Is Air Travel Safe After Total Joint Arthroplasty?

Air travel during early postoperative period after total joint arthroplasty deemed safe in a recent study presented to the American Academy of orthopaedic surgeons annual meeting in Chicago earlier this year. As air travel and total joint replacement are independent factors for the development of venous thromboembolism, some surgeons have advised patients against flying during the early postoperative period. Now, new research suggests that air travel after arthroplasty is safe.
Orthopedics today, May 2013

Patients who underwent ACL reconstruction with bone-tendon-bone autograft and a continuous femoral nerve blockade have worse isokinetic quadriceps strength after six months compared to patients who did not receive a continuous femoral nerve blockade, according to presenter Scott Kuzma, BS .
Orthopedics today, May 2013

Obese women have more varus malalignment, which may increase their risk for knee osteoarthritis, according to a presenter. “In obese women, there was a significantly higher osteoarthritis (OA) incidence according to our primary outcomes and for medial joint space narrowing: Jos Runhaar, MSc, said. Researcher found that 40% of the women had varus alignment and 13% has valgus alignment. The authors found malalignment and baseline body mass index affected the final outcome and medial joint space narrowing. Obese women with varus aligned knees showed a higher incidence of OA and medial joint space narrowing.
Orthopedics today, May 2013

A patellofemoral brace improved pain and symptom scores for patients with patellofemoral osteoarthritis, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International April 18-21, 2013 in Philadelphia. “ At 12 weeks patellofemoral brace significantly, improved pain and symptoms in painful patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis,” Michael Callaghan, PHD said in his presentation.
Orthopedics today, May 2013