Every edition. An expanding view of orthopaedic evidence.
Interscalene blocks routinely paralyze the ipsilateral hemidiaphragm, so a surgeon-performed lung-sparing alternative matters for patients with poor respiratory reserve and for centres without ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia.
Frozen shoulder is a common clinic and exam topic, and this review shows that the evidence behind most of its many treatments is weak, short-term, and unable to rank options definitively.
It is the only randomised comparison of the two main stabilisation operations in the highest-risk group of shoulder dislocators, and it directly informs the Bankart versus Latarjet decision often tested on boards and debated in clinic.
Liposomal bupivacaine costs about $330 more per dose, and this review suggests its added analgesic benefit in interscalene blocks is too small to matter clinically for most shoulder surgery patients.
Retear after rotator cuff repair is common, so knowing whether a graft improves structural healing, and whether that translates into patients feeling better, informs surgical decisions and patient counselling.
Retear after rotator cuff repair remains common, and this synthesis suggests a cheap, autologous biologic augmentation (marrow venting) may reduce retear risk, particularly when using single-row fixation, which is clinically relevant for surgeons deciding whether to add BMS during ARCR.
Postoperative therapy after shoulder replacement is costly and burdensome for older patients, and these trials suggest a surgeon-directed home programme may yield similar 1-year outcomes after reverse shoulder arthroplasty.
Biceps tenodesis is common and lacks a standardised tensioning technique, so evidence on whether a more meticulous patient-specific method actually improves outcomes helps surgeons decide if the extra technical effort is worthwhile.
