Self-reported allergies correlate with a worse patient-reported outcome after hip arthroscopy: a matched control study

Patient-reported allergies are associated with increased rate of postoperative stiffness after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

BACKGROUND

Several risk factors have been identified for the development of postoperative shoulder stiffness, and there has been increasing interest in orthopedic literature regarding patient-reported allergy (PRA) as an identifiable risk factor for adverse outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether PRAs are associated with subsequent rates of diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis (AC) or return to the operating room for postoperative shoulder stiffness within 2 years after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR).

METHODS

Current Procedural Terminology surgical billing codes were used to retrospectively identify patients who underwent ARCR at a single urban academic institution from January 2012 to December 2020 with minimum 2-year follow-up. Lysis of adhesions (LOA), manipulation under anesthesia (MUA), and AC of the shoulder were further queried within 2 years postoperatively for the ipsilateral shoulder. Patients were excluded if they had undergone ipsilateral MUA/LOA or received a diagnosis of AC before the index procedure. Demographic characteristics and medical comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypothyroidism) were extracted from electronic medical records. Baseline characteristics were compared between patients with and without PRAs. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association of the presence of PRAs overall, as well as the presence of 1, 2, or 3 or more PRAs, with subsequent MUA/LOA or diagnosis of AC within 2 years postoperatively.

RESULTS

Of 7057 patients identified in the study period, 6583 were eligible for the final analysis. The mean age was 56.6 ± 11.7 years, and the mean body mass index was 29.1 ± 5.6. Overall, 19.3% of patients (n = 1271) reported at least 1 allergy, and 7.1% (n = 469) had >1 PRA. A total of 44 patients (0.7%) underwent subsequent ipsilateral MUA/LOA within 2 years postoperatively, whereas 93 patients (1.4%) received a diagnosis of ipsilateral AC in the same time frame. PRAs were significantly associated with subsequent diagnosis of AC (odds ratio [OR]: 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.45-3.92; P < .001), but not MUA/LOA (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.26-3.61; P = .133). Patients with 2 PRAs had greater odds of being diagnosed with AC than patients with 1 PRA (OR: 2.74; 95% CI: 1.14-5.99; P = .012). Although this association was nonsignificant for MUA/LOA, patients with 2 PRAs (OR: 2.67; 95% CI: 0.96-8.80; P = .059) demonstrated a similar statistical trend.

CONCLUSION

PRAs are associated with increased odds of receiving a diagnosis of AC within 2 years after ARCR but were not found to be associated with return to the operating room for postoperative stiffness.

Increasing patient-reported allergies are not associated with pain, functional outcomes, or satisfaction following medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction: a retrospective comparative cohort study

Background

Patient-reported allergies (PRAs) are often stigmatized as a potential nonmodifiable risk factor for increased pain and worse functional outcomes following surgery. However, there is a dearth of literature directly assessing the impact of PRAs on outcomes in sport surgeries such as medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction (MPFLR). The purpose of our study was to determine whether PRAs were associated with worse outcomes following MPFLR.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of patients who underwent MPFLR at our institution from 2011 to 2019. Patients were included if they had at least 12 months of follow-up. PRAs were obtained from preoperative medical assessments and categorized by drug class. Demographic and perioperative data were obtained from electronic medical records. Postoperative outcomes were measured using a telephone survey and included recurrent instability, Visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, VAS for sports, Kujala score, MPFL-Return to Sport after Injury (MPFL-RSI) score, and overall satisfaction score. Multiple linear regression was used to determine association between PRAs and outcome measures, and p-values less than 0.05 were considered significant.

Results

The cohort included 141 MPFLR. Most patients were female (98, 70%) with an average age of 25 years (range 12–56 years). Average follow-up time was 47 months. Forty-seven patients (33%) reported at least one PRA. There were no significant differences in postoperative pain, functional outcomes, satisfaction, or return to sport between patients with or without PRAs (all p > 0.05). Absence of antibiotic PRAs was predictive of higher VAS (p < 0.007), but there were no other differences. There were no significant differences in outcomes between patients without PRAs, PRAs without a concomitant psychiatric disorder, or PRAs with a concomitant psychiatric disorder (all p > 0.05).

Conclusions

In conclusion, PRAs with or without concomitant psychiatric diagnoses are not associated with worse postoperative pain, functional outcomes, or satisfaction following MPFLR with allograft, dispelling common misconceptions that increased number of allergies or psychiatric diagnoses lead to inferior surgical outcomes. Presence of antibiotic allergies was associated with lower VAS postoperative pain score. Future research should investigate the relationship between PRAs and other surgeries in the field of sports medicine.

The predictive value of self-reported allergies for reoperation after index hip arthroscopy

The purpose of this study is to compare the rate of reoperation after index hip arthroscopy for symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement in patients with, and without, at least one self-reported allergy. Data were collected prospectively in 1468 patients whose records were retrospectively reviewed. After the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, two cohorts were formed: (i) a study cohort (n = 261) composed of patients with a self-reported allergy and (ii) a control cohort. (n = 666). The allergy cohort had a significantly larger [P < 0.001] reoperation rate (24.1% [63/261]) compared to the control cohort (9.6% [64/66]). Univariate analysis (UVA) and multivariate analysis (MVA) were then performed to better understand the implications of allergy status on the arthroscopic outcome. On UVA the presence of an allergy increased the odds of reoperation after index hip arthroscopy by 2.99 [OR (95% CI): 2.99 (2.04, 4.39); P < 0.001] and for each additional allergy a patient reported, their odds of subsequent surgery increased by 1.27 per allergy [OR (95% CI): 1.27 (1.15, 1.39); P < 0.001]. However, on the MVA, allergy status was not an independent risk factor for reoperation. These findings suggest that allergy status is associated with a higher reoperation rate, however, allergy status alone cannot prognosticate the risk of subsequent surgery. Therefore, allergy status and its association with future surgery after hip arthroscopy should be considered in the context of multiple patient-specific factors that influence the surgical outcome. An understanding of this association enables patient-centered care and will strengthen the physician–patient relationship.