Editor’s Spotlight/Take 5: How Large a Study Is Needed to Detect TKA Revision Rate Reductions Attributable to Robotic or Navigated Technologies? A Simulation-based Power Analysis

CORR Insights®: Substantial Inconsistency and Variability Exists Among Minimum Clinically Important Differences for Shoulder Arthroplasty Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…For example, in a large enough group of patients, an improvement in forward elevation of the shoulder after a specific operation of 5° might be detectable as a “real” change as opposed to a statistical aberration, but I doubt that most patients would select a specific shoulder procedure to obtain such an incremental benefit. The same general question might be raised vis-à-vis expensive interventions that deliver small or marginal returns [6]. The role of effect-size thresholds like minimal clinically important differences (MCID) [9], substantial clinical benefits [10], and the patient-acceptable symptom state [2, 5] have emerged as helpful methods of assessing effect sizes.…”

CORR Insights®: Can Technology Assistance be Cost Effective in TKA? A Simulation-based Analysis of a Risk-prioritized, Practice-specific Framework

“…This will help to accumulate higher proportions of patients with an elevated revision risk at specialized centers and facilitate research related to the efficacy of TA-TKA in patients with a higher risk of revision. Such organizational changes will require modifications to current compensation models for complicated TKA and sincere effort from orthopaedic communities [6]. Along with the revision rate, future research should focus on more rigorous tools to evaluate the efficacy of TA-TKA from patients’ perspectives by using effect-size metrics of minimal clinically important differences and substantial clinical benefits in patient-reported outcome scores.…”