Monitoring the one year postoperative infection rate after primary total hip replacement

Purpose

Infection of a total hip replacement is potentially a devastating complication. Statistical process control methods have been generating interest as a means of improving the quality of healthcare, and we report our experience with the implementation of such a method to monitor the one year infection rate after primary total hip replacement.

Method

Infection was defined as the growth of the same organism in cultures of at least two aspirates or intra-operative specimens, or growth of one pathogen in a patient with local signs of infection such as erythema, abscess or draining sinus tract. The cumulative summation test (CUSUM test) was used to continuously monitor the one year postoperative infection rate. The target performance was 0.5% and the test was set to detect twice that rate.

Results

Over the three year study period, 2006 primary total hip replacements were performed. Infection developed within one year after surgery in eight (0.4%) hips. The CUSUM test generated no alarms during the study period, indicating that there was no evidence that the process was out of control.

Conclusion

The one year infection rate after primary total hip replacement was in control. The CUSUM test is a useful method to continuously ensure that performance is maintained at an adequate level.     

Splenic Artery Aneurysm: An Important Cause of Hemoperitoneum and Shock

Background

Splenic artery aneurysm ruptures are rare and highly morbid events that are frequently associated with pregnancy. However, approximately 15% may occur in men, and it is important to have this possibility in the differential diagnosis in cases of hemoperitoneum and hemorrhagic shock. Rapid diagnosis and treatment is essential to survival.

Objectives

The aim of this report is to educate emergency physicians on the early recognition and treatment of this life-threatening event and to increase the awareness of this condition in male patients.

Case Report

We describe the evaluation and management of two cases of splenic artery rupture in male patients with unique presentations.

Conclusion

Splenic artery aneurysm ruptures should be considered in the differential diagnosis in any patient with undifferentiated shock. Early diagnosis and treatment can save lives.     

Different effects of age, adiposity and physical activity on the risk of ankle, wrist and hip fractures in postmenopausal women

While increasing age, decreasing body mass index (BMI), and physical inactivity are known to increase hip fracture risk, whether these factors have similar effects on other common fractures is not well established. We used prospectively-collected data from a large cohort to examine the role of these factors on the risk of incident ankle, wrist and hip fractures in postmenopausal women. 1,155,304 postmenopausal participants in the Million Women Study with a mean age of 56.0 (SD 4.8) years, provided information about lifestyle, anthropometric, and reproductive factors at recruitment in 1996-2001. All participants were linked to National Health Service cause-specific hospital records for day-case or overnight admissions. During follow-up for an average of 8.3 years per woman, 6807 women had an incident ankle fracture, 9733 an incident wrist fracture, and 5267 an incident hip fracture. Adjusted absolute and relative risks (RRs) for incident ankle, wrist, and hip fractures were calculated using Cox regression models. Age-specific rates for wrist and hip fractures increased sharply with age, whereas rates for ankle fracture did not. Cumulative absolute risks from ages 50 to 84 years per 100 women were 2.5 (95%CI 2.2-2.8) for ankle fracture, 5.0 (95%CI 4.4-5.5) for wrist fracture, and 6.2 (95%CI 5.5-7.0) for hip fracture. Compared with lean women (BMI<20 kg/m(2)), obese women (BMI≥30 kg/m(2)) had a three-fold increased risk of ankle fracture (RR=3.07; 95%CI 2.53-3.74), but a substantially reduced risk of wrist fracture and especially of hip fracture (RR=0.57; 0.51-0.64 and 0.23; 0.21-0.27, respectively). Physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of hip fracture but was not associated with ankle or wrist fracture risk. Ankle, wrist and hip fractures are extremely common in postmenopausal women, but the associations with age, adiposity, and physical activity differ substantially between the three fracture sites.     

Repurposing the Open Access Malaria Box To Discover Potent Inhibitors of Toxoplasma gondii and Entamoeba histolytica

Toxoplasmosis and amebiasis are important public health concerns worldwide. The drugs currently available to control these diseases have proven limitations. Therefore, innovative approaches should be adopted to identify and develop new leads from novel scaffolds exhibiting novel modes of action. In this paper, we describe results from the screening of compounds in the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) open access Malaria Box in a search for new anti-Toxoplasma and anti-Entamoeba agents. Standard in vitro phenotypic screening procedures were adopted to assess their biological activities. Seven anti-Toxoplasma compounds with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of <5 μM and selectivity indexes (SI) of >6 were identified. The most interesting compound was MMV007791, a piperazine acetamide, which has an IC₅₀ of 0.19 μM and a selectivity index of >157. Also, we identified two compounds, MMV666600 and MMV006861, with modest activities against Entamoeba histolytica, with IC₅₀s of 10.66 μM and 15.58 μM, respectively. The anti-Toxoplasma compounds identified in this study belong to scaffold types different from those of currently used drugs, underscoring their novelty and potential as starting points for the development of new antitoxoplasmosis drugs with novel modes of action.