Smith Gabriella B, Gussner Anna V, Hofmann Grady H, Duru Nneoma O, Shea Kevin G
Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Jul 14;17(7):e87914. doi: 10.7759/cureus.87914. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Background Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the bone can progress to subchondral collapse, often requiring surgical intervention. Given the debilitating nature of this condition, patients may seek information and support through social media. AVN-related content on social media platforms remains uncharacterized in the literature. This study aimed to analyze the type and reach of AVN-related content across social media platforms. Methods The search terms "avascular necrosis" and "osteonecrosis" were used to identify social media content on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok between October 31, 2024, and November 4, 2024. Posts with the highest engagement were reviewed, and descriptive statistics were recorded. Results Across all four platforms, engagement metrics for "avascular necrosis" were consistently higher than for "osteonecrosis." The following findings were noted for the search term "avascular necrosis." On Facebook, five groups with a combined membership of 30,805 shared 492 posts monthly. Three groups provided patient support, while the remaining two focused on a patient story and treatment advice; only one group had a physician moderator. Instagram's top five hashtags had over 24,000 posts. On YouTube, the five most-viewed videos - with 1.78 million combined views - addressed topics such as patient experiences, surgical techniques, and education. TikTok had 135 videos for "avascular necrosis," with the most popular video receiving 5.6 million views and 163,200 likes. The top five TikTok hashtags had a total of 2,218 posts. Conclusion AVN-related content is widely available on social media platforms, offering patients access to support networks and informational resources. However, concerns regarding the reliability and accuracy of educational content persist. Physicians treating AVN patients should familiarize themselves with this digital landscape to address patient misconceptions and share credible sources. Future educational initiatives could involve creating physician-led social media content to enhance the accessibility and quality of AVN-related resources.
骨缺血性坏死（AVN）可发展为软骨下塌陷，通常需要手术干预。鉴于这种疾病的致残性，患者可能会通过社交媒体寻求信息和支持。社交媒体平台上与AVN相关的内容在文献中仍未得到描述。本研究旨在分析社交媒体平台上与AVN相关内容的类型和传播范围。方法：使用搜索词“avascular necrosis”和“osteonecrosis”来识别2024年10月31日至2024年11月4日期间在Facebook、Instagram、YouTube和TikTok上的社交媒体内容。对参与度最高的帖子进行了审查，并记录了描述性统计数据。结果：在所有四个平台上，“avascular necrosis”的参与度指标始终高于“osteonecrosis”。对于搜索词“avascular necrosis”，有以下发现。在Facebook上，五个群组共有30805名成员，每月分享492篇帖子。三个群组提供患者支持，其余两个专注于患者故事和治疗建议；只有一个群组有医生作为管理员。Instagram上排名前五的主题标签有超过24000篇帖子。在YouTube上，观看次数最多的五个视频——总观看次数为178万次——涉及患者经历、手术技术和教育等主题。TikTok上有135个关于“avascular necrosis”的视频，最受欢迎的视频获得了560万次观看和163,200个赞。TikTok上排名前五的主题标签共有2218篇帖子。结论：与AVN相关的内容在社交媒体平台上广泛存在，为患者提供了获得支持网络和信息资源的途径。然而，对教育内容的可靠性和准确性的担忧仍然存在。治疗AVN患者的医生应熟悉这一数字环境，以解决患者的误解并分享可靠的信息来源。未来的教育举措可能包括创建由医生主导的社交媒体内容，以提高与AVN相关资源的可及性和质量。
