A study produced by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush surgeons on the treatment of total hip arthroplasty infections has earned the prestigious "Clinical Research Award" from the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.
The study was led by MOR joint replacement surgeon Dr. Craig Della Valle. Findings from the study will be presented at the AAHKS Annual Meeting in November. Coauthors of the paper include MOR joint replacement surgeons Dr. Scott Sporer and Dr. Wayne Paprosky, along with Rush University Medical Center orthopaedic resident Dr. Sanjai Shukla.
"The Clinical Research Award is an acknowledgement of the excellent clinical and scholarly work being done at the Orthopaedic Surgery Department at Rush University Medical Center," says Dr. Jacobs. "Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush has long been a referral center for the complex total joint replacement patient because of the expertise of our clinicians. Dr. Della Valle in particular has developed an international reputation regarding his expertise in treating the patient with an infected total joint replacement."
The Rush study examined a very complex group of patients who were being treated for an infected total hip arthroplasty. The foundation for this type of treatment is a "two-stage exchange," whereby in the first operation the prosthetic components are removed and replaced after the infection has been eradicated (typically two months after the initial procedure).
"While there is a large body of literature that describes how to diagnose an infection, there is far less information to guide the clinician in deciding if an infection is cured and it is safe to place the new hip into the joint," says Dr. Jacobs. "Research observations by MOR surgeons such as Dr. Della Valle have helped to define clinical algorithms for the successful management of patients with this complication."
MOR's award-winning studies in the management of the infected total joint replacement patient complement numerous other clinical and basic science research programs in total joint replacement, sports medicine, spine surgery, hand/upper extremity surgery and orthopaedic oncology.
Established in 1991, the mission of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) is to provide leadership in advocacy, education and research to achieve excellence in hip and knee patient care. The AAHKS is comprised of over 1,200 board-certified or board-eligible orthopaedic surgeons in the United States and Canada who devote at least 50% of their practice to hip and knee arthroplasty.
For more information about the AAHKS, visit www.aahks.org.
