A one-stop shoulder clinic to save time and resources

There is now a need more than ever to streamline services. A one-stop shoulder clinic was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 861 patients were seen, saving 794 future appointments. 111 patients had an ultrasound scan and 285 patients had an ultrasound-guided procedure, saving an average waiting time of 134 days. 327 patients had physiotherapy, and the average Oxford Shoulder Score improved by 8.56 at 1 year.

Mapping the Oxford Shoulder Score onto the EQ-5D utility index

PURPOSE

In order to enable cost-utility analysis of shoulder pain conditions and treatments, this study aimed to develop and evaluate mapping algorithms to estimate the EQ-5D health index from the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) when health outcomes are only assessed with the OSS.

METHODS

5437 paired OSS and EQ-5D questionnaire responses from four national multicentre randomised controlled trials investigating different shoulder pathologies and treatments were split into training and testing samples. Separate EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L analyses were undertaken. Transfer to utility (TTU) regression (univariate linear, polynomial, spline, multivariable linear, two-part logistic-linear, tobit and adjusted limited dependent variable mixture models) and response mapping (ordered logistic regression and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR)) models were developed on the training sample. These were internally validated, and their performance evaluated on the testing sample. Model performance was evaluated over 100-fold repeated training-testing sample splits.

RESULTS

For the EQ-5D-3L analysis, the multivariable linear and splines models had the lowest mean square error (MSE) of 0.0415. The SUR model had the lowest mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.136. Model performance was greatest in the mid-range and best health states, and lowest in poor health states. For the EQ-5D-5L analyses, the multivariable linear and splines models had the lowest MSE (0.0241-0.0278) while the SUR models had the lowest MAE (0.105-0.113).

CONCLUSION

The developed models now allow accurate estimation of the EQ-5D health index when only the OSS responses are available as a measure of patient-reported health outcome.

Solely sutures is a reliable fixation for valgus-impacted proximal humeral fractures

PURPOSE

Valgus impacted proximal humeral fractures with substantial displacement may severely compromise shoulder function and open reduction can therefore be considered. Internal fixation hardware may eventually however constitute problems. In a small subset of these fractures, in which there is no medial comminution and intact blood supply it is possible to use a least possible fixation method with solely sutures through the tendons of the rotator cuff and the shaft as described by Bigliani 1990. The aim of the present study was to investigate the outcome of this fixation method in a retrospective series of patients.

METHODS

Twenty-seven patients, 23 women and 4 men, with a mean age of 66 years (53-83) and minimum follow-up time of 2 years (2-11 years) accepted follow-up with standard shoulder radiographs and 22 were examined with Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), Constant-Murley (CM) shoulder score and Numeric Rating Scale for pain (NRS). Reoperations or adverse events were recorded.

RESULTS

The median OSS was 45 (range 5-48) and CM 63 (range 21-98). The relative CM score was 81% of the uninjured side and median NRS 0 (range 0-5). No reoperations were undertaken. One patient had a complete avascular necrosis (AVN), 3 patients had a partial AVN of the humeral head and two a partial resorption of the greater tuberosity.

CONCLUSION

The use of sutures only for fixation of displaced valgus-impacted proximal humeral fractures provided a relatively reliable outcome with good functional scores and no reoperations. There appears to be no need for the use of hardware for fixation of this rare subset of fractures.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the polish version of the Oxford Shoulder Score in patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Background

The Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) is a simple and reliable, joint-specific, self-reported outcome measure. It can be applied in patients with shoulder disease other than instability. The purpose of this study was to perform a translation, cultural adaptation of the Polish version of the OSS and to evaluate its selected psychometric properties in patients after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

Methods

Sixty-nine subjects participated in the study, with a mean age 55.5 (ranging from 40 to 65 years). The OSS has been translated using the widely accepted guidelines. All patients completed the Polish version of OSS (OSS-PL), the short version of the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (QuickDASH), the Short Form-36 v. 2.0 (SF-36) and the 7-point Global Rating of Change Scale (GRC).

Results

High internal consistency of 0.96 was found using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Reliability of the OSS resulted in Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.99, Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) = 1.14 and Minimal Detectable Change (MDC) = 3.15. The validity analysis showed a moderate (General health r = 0.34) to high (Physical role functioning r = 0.82) correlation between the OSS-PL and SF-36 and a high correlation between the OSS-PL and the QuickDASH (r = − 0.92).

Conclusions

The Polish version of OSS is a reliable and valid, self-reported questionnaire, which can be applied in patients with a rotator cuff tear undergoing reconstruction surgery. The very good psychometric properties of the Polish version of the OSS indicate that it can be used in clinical practice and scientific research.

Minimal Clinically Important Difference of Oxford, Constant, and UCLA shoulder score for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Aim

To determine the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) for Constant-Murley score (CMS), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder score, and Oxford Shoulder Scores (OSS) after arthroscopic rotator cuff (RC) repairs.

Material and methods

306 patients were followed up for 24-month. MCID for CMS, UCLA and OSS were determined using simple linear regression according to patient satisfaction and expectation fulfilment.

Results

The following MCID were identified:12-month: CMS 6.7, UCLA 3.0, OSS 3.3.24-month: CMS 6.3, UCLA 2.9, OSS 2.7.

Conclusions

The various MCID could assist in meaningful interpretation of these scores and to power future comparative studies.

Level of evidence

III.

Which patients are less likely to improve after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair?

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate which specific factors influence the improvement in function and to estimate the time to obtain pain relief following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

METHODS

A total of 97 patients (57 men and 40 women; mean age: 55.5 ± 9.3 years) who had arthroscopic rotator cuff repair between 2013 and 2016 were included into the study. Multivariable stepwise analysis included preoperative variables (age, gender, body mass index, comorbidities, occupation and participation in sports, Oxford shoulder score at baseline, preceding injury and duration of preoperative symptoms) and arthroscopic findings (size of rotator cuff tear, pathology of the long head of the biceps and cartilage lesions). The change in the Oxford shoulder score at the last follow-up was modeled as a function of the above predictor variables. The time to regain a visual analogue scale (VAS) under two points following surgery was considered the time to regain substantial pain relief.

RESULTS

The mean follow-up time was 33.2 ± 14.4 months. Twenty three patients had partial thickness and seventy four had full thickness supraspinatus tears. In third of the patients the tears were defined as large full thickness. At the last follow-up the mean Oxford shoulder score improved from 13.8 ± 4.8 to 42.1 ± 7.2 points (P < 0.001). The mean VAS improved from a preoperative score of 6.7 ± 1.3 points to 1.5 ± 0.6 points postoperatively (P < 0.001) and 80 (83%) patients declared they were satisfied to have had the operation. The mean time interval for substantial pain relief was 4.9 ± 3.6 months. Patients with higher preoperative Oxford shoulder score and larger tear size were correlated with lesser improvement in Oxford shoulder score (R = 0.5, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair improved pain and function at an average follow-up of three years. A substantial pain relief was regained within five months from surgery. Larger rotator cuff tear size and more favorable preoperative function were predictors of worse postoperative function.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level IV, Therapeutic study.

Short-term results of rotator cuff repair using GraftJacket as an interpositional tissue-matched thickness graft

We report outcomes of using GraftJacket to repair massive rotator-cuff-tears. Twenty patients with a mean age of 64.6y over 12-month duration were reviewed. Two patients had a single GraftJacket repair (group1), whilst 18 had the GraftJacket sheet doubled (group2). Pre and post oxford shoulder scores (OSS) and patient related outcome measures were evaluated. A statistically significant improvement of OSS was demonstrated in-group 2 from a mean of 22 to 45.5 (p < 0.00148) over a follow up of 18 months. GraftJacket is a safe and effective procedure to use as an interpositional graft and doubling the graft may improve outcomes.

A comparison of the Oxford shoulder score and shoulder pain and disability index: factor structure in the context of a large randomized controlled trial

Background

To explore and compare the factor structure of the 12-item Oxford shoulder score (OSS) and 13-item shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI).

Methods

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from 660 patients attending 46 hospitals in the UK. Complete OSS and SPADI data were available for 648 (98.2%) and 628 (95.2%) participants, respectively.

Results

For both instruments, either one or two factors were indicated, depending on the extraction method. On EFA, most OSS items loaded saliently on either of two “Pain” (4 items) and “Function” (8 items) factors, although some items cross-loaded. Cronbach’s alphas were 0.75, 0.90, and 0.91 for “Pain” and “Function” subscales, and all 12 OSS items, respectively. CFA suggested marginally better fit for two factors, with neither one- nor two-factor models rejected. EFA indicated two factors for the SPADI, with three of the eight “Disability” items contributing to an 8-item “Pain factor”, with 2 items within the 5-item “Disability factor” cross-loading. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.87 and 0.93 for the original 5- and 8-item pain and disability scales; 0.94 for all 13 SPADI items, respectively. CFA suggested marginally better fit for the two-factor (original conceptualization) model of the SPADI, with neither one- nor two-factor models rejected.

Conclusion

EFA and CFA demonstrated that, in addition to single summary scales usage, separate information on pain and self-reported disability/function can be extracted in a meaningful way, as subscales, from both the OSS and the SPADI. This information can help researchers in choosing primary study endpoints appropriately.

Oxford Shoulder Score: A Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation Study of the Persian Version in Iran

BACKGROUND

Oxford shoulder score is a specific 12-item patient-reported tool for evaluation of patients with inflammatory and degenerative disorders of the shoulder. Since its introduction, it has been translated and culturally adapted in some Western and Eastern countries. The aim of this study was to translate the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) in Persian and to test its validity and reliability in Persian speaking population in Iran.

METHODS

One hundred patients with degenerative or inflammatory shoulder problem participated in the survey in 2012. All patients completed the Persian version of OSS, Persian DASH and the SF-36 for testing validity. Randomly, 37 patients filled out the Persian OSS again three days after the initial visit to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.93. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.93. In terms of validity, there was a significant correlation between the Persian OSS and DASH and SF-36 scores (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The Persian version of the OSS proved to be a valid, reliable, and reproducible tool as demonstrated by high Cronbach's alpha and Pearson's correlation coefficients. The Persian transcript of OSS is administrable to Persian speaking patients with shoulder condition and it is understandable by them.