Background: Psychological distress after orthopaedic surgery can lead to worse outcomes, including higher levels of disability and pain and lower quality of life. The 10-item Optimal Screening for Prediction for Referral and Outcome–Yellow Flag (OSPRO-YF) survey screens for multiple psychological constructs relevant to recovery from orthopaedic injury and may be useful to preoperatively identify patients who may require further psychological assessment and possible intervention after surgery. Purpose/Hypothesis: To determine the association between the OSPRO-YF and physiological patient-reported outcomes (PROs). It was hypothesized that higher OSPRO-YF scores (indicating worse psychological distress) would be associated with worse PRO scores at time of return to sport. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: This study evaluated 107 patients at a single, academic health center who were assessed at a sports orthopaedics clinic and ultimately treated surgically for injuries to the knee, shoulder, foot, or ankle. Preoperatively, patients completed the OSPRO-YF survey as well as the following PRO measures: Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, numeric rating scale for pain; American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons standardized shoulder assessment form for patients with shoulder injuries, the International Knee Documentation Committee score (for patients with knee injuries), and the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM; for patients with foot or ankle injuries). At the time of anticipated full recovery and/or return to sport, patients again completed the same PRO surveys. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate the association between total OSPRO-YF score at baseline and PRO scores at the time of functional recovery. Results: The baseline OSPRO-YF score predicted postoperative PROMIS Physical Function and FAAM Sports scores only. A 1-unit increase in the OSPRO-YF was associated with a 0.55-point reduction in PROMIS Physical Function (95% CI, –1.05 to –0.04; P = .033) indicating worse outcomes. Among patients who underwent ankle surgery, a 1-unit increase in OSPRO-YF was associated with a 6.45-point reduction in FAAM Sports (95% CI, –12.0 to –0.87; P = .023). Conclusion: The study findings demonstrated that the OSPRO-YF survey predicts certain long-term PRO scores at the time of expected return to sport, independent of baseline scores.

Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI, e.g., sports concussions) may be associated with both acute and chronic symptoms and neurological changes. Despite the common occurrence of these injuries, therapeutic strategies are limited. One potentially promising approach is N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) blockade to alleviate the effects of post-injury glutamatergic excitotoxicity. Initial pre-clinical work using the NMDAR antagonist, memantine, suggests that immediate treatment following rmTBI improves a variety of acute outcomes. It remains unclear (1) whether acute memantine treatment has long-term benefits and (2) whether delayed treatment following rmTBI is beneficial, which are both clinically relevant concerns. To test this, animals were subjected to rmTBI via a weight drop model with rotational acceleration (five hits in 5 days) and randomized to memantine treatment immediately, 3 months, or 6 months post-injury, with a treatment duration of one month. Behavioral outcomes were assessed at 1, 4, and 7 months post-injury. Neuropathological outcomes were characterized at 7 months post-injury. We observed chronic changes in behavior (anxiety-like behavior, motor coordination, spatial learning, and memory), as well as neuroinflammation (microglia, astrocytes) and tau phosphorylation (T231). Memantine treatment, either immediately or 6 months post-injury, appears to confer greater rescue of neuroinflammatory changes (microglia) than vehicle or treatment at the 3-month time point. Although memantine is already being prescribed chronically to address persistent symptoms associated with rmTBI, this study represents the first evidence of which we are aware to suggest a small but durable effect of memantine treatment in mild, concussive injuries. This effect suggests that memantine, although potentially beneficial, is insufficient to treat all aspects of rmTBI alone and should be combined with other therapeutic agents in a multi-therapy approach, with attention given to the timing of treatment.

Introduction: Peripheral nerve blocks (PNB) has been increasingly used in the care of patients with geriatric hip fracture to reduce perioperative opiate use and the need for general anesthesia. However, the associated motor palsy may impair patients' ability to mobilize effectively after surgery and subsequently may increase latency to key mobility milestones postoperatively, as well as increase inpatient length of stay (LOS). The aim of this study was to investigate time-to-mobility milestones and length of hospital stay between peripheral, epidural, and general anesthesia. Methods: A retrospective review identified 1,351 patients aged 65 years or older who underwent surgery for hip fracture between 2012 and 2018 at a single academic health system. Patients were excluded if baseline nonambulatory, restricted weight-bearing postoperatively, or sustained concomitant injuries precluding mobilization, with a final cohort of 1,013 patients. Time-to-event analyses for discharge and mobility milestones were assessed using univariate Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. Results: PNB was associated with delayed postoperative time to ambulation (P < 0.001) and time to out-of-bed (P = 0.029), along with increased LOS (P < 0.001). Epidural anesthesia was associated with less delay to first out-of-bed (P = 0.002), less delay to ambulation (P = 0.001), and overall reduced length of stay (P < 0.001). Discussion: PNB was associated with slower mobilization and longer hospitalization while epidural anesthesia was associated with quicker mobilization and shorter hospital stays. Epidural anesthesia may be a preferable anesthesia choice in patients with geriatric hip fracture when possible. Level of Evidence: Level III

The Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome Yellow Flag (OSPRO-YF) Tool is a 10-item multidimensional screening tool utilized to evaluate pain-related psychological traits in individuals with musculoskeletal pain conditions. The validity of postoperatively collected OSPRO-YF is unclear. This study sought to assess validity of the OSPRO-YF by comparing it to patient-reported outcome scores in both preoperative and postoperative settings. The authors hypothesized that OSPRO-YF overall score would correlate with shoulder and global function PROs at preoperative and postoperative timepoints. A review of 101 patients undergoing shoulder surgery by one sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at a large academic institution was conducted. 90 and 54 patients had complete preoperative and postoperative patient-reported outcome responses. OSPRO-YF, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Evaluation Form, and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Computer Adaptive Test (PROMIS-CAT) were routinely administered before and after surgery at the senior author's clinic visits. Concurrent validity of OSPRO-YF at either timepoint was assessed by comparing scores with PROs cross-sectionally using Pearson correlations and multiple comparison corrections. Preoperatively, higher OSPRO-YF total score was associated with greater concurrent PROMIS-CAT Pain Interference (r = 0.43; P < .01) and Depression (r = 0.36; P = .05) and lower ASES (r = -0.34; P < .01). Higher postoperative OSPRO-YF was also associated with greater concurrent PROMIS-CAT Pain Interference (r = 0.43; P < .01) and Depression (r = 0.36; P < .01) and lower ASES (r = -0.34; P = .01). ASES had strong correlation with Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation and Pain scores at both preoperative and postoperative timepoints. Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation was not significantly associated with OSPRO-YF total score or number of yellow flags at either timepoints. The study findings support the clinical validity of the 10-item OSPRO-YF tool when administered before or after shoulder surgery. For patients exhibiting suboptimal recovery or those identified as high risk at initial screening, assessment of pain-related psychological distress postoperatively may be particularly beneficial in guiding rehabilitation.