Guided growth is commonly performed by placing an extra-periosteal two-hole plate across the growth plate with one epiphyseal and one metaphyseal screw. Recent work by Keshet et al. (2019) investigated the efficacy of the removal of the metaphyseal screw only (“sleeper plate”) after correction. They concluded the practice to be unnecessary as only 19% of patient show recurrence of deformity. The aim of this study is to examine the incidence of rebound and undesired bony in-growth of the plate (“tethering”) after metaphyseal screw removal only.

In this retrospective case series, patient data on 144 plates inserted around the knee was obtained. Plates still in situ (n=69) at time of study and full hardware removal (n=50) were excluded. The remaining 25 plates had a metaphyseal screw only removed after deformity correction. We analyzed the rate of re-bound, tethering and maintenance of correction in two age groups at latest follow-up for a mean of 3.5 years (1.25 to five). Fisher's exact test with Freeman-Halton extension was used to analyze the two by three contingency table.

Twenty-five plates were identified as “sleeper plates” in our series. 13 plates (52%) maintained the achieved correction after a mean of 21 months (four to 39), nine plates (36%) required screw re-insertion due to rebound after a mean of 22 months (12-48) from screw removal, and four plates (16%) showed tethering with undesired continuation of guided growth after a mean of 14 months (seven to 22) from screw removal. Younger patients (years at time of plate insertion) had higher rates of rebound and tethering (p=.0112, Fisher's exact test). All Tethering occurred in titanium plates, none occurred in steel plates.

The sleeper plate is an acceptable treatment strategy for coronal deformities around the knee. Rebounding and tethering are potential outcomes that occur in younger patients and should be disclosed to patients; titanium plates may increase the risk of tethering, however further long-term follow-up is needed. We stress the importance of close post-operative follow up to identify tethering early and prevent over correction.

The sleeper plate technique is a viable option in younger children with congenital abnormalities, however, continued monitoring of alignment is necessary after screw removal to check for rebound and tethering.

Background. The procedures of total elbow and shoulder replacements increased 6% to 13% annually from 1993 to 2007 with revision-related burden increasing from 4.5% to 7%. The revisions of the shoulder and elbow prostheses due to aseptic loosening, periprosthetic fractures, infections have led to the use of standard or custom-made implants due to significant bone loss. This study reports our experience in the management of complicated primary and revisions of total shoulder and elbow replacements with significant humeral bone loss and in metabolic diseases of the elbow and shoulder treated with bone resection using The Mosaic Humeral Replacement System. Patients and Materials. A total of 20 patients underwent total elbow or shoulder arthroplasty using the Mosaic Humeral Replacement System (Biomet, UK). The Mosaic system was used in 8 shoulder arthroplasties (Group A) and in 12 elbow arthroplasties (Group B). The underlying pathologis in Group A included 2 malunited proximal humerus fracture, 1 humeral osteomyelitis, 1 shoulder chondrosarcoma, 1 aggressive Gigantic Cell Tumor with prosthetic fracture, 2 metastatic lytic lesion, and 1 failed fixation of non-union proximal humerus. Figure 1 shows Mosaic implant after complex fracture of proximal humerus. Reasons for Mosaic arthroplasty in Group B included 3 humeral component revisions due to periprosthetic fracture, 1 prosthesis breaking-up with fractures, 1 revision of loose Souter Strathclyde prosthesis, 1 loose prosthesis due to infection, 1 highly comminuted elbow fracture, 1 aseptic loosening of humeral component of total elbow replacement, 3 revision of total elbow replacement due loosening and 1 pathological distal humerus fracture due to metastasis. Figure 2&3 shows pre- and post-operative Mosaic implant following complex periprosthetic fracture of distal humerus. Clinical Observation/Discussion. The Mosaic Humeral Replacement System is a complete system for complex revision, salvage/oncology, and complex humeral fractures. It is a completely modular system which can be adapted to different patient anatomies and indications. It has been designed to face several surgical challenges, including reattaching soft tissues, properly tensioning the glenohumeral joint and restoring joint function. It is a cost-effective procedure with the benefits of a custom made humeral component in a standard tray. Our study shows that good results can be achieved with this form of treatment. Radiological assessment of all patients showed a satisfactory position of the implant with appropriate margin of bony resection. One patient with proximal and another one with distal humeral Mosaic replacement had late infection. One patient had aseptic loosening 3 years after distal humeral replacement. Most of the patients had satisfactory improvement in range of movement and chronic pain. While primary clinical observations and imaging results indicate acceptable results with Mosaic arthroplasty; a realistic assessment can only be achieved in long-term using the appropriate outcome measures. At the present we continue to regularly assess the patients clinically and radiologically and by means of Liverpool elbow score for distal and Quick- DASH for proximal Mosaic Humeral Replacement System and plan to report the long-term results in due time

We have been using 3-dimensional CAD software for preoperative planning as a desktop tool daily. In ordinary cases, proper size stems and cups can be decided without much labor but in our population, many arthritic hip cases have dysplastic condition and they often come to see us for hip replacement after severe defects were created over the acetabulum. It is often the case that has Crowe's type III, IV hips with leg length difference. For those cases preoperative planning using 3D CAD is a very powerful tool. Although we only have 2-dimensional display with our computer during preoperative planning, 3 dimensional geometries are not so difficult to be understood, because we can turn the objects with the mouse and can observer from different directions. We can also display their sections and can peep inside of the geometries. It is quite natural desire that a surgeon wishes to see the planed geometries as a 3-dimensional materials. For some complicated cases, we had prepared plastic model and observed at the theater for better understanding. When we ask for a model service, each model costs $2,500. We also have small scale desk top rapid processing tool too, however it takes 2 days to make one side of pelvis. Observation of the geometries using 3-dimensional display can be its substitute without much cost and without taking much time. The problem of using 3D display had been the special goggle to mask either eye alternatively. In the present paper, we have used a 3D display which has micro arrays of powerful prism to deriver different image for each eye without using any goggle. Method. After preoperative planning, 2 images were prepared for right eye and left eye giving 2-3 degree's parallax. These images were encoded into a special AVI file for 3-dimensional display. To keep fingers away from the device, several scenes were selected and 3-dimensional slide show was endlessly shown during the surgery. Result. Cup geometries with screws had been prepared and cup position with screws direction were very useful. The edge of acetabulum and cup edge are well compared then could obtain a better cup alignment. Screws are said to be safe if they were inserted in upper posterior quadrant. However so long as the cluster cup was used, when the cup was given 30 degrees anterior rotation, 25 mm screw was still acceptable using CAT angiography. Conclusion. Three dimensional display without goggle was a useful tool to observe preoperative planning inside the operation theater

Objective: we present the long-term behavior of polyethylene’s insert in acetabular implants ARC2F. Materials and Methods: from 1989 to 1995, 668 THA’s were implanted. Mean patients age was 54 years (28–75). The preoperative diagnosis included: primary OA 501 cases, post-traumatic arthritis 24, hip dysplasia 112, AVN 31. In all cases Omnifit femoral stem with proximal HA coating and ARC2F acetabular component were used. 165 patients (182 arthroplasties) were lost to follow-up. The average time of observation was 15 years (13–18.5). Results: all THA’s performed well without signs of wear at 10 years. No implant was revised during the first decade because of mechanical loosening. Since then, during the 13th – 14th year, a significant number of patients appeared with symptoms of polyethylene’s massive destruction and significant osteolysis at the femoral and acetabular side of the arthroplasty. We recalled all patients that could be found. Totally, 178 from 486 THA’s had similar radiographic signs of wear. Only 33 of all these had initial wrong orientation of the cup. Conclusion: despite the excellent early and middle-term results, ARC2F shows rapid and massive wear of the insert after 12 years, probably because of degeneration and loss of polyethylene’s structural integrity due to the method of sterilization. We suggest to recall and inspect all the patients which have this kind of implant more than 12 years

Introduction & Purpose of Study. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical, radiographic and histologic results with the Zweymueller total hip arthroplasty (THA) and metal-on-metal articulation. Material and Methods. Between 1994–2003, 380 patients received 415 third-generation Zweymueller-Plus THA with SL-stem and Bicon screw socket for hip osteoarthritis. Ten (5.15%) patients did not return for their last follow-up evaluation for reasons unrelated to their hip operation. This study reports on 217 THAs with follow up more than 60 months. The 217 THAs were implanted in 194 patients (143 women and 51 men), aged 55 ± 9 years, (25–70 years). The most common diagnosis for THA was primary osteoarthritis (48%) followed by secondary osteoarthritis due to developmental hip dysplasia (44%). Results. The follow-up was 77 ±17 months, (60 – 112 months). From the 217 THAs, 14 (6.4%) hips were revised for any reason; the socket in 5(2.3%) and the SL-stem in 9(4.1%) hips. The preoperative Harris hip score of 45±19 was improved to 96 ± 4 postoperatively. 95% of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the result of the operation. Revision was made in a total 14(4.6%) hips because of different reasons. The aseptic revision rate was 5%: 4(1.8%) Bicon cups and 7(3%) SL-stems were revised for aseptic loosening. The septic revision rate was 1.4% (3 THAs) and was due to Staph aureus. Periarticular ossification was observed in 32(17%) of the hips (5% Brooker grades III and IV), however without associated disability. The histological examination revealed mild metalosis (Mirra grades 1 and 2) in all revised hips. The cumulative survival for any reason (95% C.I.) was 90% (97% to 71%). The aseptic survival was 91% (97–72%) [95% CI); and specifically for the Bicon socket it was 98 % (100 to 92%); and for the SL-stem 93% (98% to 74%)[CI 95%]. The survival for the men and women was 78.9% and 94.4% respectively (log rank test: chi square P= 0.25). A significant, not statistically significant observation was that men showed lower survival for the stem than women (78.9 vs. 97.5%). Conclusion. This study showed that the medium-term results of Zweymueller total hip arthroplasty with metal-on-metal articulation were inferior particularly for the SL-stem to those obtained with the conventional Zweymueller total hip arthroplasty with polyethylene-ceramic articulation. This could be due either to allergic or mechanical (Sikomet Alloy) reasons

Introduction

A recent retrospective study of distal femoral physeal fractures (DFPFs) suggested closed manipulation alone has a high incidence of re-displacement, malunion or physeal bar formation. The paper concluded that all displaced DFPFs require internal fixation, and breaching the physis with k-wires is safe. We agree that hyper-extension/flexion injuries need stabilisation using k-wires but, in our experience, purely valgus/varus deformities can be successfully managed by manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) and a moulded cylinder cast.

In biomaterial engineering the surface of an implant can influence cell differentiation, adhesion and affinity towards the implant. Increased bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cell (BMSC) differentiation towards bone forming osteoblasts, on contact with an implant, can improve osteointegration. The process of micropatterning has been shown to improve osteointegration in polymers, but there are few reports surrounding ceramics.

The purpose of this study was to establish a co-culture of BMSCs with osteoclast progenitor cells and to observe the response to micropatterned zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) ceramics with 30 µm diameter pits. The aim was to establish if the pits were specifically bioactive towards osteogenesis or were generally bioactive and would also stimulate osteoclastogenesis that could potentially lead to osteolysis.

We demonstrate specific bioactivity of micropits towards osteogenesis with more nodule formation and less osteoclastogenesis. This may have a role when designing ceramic orthopaedic implants.

Introduction

Deciding the acetabular cup inclination and anteversion is an important step in total hip arthroplasty. Despite numerous studies focusing on enhancement of precise positioning into anatomical safe zone, problem remains regarding which is the “optimal anteversion” and what is the proper anatomical reference during the surgery.

Introduction: Some patients with collapsed osteonecrosis of the femoral head do not need any specific treatment because of mild symptoms or disability. The general features of this patient population were evaluated.

Materials and Methods: Forty-five cases of collapsed osteonecrosis of the femoral head in 38 patients were included in this study. These patients visited outpatient clinics for the first time from January 1996 to December 2002. In all cases, pain developed at least 3 years before the last follow-up, but no specific treatment was necessary. There were 27 men and 11 women. The mean age at the onset of pain was 41 years (range, 17 to 72 years). The duration from the onset of pain to the last follow-up was 36 to 167 months (mean, 73 months). The general and radiological features were evaluated.

Results: Risk factors included steroid therapy in 18, alcoholism in 16, other in 1 case; 10 cases had no risk factors (idiopathic). In 29 patients, both femoral heads were involved. Extent of the necrosis was 37 to 89 percent (mean, 62 percent). The amount of depression was 0.5 to 17 mm (mean, 2.2 mm).

Discussion: Steroid therapy was the most frequent risk factor in this patient population. In most cases, the amount of depression was less than 3 mm. Most patients remembered that the pain was most severe at its onset and improved over the next several months.

Introduction

Lisfranc joint injuries account for only 0.2% of all fractures but early diagnosis improves the chances of a better outcom]. Radiographic signs, such as diastasis (>2mm) of the 1–2 interspace, are subtle and. often missed, leading to a poorer outcome. We present a new radiographic sign, less likely to result in missed diagnoses. Null nypothesis: The intermetarsal angle remains unchanged in Lisfranc injuries.

Introduction

The prosthetic impingement occurs if the range of motion of the hip exceeds implant mobility or in case of component malorientation. This retrieval study was designed to assess the frequency and the risk factors of this phenomenon.

There are currently no agreed guidelines for the type and frequency of post spinal surgery neurological observations. This lack of an agreed standard can lead to the failure to adequately monitor cord function following surgery and thus neurological deficits can be missed. We have carried out an audit of the postoperative spinal observations against our agreed standards of care.

Standards of care:

All patients should have the frequency of required neuro obs documented in the post op instructions.

28 case notes were reviewed. 21 of these cases were scoliosis correction through anterior, posterior and combined approaches. 3 had disc replacements, 2 had decompression for metastatic cancer and one had fixa-tion of a fracture.

All patients failed to complete all standards fully. There was a lack of clear postoperative guidelines, failure to record neurological status in recovery, incomplete documentation of neurological state in HDU, failure to inform medical staff in presence of a neurological deficit and inadequate assessment of patient by medical staff. One patient returned to theatre for a foot drop, which is still only partially recovered.

We recommend the audit of current practice and implementation of locally agreed standards for the postoperative monitoring.

Introduction: The prosthetic impingement occurs if the range of motion of the hip exceeds implant mobility or in case of component malorientation. This phenomenon is rarely studied in the literature and most data have come from sporadic cases. This study was designed to assess the frequency and the risk factors of this phenomenon.

Material: The frequency and the severity of the impingement were calculated from a continuous series of 413 cups retrievals. These cups were examined macroscopically twice by two independent observers. The cam effect was noted as: absent, grade 1 (visible at gross inspection but measuring < 1 mm), grade 2 (notch measuring 1–3 mm), grade 3 (notch measuring > 3 mm). The risk factors were analyzed for 298 retrievals that had complete clinical charts.

Results: Among the 413 cups explants, the frequency of impingement was 51.3 percent (grade 3 in 12% and grade 2 in 24%). The impingement was the reason for removal in only 1.7 percent (only for hard bearings), meaning that impingement was mainly an unexpected event (98.3 percent). The impingement was more frequent when revisions were performed because of instability (80 percent; odd-ratio 4.2 (1.1–16.2)) than for loosening (52%) osteolysis (59%) or infection (38%) (p =.002). Likewise, impingement was more frequent when the sum of hip motion exceeded 200 degrees (sum of motion in the 6 degrees of freedom of the hip) (66% versus 45% if the sum was below 200°). The other risk factors were: use of heads with skirts (78% versus 55%), liner with an elevated rim (73% versus 55%), and head-neck ratio below 2.

Discusssion and conclusion: This study underlines the impingement is common when assessing cup retrievals (over 50 percent). One should be aware of impingement when performing hip replacement in patients having a high range of motion. This situation may require prostheses with a high head-neck ratio, as well as use of computer-assisted surgery. One should avoid liners with elevated rim as well as heads with skirts to prevent dislocation, particularly when other risk factors are detected.

The purpose is to observe the clinical effects of sodium hyaluronate injection plus herbal fumigation in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

58 patients(73knees)were treated by sodium hyaluronate injection plus herbal fumigation with a treatment course of five weeks and after a fellow-up of 6–36 months, the average fellow-up time was 12.1 months, the curative effect showed that 39 patients was excellent (52knees), 11 patients was fine (15knees), 4 patients was midst (5knees), 1 patient was bad (1knees), and the total fineness rate was 91.78%.

Sodium hyaluronate injection plus herbal fumigation in the treatment of early metaphase of knee osteoarthritis, which had a better curative effect, less adverse reaction, and worth to extend clinical application.

We conducted a prospective review of patients treated specifically for phalangeal fractures over a period of 6 months. Data was sourced from patient records, Emergency Dept records and theatre records. X-rays were reviewed by the senior authors using the AGFA IMPAX Web1000 v5.1 System.

A total of 654 patients presented to our hospital during the study. Of these, 257 (39%) patients were referred to the plastics and hand surgical team on-call. Remaining 397 (61%) patients were seen and treated at the local accident and emergency. Our review identified a patient group of 75 out of 654 (11.5%) patients who required operation.

Mechanism of injury: Direct impact: n=60 (80%), Hyperextension n=11 (15%), Hyper-flexion injury n=4 (5%).

The average patient age for a phalangeal fracture was 37.3 years. 47 (63%) patients were in the age group 20–40 years. The mean age for a phalangeal fracture in males was 35.9 (16–75) years and 42.2 (23–70) years in females. The gender distribution of these patients reveals that 58/75 (77%) patients were males. This indicates that males were at an increased relative risk of 3.4 for sustaining a hand fractures than females.

The fractures were studied with respect to their complexity, digit(s) involved, phalanx and the site on the phalanx, pattern of fracture and finally the involvement of the MCP or the IP joints.

Our study revealed that fifty-two (69%) of the fractures were closed while twenty-three (31%) were open. Injuries to the distal phalanges accounted for the most of the open fractures (15/23, 67%). The little finger and the ring finger were the common fingers to be involved.

The fractures were treated with various standard techniques of operative fixation. Postoperatively patients were mobilised as soon as possible and fitted with a removable thermoplastic splint to allow daily active and passive exercises. Hand therapists followed unit protocol including at least one visit per week, with follow up for four to six weeks. Final review was undertaken by a clinician in a dedicated Hand clinic six weeks post fixation.

Our work provides data on incidence and demographic distribution of phalangeal injuries presenting acutely to an NHS Trust covering a population area of 500,000. In our trust it is standard protocol for all such injuries to be reviewed by the Hand team to institute optimal hand therapy for patients. The study enabled us to develop a patient care pathway which will improve both patient and resource management

Thigh pain appears often after THA used of the cement-less femoral components, but the appearance mechanism of thigh pain does not have been elucidated. As one factor of manifestation of thigh pain, it has been guessed that the pressure from the inside of medullary cavity of bone by the stem. The purpose of this study is confirming whether the flexor reflex is caused, by using the femur of a rabbit that applied the pressure from the inside of medullary cavity of bone.

Japanese white rabbits with weight of about 3kg were used. Evaluation of the appearance of the pain by the pressure was performed by measurement of the hind leg flexor activity produced by the flexor reflex. After confirming that appearance of the muscles activity by the pain reflex from adding the pain stimulus to the hind leg skin of rabbits, we loaded of the pressure into the inside of medullary cavity of bone and observed whether the muscles activity appears. As the laboratory animals model, we prepared two kinds of rabbits by the difference in the amount of reaming. And we tested how the differences show up between these two kinds of rabbits.

In the rabbits with few amounts of reaming, the flexor reflex appeared in low pressure. But, in the rabbits with many amounts of reaming, the flexor reflex did not appear in high pressure, either.

It is known that the somatic sensory nerves are distributed in the bone, and it is known that the sensory nerve ends exist in the medullary cavity of bone. It was suggested that the pain is induced, when the sensory nerve ends remained in the inside of medullary cavity of bone and the pressure in whicha reaction is possible was carried out there.

There has been a recent surge in the creation of medical student-led and foundation trainees-led research collaboratives in surgery. These have mainly been in general surgery. The current study therefore explores the value and feasibility of such collaboratives, highlighting the scope for a similar idea in orthopaedics.

Research Collaborative organisations were systematically searched and reviewed to check whether medical students or junior doctors prior to speciality training led them. The advertised research projects and subsequent publication productivity for each identified organisation was also evaluated using the information presented on their websites.

Two medical student-led research collaborative organisations and 1 medical student and foundation trainees-led research collaborative were identified. All of which are in general surgery and none in trauma and/or orthopaedics surgery. These include STARSurg, EuroSurg and GlobalSurg respectively. A total of 6 research collaborative projects were identified with 3 leading to subsequent publications.

This study highlights the value and feasibility of medical students- and foundation trainees-driven high quality surgical research collaborative. It also emphasises the growing contribution of medical students towards research and policymaking in our global health system, an aspect that may be absent or delayed in the field of orthopaedics. We therefore, explore the idea as well as the need to instigate a similar collaboration in the field of trauma and orthopaedic surgery.

Aim: To report on the bone histology of patients undergoing intramedullary stabilisation for a pathological fracture or a metastatic lesion in long bones.

Materials and methods: From 1999 to 2002, 36 long bones in 29 patients (seven had stabilisation of two long bones) were stabilised with an intramedullary nail in patients with a known primary tumour. Prophylactic fixation was performed in 19 bones with metastatic tumour and in 17 for a fracture. Of the 17 fractures, 13 were considered pathological and four were simple fracture unrelated to metastasis. Thirty-three nailings were done for proximal femoral lesions and three were for the humerus. Reaming samples were sent for histological analysis. The various sites of the primary tumour were Breast (13), Myeloma (6), Prostate (5), Lung (4), Unknown (3), Bladder (2), Oesophagus (1), Renal (1), Melanoma (1). The histological results were correlated with the clinical diagnosis.

Results: Thirty-six reaming samples were sent for histological analysis. Twenty-two samples correlated with the clinical diagnosis. Of the 22 tissue samples, two did not have a initial confirmed histological diagnosis of primary and the reaming samples helped to achieve this. Fourteen biopsies gave false negative results.

Conclusion: Approximately two-thirds of the time the reaming sample has correlated with clinical diagnosis. Sensitivity of this test is 61%.

Interestingly, recent studies have shown promising outcomes in elderly. To the best of our knowledge there are no reports available assessing sequential bone remodelling around DCPD (dicalcium phosphate dehydrate) coated short metaphyseal loading stem using serial radiography. Hence we report the unique patterns of bone remodelling in patients 70 years and older and whether these patterns were different from those seen in younger patients.

A total of 41 consecutive primary hip arthroplasties were performed in patients with averaged age of 78.3 years using short stem. The presence and patterns of radiolucent lines, radio-opaque lines, calcar rounding, proximal bone resorption, spot welds, cortical hypertrophy, and intramedullary bone formation around the distal tip were assessed at serial radiography up to averaged follow up of 24.5 months.

In early stage of stability, the radio-opaque line appeared in lateral aspect of stem which might means the tension force of stem. On the contrary to this findings, the medial side of stem mainly showed the spot welds due to compression on calcar support.

The sequential radiographic bone remodelling in 70 years and older showed the different pattern from those of 30 to 50 year-old. Formation of new endosteal trabeculation (spot welds) were seen only in 55.6% of stems among the elderly study group where as all patients showed spot welds in the younger group. Calcar resorption was often observed in younger group but the degree of calcar resorption was less. The other findings in elderly patients was not different compared to those of younger patients.

A randomised controlled pre-clinical trial utilising an existing extremity war wound model compared the efficacy of saline soaked gauze to commercial dressings. The Flexor Carpi Ulnaris of anaesthetised New Zealand rabbits was exposed to high-energy trauma using computer-controlled jig and inoculated with 10⁶Staphylococcus aureus 3 hours prior to application of dressing. After 7 days the animals were culled. Quantitative microbiological assessment of post-mortem specimens demonstrated statistically significantly reduced S aureus counts in groups treated with iodine or silver based dressings (2-way ANOVA p< 0.05).

Clinical observations and haematology were performed during the study. Histopathological assessment of post-mortem muscle specimens included image analysis of digitally scanned haematoxylin and eosin stained tissue sections and subjective semi-quantitative assessment of pathology severity using light microscopy to grade muscle injury and lymph node activation. Tissue samples were also examined using scanning electron microscopy to determine the presence of bacteria and biofilm formation within the injured muscle. Non-parametric data were compared using Kruskal-Wallis.

There were no bacteraemias, significantly raised white cell counts, abscesses, purulent discharge or evidence of contralateral axillary lymph node activation. All injured muscle specimens showed evidence of haemorrhage, inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis. All ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes were activated. There were no significant differences in the amount of muscle loss, size of the activated lymph nodes or in subjective semi-quantitative scoring criteria for muscle injury or lymph node activation. There was no evidence of bacterial penetration or biofilm formation.

This study demonstrated statistically significant reductions in Staphylococcus aureus counts associated with iodine and silver dressings, and no evidence that these dressings cause harm. This was a time-limited study which was primarily powered to detect reduction in bacterial counts; however, there was no significant variation in secondary outcome measures of local or systemic infection over 7 days.