Athletic groin pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of surgical versus physical therapy rehabilitation outcomes

BACKGROUND

Athletic groin pain (AGP) is an encompassing term for the multitude of chronic conditions presenting as pain in the inguinal region. The purpose of this review was to compare the return to play rates (RTPrate) and return to play times (RTPtime) between surgical and rehabilitation interventions in the treatment of AGP.

METHODS

A systematic review of English language peer review journals was carried out between 1980 to June 2013 using PubMed, Embase, CINHAL and Google Scholar searching for all papers relating to AGP (and its various pseudonyms) and all surgical and rehabilitative interventions which reported RTPrate and/or RTPtime. AGP literature has been subdivided by many eponymous diagnoses but anatomical diagnostic groupings of (1) abdominal wall, (2) adductor and (3) pubic related pain were used in this review. Meta-analysis was then carried out on the data to compare results between the surgical and rehabilitation groups.

RESULTS

Fifty-six papers out of the 561 discovered in the initial search were included in the review with 3332 athletes included. Evidence was mostly level IV. Using the Black and Downs checklist we found poor study quality overall with a high risk of bias especially among surgical studies. The results showed comparable RTPrate between surgical and rehabilitative interventions within the three diagnostic groups. Rehabilitation had significantly quicker RTPtime for pubic related groin pain compared to surgery (10.5 weeks and 23.1 weeks respectively). The abdominal group had the fastest return of the three groups for the rehabilitation and surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

The review suggested better outcomes with rehabilitation for pubic-related groin pain with no difference between the adductor and abdominal groups. The review highlighted the poor quality and risk of bias in the literature making accurate comparison difficult.

Public health implications of molecular point-of-care testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea in remote primary care services in Australia: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

With accurate molecular tests now available for diagnosis of chlamydia and gonorrhoea (Chlamydia trachomatis (CT)/Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG)) at the point-of-care (POC), we aimed to explore the public health implications (benefits and barriers) of their integration into remote primary care in Australia.

METHODS

Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposively selected group of 18 key informants reflecting sexual health, primary care, remote Aboriginal health and laboratory expertise.

RESULTS

Participants believed that POC testing may decrease community prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and associated morbidity by reducing the time to treatment and infectious period and expediting partner notification. Also, POC testing could improve acceptability of STI testing, increase testing coverage and result in more targeted prescribing, thereby minimising the risk of antibiotic resistance. Conversely, some felt the immediacy of diagnosis could deter certain young people from being tested. Participants also noted that POC testing may reduce the completeness of communicable disease surveillance data given the current dependence on reporting from pathology laboratories. Others expressed concern about the need to maintain and improve the flow of NG antibiotic sensitivity data, already compromised by the shift to nucleic acid-based testing. This is particularly relevant to remote areas where culture viability is problematic.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate a high level of support from clinicians and public health practitioners for wider access to CT/NG POC tests citing potential benefits, including earlier, more accurate treatment decisions and reductions in ongoing transmission. However, the data also highlight the need for new systems to avoid adverse impact on disease surveillance.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12613000808741.

Management of blunt liver injury: what is new?

Nonoperative management has become the surgical treatment of choice in the hemodynamically stable patient with blunt hepatic trauma. The increased use and success of nonoperative management have been facilitated by the development of increasingly higher resolution computed tomography imaging, improved management of physiology and resuscitation (damage control), and routine availability of interventional procedures such as angiography and embolization, image-guided percutaneous drainage, and endoscopy. On the other hand, recognition of the patient who should proceed to immediate laparotomy is of utmost importance. A systematic and logical approach to the control of hemorrhage is required in the operating room. Thorough knowledge of the anatomy and surgical techniques, such as perihepatic packing, effective Pringle maneuver, hepatic mobilization, infrahepatic and suprahepatic control of the IVC, and stapled hepatectomy, is essential.

Impact of ABO blood group mismatch in alemtuzumab-based reduced-intensity conditioned haematopoietic SCT

The impact of ABO incompatibility on clinical outcomes following haematopoietic SCT (HSCT) remains controversial. This retrospective study assessed the effect of ABO mismatch on transplant outcomes and transfusion requirements in 594 patients undergoing reduced-intensity conditioned (RIC) HSCT with alemtuzumab in three UK transplant centres. We found no significant effects of minor, major or bidirectional ABO mismatch on overall survival, relapse-free survival, nonrelapse mortality or relapse incidence. Although the rate of acute GVHD was unaffected by ABO mismatch, the incidence of extensive chronic GVHD was higher in patients with minor and major mismatch compared with those who were ABO matched (hazard ratio (HR) 1.74, P=0.032 for minor, HR 1.69 P=0.0036 for major mismatch). Red cell and platelet transfusion requirements in the first 100 days post transplant did not differ by ABO mismatch. In this large UK series, ABO mismatch in RIC HSCT has no clinically significant effect on survival outcomes but appears to modify susceptibility to extensive chronic GVHD.

Hepatitis C disease burden and strategies to manage the burden (Guest Editors Mark Thursz, Gregory Dore and John Ward)

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The recent Global Burden of Disease project estimated that in 2010 among 170 million people living with chronic HCV, an estimated 483,100 people died from HCV-related liver failure or HCC. The last two decades has seen progressive improvements in treatment of HCV infection with the most recent therapies offering simple, tolerable, short-duration therapy with extremely high efficacy. The development of public health strategies addressing emerging epidemics requires sound epidemiological data. This study covers epidemiological data collection, detailed expert opinion input and country-specific mathematical modelling of the HCV epidemic and potential impact of improved HCV treatment strategies in 16 countries. The analysis demonstrates that the HCV epidemics vary considerably in terms of age distribution of the infected population across countries. In addition, the burden of advanced liver disease varies widely. This burden is dependent upon factors including chronic HCV prevalence, age distribution (and duration of infection) of those infected, prevalence of cofactors for disease progression (particularly heavy alcohol intake) and uptake and success of therapeutic intervention. Introduction of new therapies with assumed sustained virological response (SVR) rate of >90% will have a modest impact on projected advanced liver disease burden. A combination of enhanced treatment efficacy and improved treatment uptake will have a greater impact on population-level disease burden. However public health advocacy and both public and private sector investment in the HCV response are required to demonstrate significant reduction in HCV disease burden.

ImaGiNe Seldinger: first simulator for Seldinger technique and angiography training

In vascular interventional radiology, procedures generally start with the Seldinger technique to access the vasculature, using a needle through which a guidewire is inserted, followed by navigation of catheters within the vessels. Visual and tactile skills are learnt in a patient apprenticeship which is expensive and risky for patients. We propose a training alternative through a new virtual simulator supporting the Seldinger technique: ImaGiNe (imaging guided interventional needle) Seldinger. It is composed of two workstations: (1) a simulated pulse is palpated, in an immersive environment, to guide needle puncture and (2) two haptic devices provide a novel interface where a needle can direct a guidewire and catheter within the vessel lumen, using virtual fluoroscopy. Different complexities are provided by 28 real patient datasets. The feel of the simulation is enhanced by replicating, with the haptics, real force and flexibility measurements. A preliminary validation study has demonstrated training effectiveness for skills transfer.

Is communication guidance mistaken? Qualitative study of parent-oncologist communication in childhood cancer

BACKGROUND

Guidance encourages oncologists to engage patients and relatives in discussing the emotions that accompany cancer diagnosis and treatment. We investigated the perspectives of parents of children with leukaemia on the role of paediatric oncologists in such discussion.

METHODS

Qualitative study comprising 33 audio-recorded parent-oncologist consultations and semi-structured interviews with 67 parents during the year following diagnosis.

RESULTS

Consultations soon after the diagnosis were largely devoid of overt discussion of parental emotion. Interviewed parents did not describe a need for such discussion. They spoke of being comforted by oncologists' clinical focus, by the biomedical information they provided and by their calmness and constancy. When we explicitly asked parents 1 year later about the oncologists' role in emotional support, they overwhelmingly told us that they did not want to discuss their feelings with oncologists. They wanted to preserve the oncologists' focus on their child's clinical care, deprecated anything that diverted from this and spoke of the value of boundaries in the parent-oncologist relationship.

CONCLUSION

Parents were usually comforted by oncologists, but this was not achieved in the way suggested by communication guidance. Communication guidance would benefit from an enhanced understanding of how emotional support is experienced by those who rely on it.