Evidence-Based Practice in the Surgical Treatment of Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) arthritis contributes considerably to functional disability in the aging adult United States (US) population. Owing to the increasing growth in this segment of our population, its burden on health care resources will increase in the future. Variations exist in the degree of complexity and cost among different surgical treatments. We examined the national trends of the surgical treatment of thumb CMC arthritis and hypothesized that current practice patterns are not supported by evidence favoring the simpler trapeziectomy-only procedure.

Methods

Using a random 5%, nationally representative, sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries diagnosed with thumb CMC arthritis between 2001 and 2010, we used a multinomial logistic regression mode

SUBMITTER: Yuan F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5302845 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature