must also consider the treatment and postoperative rehabilitation as the main factors in outcomes.     

Editorial Commentary: Does the Morphology of the Acromion Explain All Rotator Cuff Tears?

Given the high prevalence of rotator cuff tears and their socioeconomic impact, surgeons and researchers have tried to understand their etiology and pathomechanism for almost hundred years. Articles about tendon degeneration with increasing age dominate the literature, and numerous factors contributing to tendon degeneration have been identified. One of them, the lateral extension of the acromion, as quantitated using the acromion index or the critical shoulder angle, has become very popular in the last few years. Other big tendons in the human body, such as the distal biceps tendon, the Achilles tendon, or the patellar tendon, are also subject to degenerative changes, but they normally do not lose their continuity without a relevant trauma. This raises 2 questions: What makes the rotator cuff different from the other tendons, and why are there not more rotator cuff tears related to a trauma? What we do know is that risk factors for rotator cuff tear include trauma, dominant arm, and age, whereas the effect of a large acromion is more ambiguous.