Patients referred after the introduction of SIGN guidelines were 33.5% less likely to be discharged at the first visit. Although compliance to most recommendations in SIGN guidelines has improved, there is still a need to improve adherence to referral criteria.

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Osteoporosis and its complications are a major health concern in Saudi Arabia, and the prevalence of osteoporosis is on the rise. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct healthcare cost for patients with osteoporosis. A retrospective study was carried out among adult patients with osteoporosis in a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia. A bottom-up approach was conducted to estimate the healthcare resources used and the total direct medical cost for the treatment of osteoporosis and related fractures. The study included 511 osteoporosis patients, 93% of whom were female. The average (SD) age was 68.5 years (10.2). The total mean direct medical costs for patients without fractures were USD 975.77 per person per year (PPPY), and for those with osteoporotic fractures, the total direct costs were USD 9716.26 PPPY, of which 56% of the costs were attributable to surgery procedures. Prior to fractures, the main cost components were medication, representing 61%, and physician visits, representing 18%. The findings of this study indicated the economic impact of osteoporosis and related fractures. With the aging population in Saudi Arabia, the burden of disease could increase significantly, which highlights the need for effective prevention strategies to minimize the economic burden of osteoporosis.

Purpose In Western countries, several patient-reported outcomes (PROs) measures have been developed and validated for knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. While few PROs have been adopted for these patients in Saudi Arabia, which do not reflect all aspects of the Saudi socio-cultural context. Given this shortcoming, this study aimed to develop a new PRO measure in Arabic that covers all concepts related to health, function, and participation encompassing environmental and personal factors. Patients and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 73 males and females aged ≥55 diagnosed with radiographic knee OA recruited from the orthopedic and physiotherapy departments of five hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between September 2016 and March 2017. Physicians confirmed knee OA according to the American College of Rheumatology standards. We examined the psychometric properties of the new Arabic PRO measure. Results The internal consistency and test-retest (a one-week interval) reliabilities were found acceptable and excellent with Cronbach’s alpha and the intra-class correlation coefficient, ranging from 0.69 to 0.85 and 0.88 to 0.91, respectively. The construct validity was found fair with the correlation between the subscales Body Function and Physical Function ( rs =0.63), Activity & Participation and Physical Function ( rs =0.72), and Body Function and Bodily Pain ( rs =0.58). We found a weak to fair correlation between the new Arabic PRO measure’s subscales and the SF-36 physical composite scale (PCS: rs =0.34–0.69) compared to the mental-composite scale (MCS: rs =0.16–0.55). Conclusion The 33-item new Arabic PRO measure is a well-accepted, reliable, and valid tool for use in knee OA patients in the Saudi cultural context.

Introduction: Despite numerous articles on intraoperative contamination in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures, the available data on tissue contamination are scarce and mainly based on evaluating bacteriological swabs. Methods: Two hundred and forty specimens, divided between bone and soft tissue, were obtained from 40 consecutive unilateral primaries TKAs. The specimens were evaluated for aerobic and anaerobic bacterial growth. Colony-forming units/gram (CFU/g) were calculated on the contaminated specimens to determine the level of contamination. Results: The contamination rate in intraoperative specimens was 15% during TKA. The contamination level had a mean of 10.6 and a median of 5, ranging from 1-70 CFU/g. The most common contaminating organisms in all samples were Staphylococcus aureus (38.9%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (30.6%). No clinical infections were detected in TKAs in the follow-up period. Conclusion: The contamination rate during TKA is relatively high, despite the practice of standard preventive measures. Contamination levels, measured by CFU/g, are considered low when compared to the infection threshold of 105 reported in the literature. However, contamination should not be underestimated due to the presence of foreign bodies (implants), which are known to significantly lower this threshold. Level of evidence IV; case series .