Italian intersociety consensus statement on antithrombotic prophylaxis in hip and knee replacement and in femoral neck fracture surgery

Conversion hip arthroplasty via the direct anterior approach: pearls, pitfalls and personal experience

OBJECTIVE

Conversion total hip arthroplasty (CTHA) through a direct anterior approach (DAA) in supine position.

INDICATIONS

Failed osteosynthesis of proximal femoral fractures or failed conservative hip surgery, with hardware in situ.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Decayed general conditions, infection (peri-implant or systemic infection), need for greater trochanter reconstruction, severe proximal femur deformity.

SURGICAL TECHNIQUE

Supine position. Mark DAA and expected limited incisions for hardware removal (HR) with the help of a C-arm. Use guidewire and extraction devices for HR. Perform a DAA with particular attention to a wide release of the femur.

POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT

Full progressive weight-bearing starting on day 1, depending on bone quality. Discharge with crutches following patient walking capability. Precautions for 6 weeks.

RESULTS

In all, 27 conversion THAs through a DAA. Mean age at the time of surgery 59.8 (range 18-81) years. Mean body mass index was 23.5 (range 17-31.6). Reasons of previous surgery failures were avascular necrosis of the femoral head, posttraumatic arthritis and nonunion with or without hardware migration. Mean surgical time was 125.8 min (range 58-190 min, standard deviation [SD] 38.2 min). Mean follow-up time was 6.9 years (range 2-15, SD 5.03 years). Mean pre-Harris Hip Score (mHHs) was 24.4 (range 19-36, SD 5.4), while the mean post-mHHS was 90.3 (range 89-91, SD 0.95). Two patients required postoperative osteosynthesis for periprosthetic fractures due to falls. Overall complication rate was 10%.

Hip fracture systems-European experience

European countries have established health care systems but are struggling with the increasing rise of fragility fractures in their aging population. In trying to address this significant burden, countries are establishing national guidelines and standards, focusing on hip fractures, which represent the significant cost for this patient group. This has evolved with the establishment of national audits and guidelines. Reports from 4 European countries (England, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain) are presented. All nations have identified both deficiencies in their systems, and protocols to improve these deficiences. When standards are introduced, there has been evidence of improved results. Significantly more work is needed to understand the key components of the systems and pathways, and efforts to study and standardize care are ongoing.

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after hip preservation surgery: a review and presentation of institutional experience

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious complication after major orthopedic procedures. The best options for prevention of the VTE are still debated. The most popular evidence-based guidelines for prevention and treatment of VTE in orthopedic surgery addressed the total hip or knee arthroplasty and hip fractures as the major orthopedic surgeries. Majority of studies have evaluated the different modalities of the VTE prophylaxis in patients undergiong hip or knee arthroplasty. Hip preservation surgeries (HPS) including mini-open femoroacetabular osteoplasty, surgical dislocation of the hip, arthroscopic procedures, and periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) are gained popularity in recent two decades. The majority of these patients are young, healthy and active and may not be considered at high risk for VTE. The frequency of VTE in patients undergoing PAO seems to be low between 0 and 5%. There is a paucity of data regarding rates of VTE in young healthy patients undergoing HPS as well as the optimal prevention methods for VTE. Hence current VTE prevention guidelines do not cover HPS adequately. We aimed to review the available literature regarding VTE events and VTE prophylaxis options after HPS. We discussed the available and potential options for prophylaxis of VTE events in these procedures along with our experience in a large cohort of hip preservation surgery.

Dabigatran versus Enoxaparin in the prevention of venous thromboembolism after total knee arthroplasty: A randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) and deep vein thrombophlebitis (DVT) is a serious problem with high mortality and morbidity rates. This study was conducted to compare efficacy and safety results of the two types of VTE preventing in patients underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

METHODS

Having considered exclusion criteria, 90 patients of 136 ones were registered in the study. Our patients of TKA were split randomly in two groups. Totally, 45 patients received enoxaparin, 40 mg 12 h before surgery and treated by 40 mg daily up to 15 days. The second group (45 patients) were treated by dabigatran 150 mg 4 h after surgery and 225 mg daily up to 15 days. Efficacy was evaluated by Doppler sonography after 15 days for the presence of DVT and safety was determined by 3 months follow-up for all-cause mortality and any major or minor bleedings.

RESULTS

Two groups were similar in baseline characteristics. The efficacy outcome events occurred in 2.2% (2 of 90) of the patients (1 symptomatic VTE in dabigatran and 1 in the enoxaparin group) without significant statistical difference between groups (P = 0.64). In terms of safety, 3 patients (6.6%) in dabigatran and 2 patients (4.4%) in enoxaparin group had major bleeding (P = 0.66) and 8 patients (17.7%) in dabigatran and 7 patients (15.7%) in enoxaparin group had non-major bleeding event (P = 0.81). There were no death, pulmonary emboli, and cardiac events during follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Three months follow-up did not show statistical difference in efficacy and safety between dabigatran and enoxaparin. Future studies with mentioning to later outcomes for checking safety are warranted.

Pharmacological prevention of venous thromboembolism in orthopaedic surgery

The prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) with anticoagulant drugs is a long-established practice in hip and knee replacement surgery, as well as in the treatment of femoral neck fractures, while there are few data regarding the prevention of VTE in other fields of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology. In order to provide practical recommendations for daily management of VTE prophylaxis in orthopaedic patients, recently the Italian Societies of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Anaesthesia have drawn up a first Intersociety Consensus on antithrombotic prophylaxis in total hip and knee replacement surgery, and in the treatment of femoral neck fracture, then updated in 2013, and a subsequent Intersocietary Consensus, in cooperation also with the Society of general practitioners, concerning antithrombotic prophylaxis in other types of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology. Before starting any prophylactic treatment it is of crucial importance the assessment of both thrombotic and bleeding risk of patients undergoing surgery. Thromboembolic prophylaxis is recommended with low molecular weight heparins (LMWH), fondaparinux (FON) or with the new oral anticoagulants (NOA) in patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery while patients undergoing treatment of femoral neck fracture should be treated with LMWH or FON. Regarding the non-prosthetic orthopaedic surgery and traumatology, it is recommended prophylaxis with LMWH or FON in situations of high thromboembolic risk or in the case of interventions or trauma involving pelvis, acetabulum or knee.

Evidence for treatment of muscular vein thrombosis in orthopaedic patients

Background

Does below-knee symptomatic muscular (gastrocnemius or soleus) vein thrombosis (MVT) warrant investigation and treatment in post-operative orthopaedic patients? We performed a literature search and evaluated the evidence looking for guidance regarding this question.

Materials and methods

We performed a literature search with the use of PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar from 1950 to September 2011. Search terms included “muscular vein thrombosis” (MVT) and “isolated gastrocnemius or soleus vein thrombosis” (IGSVT). We reviewed the eight level II studies relevant to our search, only one of which was in a specific orthopaedic population.

Results

Studies looking at the rates of progression of isolated MVT have shown conflicting results. There is also a lack of consensus between studies that compare progression amongst groups with or without anticoagulant treatment. The majority of the studies do not distinguish between medical, surgical or orthopaedic patients.

Conclusions

We cannot confidently recommend commencement of anticoagulation treatment upon identification of MVT in post-operative orthopaedic patients. We can only suggest that, once MVT is diagnosed, the patient should undergo serial ultrasound scan (USS) duplex scans, and if propagation is identified, then treatment may be deemed beneficial.

Level of evidence: III (review of non-randomized controlled cohort/follow-up studies).

Cost-effectiveness analysis of early versus late total hip replacement in Italy

OBJECTIVE

To assess the cost-effectiveness of early primary total hip replacement (THR) for functionally independent older adult patients with osteoarthritis (OA) versus 1) nonsurgical therapy followed by THR once the patient has progressed to a functionally dependent state ("delayed THR") and 2) nonsurgical therapy alone ('medical therapy'), from the Italian National Health Service perspective.

METHODS

Individual patient data and evidence from published literature on disease progression, economic costs and THR outcomes in OA, including utilities, perioperative mortality rates, prosthesis survival, and costs of prostheses, THR, rehabilitation, follow-up, revision, and nonsurgical management, combined with population life tables, were synthesized in a Markov model of OA. The model represents the lifetime experience of a patient cohort following their treatment choice, discounting costs and benefits (quality-adjusted life-years) at 3% annually.

RESULTS

At age 65 years, the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year of THR over delayed THR was €987 in men and €466 in women; the figures for delayed THR versus medical therapy were €463 and €82, respectively. Among 80-year-olds, early THR is (extended) dominant. With gradual utility loss after primary THR, delaying surgery may be more appealing in women than in men in their 50s, because longer female life expectancy implies longer latter periods of low health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with early THR.

CONCLUSIONS

THR is cost-effective. Patients' HRQOL benefits forgone with delayed THR are worth more than the costs it saves to the Italian National Health Service. This analysis might help to explain women's consistently lower HRQOL by the time of primary operation.

II Italian intersociety consensus statement on antithrombotic prophylaxis in orthopaedics and traumatology: arthroscopy, traumatology, leg immobilization, minor orthopaedic procedures and spine surgery

Pharmacological prophylaxis for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a worldwide established procedure in hip and knee replacement surgery, as well as in the treatment of femoral neck fractures, but few data exist in other fields of orthopaedics and traumatology. Thus, no guidelines or recommendations are available in the literature except for a limited number of weak statements about knee arthroscopy and lower limb fractures. In any case, none of them are a multidisciplinary effort as the one here presented. The Italian Society for Studies on Haemostasis and Thrombosis (SISET), the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (SIOT), the Association of Orthopaedic Traumatology of Italian Hospitals (OTODI), together with the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) and the Italian Society of General Medicine (SIMG) have set down easy and quick suggestions for VTE prophylaxis in a number of surgical conditions for which only scarce evidence is available. This inter-society consensus statement aims at simplifying the approach to VTE prophylaxis in the single patient with the goal to improve its clinical application.

Therapeutic potential of apixaban in the prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery

Anticoagulant prophylaxis for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a worldwide established procedure in hip and knee replacement surgery. Despite available anticoagulant prophylaxis, patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have a high incidence of venous VTE. In spite of their proven efficacy, the currently available anticoagulants have limitations that driven to develop new oral agents that directly target specific factors in the coagulation cascade, such as direct thrombin inhibitors and direct Factor Xa inhibitors, in an attempt to overcome some of the drawbacks with the traditional agents. Apixaban is a potent, selective direct inhibitor of the coagulation factor Xa, recently approved in Europe for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adult patients after total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. Apixaban has been extensively studied worldwide in about 12,000 patients in four clinical studies that have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of apixaban respect to enoxaparin for the prevention of thromboembolism after major orthopedic surgery. Three of these trials involved 7,337 patients who undergo TKR: one phase II trial (APROPOS Study) and two large phase III trials (ADVANCE 1 and ADVANCE 2 Studies). ADVANCE 1 demonstrated that when compared with enoxaparin 30 mg twice daily for efficacy, apixaban did not meet the prespecified statistical criteria for noninferiority, but its use was associated with lower rates of clinically relevant bleeding. ADVANCE 2 showed that apixaban was superior to the European standard dose of enoxaparin of 40 mg once daily in term of efficacy, with a similar incidence of major bleeding. This review focuses the clinical efficacy and tolerability of oral apixaban for the prevention of VTE in adult patients following TKR surgery.

Venous thromboembolism after major orthopaedic surgery: a population-based cohort study

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality following major orthopaedic surgery. However, the incidence of VTE and the role of additional risk factors have not yet been well explored in Italian clinical practice. The objective of the study is to estimate the incidence of VTE in the 3 months following elective hip and knee replacement (HR, KR) in a large cohort of patients, and the association between some selected risk factors and the occurrence of VTE. A large cohort study based on the record linkage between automated archives of the National Health System was analysed. In particular, all the residents in the Lombardy Region (Italy) who underwent HR and KR between 2005 and 2008 were followed for 3 months after surgery. The odds ratio (OR) of VTE associated with selected known risk factors was estimated by multivariate logistic regression. Amongst the 69,770 patients included in the study, 2,393 experienced at least one VTE event during the follow-up; the overall risk of VTE after HR or KR was 3.4%. The adjusted odds of experiencing a VTE event was higher in male patients (OR 1.11; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.21), aged 60 years or older (1.30; 1.00-1.68), undergoing KR (1.47; 1.35-1.61), with previous deep vein thrombosis (1.96; 1.20-3.19), pulmonary embolism (3.25; 1.84-5.75) or cancer (1.21; 1.00-1.46). In conclusion, the incidence of VTE after elective HR and KR in the Italian clinical practice is high. Our results suggest the need of optimising the management of thromboprophylaxis to further reduce postoperative VTE.

Switching from enoxaparin to dabigatran etexilate: pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety profile

Purpose

Dabigatran etexilate is an oral, reversible, direct thrombin inhibitor licensed for the prevention of venous thromboembolism and stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether, and to what extent, a switch from enoxparin to dabigatran etexilate affects the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters and safety profile of dabigatran.

Methods

Enoxaparin 40 mg was administered subcutaneously once daily for 3 days followed by a single dose of dabigatran etexilate 220 mg (test treatment) on day 4 in an open-label, two-way cross-over trial in healthy volunteers. Dabigatran plasma levels were measured using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method. Anticoagulant activity was measured using a number of clotting tests, including prothrombinase-induced clotting time (PiCT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), ecarin clotting time (ECT), and diluted thrombin time (dTT).

Results

PK, PD, and safety data were available for 23 subjects for each treatment. The adjusted geometric mean test/reference ratio of area under the concentration–time curve for total dabigatran was 84% (90% confidence interval 67.2–105.0%) and 86% (67.0–110.0%) for maximum plasma concentration. The PiCT test/reference ratio, which represents the activity of enoxaparin and dabigatran, was elevated by approximately 15% for peak maximum effect ratio to baseline and total area under the effect curve (AUEC_0-48) activity, suggesting that some anticoagulant activity of enoxaparin was still present. Enoxaparin pre-treatment increased the AUEC_0–48 of activated partial thromboplastin time by approximately 14%. All other dabigatran-related PD markers were unaffected. Tolerability was good, with only mild and reversible adverse events during the treatment.

Conclusion

Prior administration of enoxaparin did not meaningfully affect the PK or PD properties of dabigatran, and the switch from enoxaparin to dabigatran etexilate was well tolerated among the study subjects. These data support the safety of switching patients from enoxaparin to dabigatran etexilate.