Search the hub

In the largest independent randomized controlled trial (RCT) of its type, a multimodal digital therapy program for patients with non-specific chronic low back pain has outperformed standard-of-care treatment across all medical outcomes. Results of the study, published in the Journal of Pain Research, show that patients using Kaia, the back pain management app developed by leading digital therapeutics company Kaia Health, reduced pain levels, anxiety, depression, stress, and improved wellbeing and body functionality significantly more compared to standard-of-care treatments, e.g. pain killers, surgeries, physical therapy. “This large-scale study demonstrates the significant benefits for people managing low back pain when using Kaia to deliver a multimodal treatment through a digital device, such as a smartphone,” says Thomas R. Toelle, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Pain Center of the Technical University Munich, Germany. “These results add to the growing body of medical evidence that supports the use of digital multimodal treatments for chronic conditions, such as back pain.” Low back pain is one of the leading causes of global disability, with an enormous cost for healthcare systems worldwide. 1,2 According to a 2018 report on the impact of musculoskeletal pain on employers, chronic pain, including back pain, accounts for 188.7 million lost work days, and $62,4 billion in lost productivity cost.3 Kaia is an app-based, multimodal digital therapy program for chronic back pain, which focuses on Physical therapy, Relaxation exercises, and Medical education.

Patients in need of a new hip or knee are increasingly being left in agony for more than a year, an investigation reveals. The number of patients forced to endure such waits has risen by more than 50% in 12 months, NHS data shows. Charities said that the findings were "devastating", with thousands of people left in pain and misery, with some left house-bound, and younger patients unable to work, as they waited for NHS help. The figures show that in 2018/19, 55,251 patients waited at least 18 weeks for hip and knee surgery – a more than doubling from 25,704 such cases in 2013/14. In total, 2,889 patients were left waiting at least 12 months, up from 1,863 a year before, and 780 cases five years ago. Experts warned that even these figures from NHS Digital are an underestimate, as they only measure the wait from the point a hospital doctor decides that surgery is required, not from point of GP referral. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 22 February 2020

A surgeon has been accused of carrying out “unnecessary” shoulder operations on several NHS patients at a private hospital linked to the Ian Paterson scandal, with 217 patients recalled. HSJ has been told at least five patients, all commissioned by the NHS, have instructed solicitors to take legal action against Habib Rahman, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull. Mr Rahman is accused of undertaking “unnecessary or inappropriate surgical procedures at Spire Healthcare hospitals” . Spire has confirmed it has recalled 217 patients over the concerns. The allegations come weeks before the findings are due from an independent inquiry into disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson – who was found guilty of wounding with intent after giving hundreds of patients unnecessary breast surgeries in Spire hospitals across the Midlands. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 January 2020