Short-stay joint replacement programmes are used in many countries but there has been little scrutiny of safety outcomes in the literature. We aimed to systematically review evidence on the safety of short-stay programmes versus usual care for total hip (THR) and knee replacement (KR), and [...]
Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication of total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aimed to determine if the anterior approach (AP) influenced the incidence of early PJI in THA compared to posterior approach (PP). Record linkage was performed between state-wide hospitalization data and [...]
Pain medicines are widely prescribed by general practitioners (GPs) when managing people with low back pain (LBP), but little is known about what drives decisions to prescribe these medicines. The aim of this study was to investigate what influences GPs' decision to prescribe pain medicines [...]
Low back pain (LBP) is commonly treated with opioid analgesics despite evidence that these medicines provide minimal or no benefit for LBP and have an established profile of harms. International guidelines discourage or urge caution with the use of opioids for back pain; however, doctors [...]
Although NSAIDs are recommended as a first line analgesic treatment, opioids are very commonly prescribed to patients with low back pain (LBP) despite risks of harms. This study aimed to determine factors contributing to general practitioners’ (GPs’) prescribing choices to patients with chronic LBP in [...]
Total hip and knee arthroplasties are common surgeries performed worldwide, but the management of pain during the subacute period (defined as hospital discharge to 3 months postoperatively) is poorly understood. This study aimed to determine patients' experiences, facilitators and barriers to subacute pain management following total [...]
Several validated decision rules are available for clinicians to guide the appropriate use of imaging for patients with musculoskeletal injuries, including the Canadian CT Head Rule, Canadian C-Spine Rule, National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study (NEXUS) guideline, Ottawa Ankle Rules and Ottawa Knee Rules. However, it [...]
Low‐back pain (LBP) is a common condition seen in primary care. A principal aim during a clinical examination is to identify patients with a higher likelihood of underlying serious pathology, such as vertebral fracture, who may require additional investigation and specific treatment. All 'evidence‐based' clinical [...]
This study highlights the growing disease burden of OA in Australia over three decades, drawing on national-level modelled data from the longstanding Global Burden of Disease Study. Hand OA was recently included as a separate cause of disease, enabling us to examine prevalence and disability [...]
Few studies have investigated the association between obesity, preoperative weight loss and postoperative outcomes beyond 30- and 90-days post-arthroplasty. This study investigated whether body mass index (BMI) and preoperative weight loss in people with obesity predict postoperative complications and patient-reported outcomes 6 months following total knee [...]