We report the outcomes ten to fifteen years after two stage revision for hip infection in one hundred and three patients. All patients or their next of kin were contacted to determine their current functional status and whether they had required repeat surgery or had recurrent infection. The Oxford-12, SF-12, and WOMAC questionnaires were administered. A comprehensive chart review was undertaken to review the infective organisms, surgery, approach, complications, and need for further revision surgery. Ten patients had re-infection, six of whom responded to repeat surgery with no further sequelae. Two patients required resection arthroplasty, one patient underwent hip disarticulation after eventual failure of treatment and bone loss, and one immunocompromised patient developed osteomyelitis and was subsequently lost to follow-up. Long-term success rate for two stage- revision is thus 90.3%, or 96.1% with additional surgery. Since then, three patients required revisions for aseptic loosening, one for recurrent dislocation. We were able to follow up forty-one patients, 85 % of whom provided health-related quality of life outcome scores. Thirty-nine patients were deceased, with their outcome confirmed via their last follow-up or with family members, for a total follow-up rate of 78 %. Twenty-three patients were lost to follow-up, but did not undergo further surgery or have reinfections treated at our centre. Two-stage revision for hip infection, which includes an interim prosthesis of antibiotic loaded cement, offers a predictable and lasting solution for patients with this difficult problem.
Thoracoplasty has been described as primarily a cosmetic resection of the rib hump. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether removal of a normal spine stabilizer affected the correction of the spine, particularly in the sagittal plane. Thirty-eight adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients who underwent thoracoplasty were compared with eighteen controls in terms of maintenance of correction and patient satisfaction using the SRS questionnaire. Thoracoplasty had no effect on curve correction in the coronal plane. It did show a significant effect on sagittal plane correction of the thoracic hypokyphosis without any significant detractors in terms of patient outcome To investigate whether thoracoplasty affected spinal correction. We also compared patient outcomes thoracoplasty patients and controls, as well as long-term curve maintenance. Thoracoplasty did increase the correction of thoracic hypokyphosis, without any significant detractors in terms of patient outcome. Current understanding of the scoliotic curve as a three dimensional helix has led to increased recognition of the importance of sagittal contour and balancing the spine’s reciprocal curves to avoid problems such as flat back syndrome. Correction of the scoliotic curve intraoperatively may require the removal of spine stabilizers such as the disc and annulus, posterior facet and capsule, and thoracic cage stabilizers such as the ribs. Thirty-eight patients who had either concave para-median or convex Steel mid-rib thoracoplasty were reviewed and compared to eighteen controls. Prospective patient outcomes using the Scoliosis Research Society instrument with an average of >
one year follow-up were available for thirty patients. Degree of curve settle and maintenance of correction was measured on follow-up radiographs. Thoracoplasty had no effect on curve correction in the coronal plane. It did show a significant effect on sagittal plane correction of thoracic hypokyphosis. The paramedian group showed a mean increase of tweleve degrees, the Steel group 8.7 degrees, and, the control group 3.1 degrees. No significant difference between pain, satisfaction, function, and self-image was found. Long-term radiographic follow-up (average three years) showed a mean coronal curve settle of 4.6 degrees (thoracoplasty) versus 3.1 degrees (non-thoracoplasty), and an accompanying improvement in sagittal plane correction of 4.2 and 3.0 degrees, respectively.
