Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Oct 29:8:24715492241258623.
doi: 10.1177/24715492241258623. eCollection 2024.

Supporting Regional Upper Limb Arthroplasty: The Impact of Establishing an Upper Limb Orthopaedic Network

Ben Oakley  1 , Ben Marson  1 , Malin Wijeratna  1 , Paul Manning  1 , John Geoghegan  1 , Ben Gooding  1
Affiliations

Supporting Regional Upper Limb Arthroplasty: The Impact of Establishing an Upper Limb Orthopaedic Network

Ben Oakley et al. J Shoulder Elb Arthroplast. .

Abstract

Background and objectives: The management of complex upper limb arthroplasty has received national guidelines supporting the use of a regional network. An upper limb network was established for both elbow and shoulder arthroplasty. This study evaluates the impact of establishing this network over a 5-year period.

Methods: Data were collected from network meetings from June 2017 to December 2022. Hospital-level National Joint Registry data were obtained for analysis of case volume.

Results: A total of 243 cases were discussed. Network discussion changed the management plan in 53% of cases. Only 8% of cases required transfer to the tertiary center. The proportional caseload at either hub or spoke hospitals did not change after creation of the network.

Discussion: Regional network discussion aids decision-making for complex cases, with further management options realized in over half of the cases presented. The discussion allowed every patient to gain the advantage of regional expertise while being managed conveniently at their local hospital.

Keywords: arthroplasty; elbow; multidisciplinary team; regional network; revision arthroplasty; shoulder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Line graph plotting hub and spoke arthroplasty volume in comparison to network discussion caseload.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Murray R. Demand and activity in the NHS: still rising. The Kings Fund; 2016. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2016/12/demand-and-activity-nhs-still-...
    1. Briggs T, Perera J. Improving the Quality of Orthopaedic Care within the National Health Service in England: “Getting it Right the First Time”. British Orthopaedic Association News. 2011;50.
    1. National Joint Registry 19th Annual Report. National Joint Registry; 2022. https://reports.njrcentre.org.uk/ - PubMed
    1. Hay S, Kulkarni R, Watts A, et al. The provision of primary and revision elbow replacement surgery in the NHS. Shoulder Elbow. 2018;10(2 Suppl):S5‐S12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bloch B, Raglan M, Manktelow A, James P. The east midlands specialist orthopaedic network: the future of revision arthroplasty? Bull R Coll Surg Engl. 2017;99(2):66‐70.

LinkOut - more resources