Programme reduces hip fractures by 37 percent

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:43:47 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, Nov 5 - Proactive measures can reduce hip fracture rates by an average of 37.2 percent and as much as 50 percent among those at risk, according to a study.

The five-year study, the most exhaustive of its kind, conducted by Kaiser Permanente, tracked more than 625,000 male and female patients over the age of 50 in Southern California, who had specific risk factors for osteoporosis and/or hip fractures.

Of the 10 million Americans who have osteoporosis, 80 percent are women. More than 300,000 hip fractures are reported annually in the US. Twenty-four percent end up in a nursing home, 50 percent never reach their functional capacity, and 25 percent of patients with a hip fracture die in the first year after the incident.

The implementation of a number of initiatives in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Healthy Bones Program reduced the hip fracture rates beyond the goal rate of 25 percent.

'One-half of all women and one-third of all men will sustain a fragility fracture in their lifetime. The mortality rate due to osteoporosis-related fractures is greater than the rates for breast cancer and cervical cancer combined,' said co-author Richard M. Dell, orthopaedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Centre.

'Yet it's a misconception that nothing can be done to prevent or treat osteoporosis. It is possible to achieve at least a 25 percent reduction in the hip fracture rate in the United States if a more active role is taken by all orthopedic surgeons in osteoporosis disease management.'

National Osteoporosis Foundation reports that although osteoporosis can affect people of all ages, the problem has reached epidemic proportions with the rapidly ageing population, said a Kaiser Permanente release.

The study was published online by The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

NIST measuring device aims to up hip operation success

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:27:46 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com )

NIST prototype hip replacement "phantom" (l.) provides a precisely measured coordinate system and magnetic ball and socket joint to calibrate and to measure the clinically relevant performance of Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery tracking instruments used in delicate operations to install artificial hip joints (r.).

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing state-of-the-art measuring techniques, similar to those used in making aerospace components fit together precisely, that soon could improve success rates for hip replacement surgery. At the request of a group of prominent orthopaedic surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the NIST researchers are working to improve calibrations and operating room testing of the Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery (CAOS) tracking instruments surgeons use to plan the delicate, highly complex operation.

To be completely successful, CAOS hip replacement surgery must take into account tiny human skeletal differences. Imprecise measurements, which could result from conditions seemingly unrelated to the surgery, such as operation room noise or temperature, can lead to poor positioning of implants, leaving some former patients with discomfort during walking and, in rarer cases, a need to redo the operation.

The researchers have built a lightweight device called a âphantomâ that resembles the artificial socket, ball and femur substitutes that surgeons use to replace the joint and bone in hip operations, based on a calibrated XY coordinate frame. They drilled tiny holes at precisely measured intervals into the phantom and made cuts at precisely measured angles, favored by surgeons for CAOS operations. Because the precise coordinates of the mechanical (magnetic) ball and socket joint center of rotation have been measured, manufacturers of CAOS tracking sensors can use the phantom to test the accuracy of their measuring instruments. Surgeons also should be able to test the accuracy of their CAOS devices, just before making their first incision, to measure ball and socket joint center of rotation coordinates, angles for cuts into the bone and places for the insertion of screws

Currently, no standardized approach to the evaluation of CAOS technology exists, but an ASTM International committee is working on the establishment of such standards. In the coming months NIST will submit its hip CAOS phantom to orthopaedic surgeons for review. Clinical trials could follow. If the device wins Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval, it can be expected to find its way into operating rooms across the country and world. The researchers look forward to extending the application of the technology to surgical procedures on the knee and shoulder.

RxPG News : Hip

Programme reduces hip fractures by 37 percent

NIST measuring device aims to up hip operation success