Archive of the Category 'Events'

Dr. Della Valle elected to Board of Directors for Three Organizations

Dr. Della Valle was recently elected to the board of directors for three organizations.

• He was elected to the board of directors of the Mid-America Orthopaedic Association as Member at Large.
• He was also recently elected to the board of directors of the Knee Society as Member at Large.
• Dr. Della Valle was also elected to the board of directors of the Hip Society as Secretary.

Dr. Della Valle receives two prestigious awards at AAOS Annual Meeting

Dr. Della Valle received two awards at this year’s AAOS Annual Meeting.

Dr. Della Valle and Mr. Paul Yi were given The Hip Society Stinchfield Award and Dr. Della Valle and Mr. Matt Tetreault were given The Knee Society Ranawat Award for outstanding contributions to orthopedic research.

For the Stinchfield Award, Dr. Della Valle and Yi researched the diagnosis of infection following hip replacement surgery. They submitted a paper entitled, “Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infection in the Early Post-Operative Period Following Total Hip Arthroplasty”.

For the Ranawat Award, Della Valle’s submission was entitled, “Should Prophylactic Antibiotics Be Withheld Prior to Revision Hip and Knee Arthroplasty to Obtain Appropriate Cultures?” Dr. Della Valle and Mr.Tetreault, along with colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, researched the effects of antibiotics when given to a patient before his or her hip or knee revision procedure.

In addition to these awards, Dr. Della Valle and his associates presented 11 additional scientific presentations and one scientific exhibit. The exhibit was acknowledged as one of the twenty best of the 2013 AAOS Annual Meeting.

Dr. Della Valle receives the Hip Society’s Frank Stinchfield Award

Dr. Della Valle was recently awarded the Hip Society’s Frank Stinchfield Award. The prestigious award is given annually to recognize research that demonstrates an outstanding contribution concerning hip problems. Dr. Della Valle received the award for his study to determine whether the femoral head size affects dislocation rates among patients undergoing revision hip arthroplasty.

Dr. Della Valle and his colleagues followed 184 patients from seven different centers for two to five years after surgery. Half of the patient group had 32mm femoral head implants, while the other half had 36/40mm femoral head implants. Those patients within the larger femoral head group demonstrated a dislocation rate of 1.1% versus an 8.7% dislocation rate among those with the smaller femoral head size.

The study found that a large femoral head can significantly reduce dislocation rates in patients undergoing revision total hip, without increasing linear polyethylene wear or decreasing quality-of-life outcomes. As a result the authors now routinely use large femoral heads with a highly cross-linked polyethylene acetabular liner in all revision hip arthroplasty procedures.