Osteotomy through the bare area of olecranon minimises the damage to articular cartilage in the trans-olecranon approach to the distal humerus. In this study we have identified a reliable and easily reproducible anatomical land mark to make sure that the osteotomy passes through the bare area.

Two methods were used to determine the line for the osteotomy, in the first a line from the lateral epicondyle perpendicular to the olecranon and in the second an intra-articular marker was used to determine the osteotomy. In 5 cadavers the osteotomy with lateral epicondylar line as a marker went 2 mm proximal to the bare area. Of the 5 cadavers dissected with a marker passed to the angle of olecranon the osteotomy went through the bare area of olecranon in three specimens and just proximal in the other two.

In conclusion a cheveron osteotomy with the base of the chevron on the lateral epicondylar line will be the ideal site to make sure that the osteotomy passes through the bare area of the olecranon.

Fractures of the shaft of the humerus are often treated conservatively in a hanging cast or a humeral brace. The conservative management of this fracture is often prolonged and quite uncomfortable for the patient. Some of the patients will need an operative fixation after a trial of conservative management.

We retrospectively looked at 72 consecutive patients with fractures of the shaft of the humerus that presented in our institution over a period of two years. The fracture pattern, treatment modality time to union and the number that needed operative fixation following a trial of conservative treatment was analysed. Of the 72 patients 4 were lost to follow-up. 45 patients had a 1.2.B or 1.2.C type of fracture and 23 had a 1.2.A type of fracture. 29 (41%) were successfully treated conservatively, 11 (16%) patients were operated as the primary procedure and 15 (22%) patients were operated due to delayed or non union. 13 (19%) patients were operated within 4 weeks of the fracture as their alignment was not acceptable on their weekly follow-up.

The average time to union in the patients treated conservatively was 22 weeks, while that of the patients treated primarily by open reduction and plating was 14 weeks (p-value<0.05). Patients who needed operation after initial conservative management required prolonged period of rehabilitation and union time was 32.2 weeks. At the time of fracture union 72% of the patients who had been treated conservatively had joint stiffness requiring physiotherapy, while only 18% of those who had an open reduction and internal fixation had stiffness and required physiotherapy. (p-value < 0.05).

In conclusion careful consideration should be given before it is decided to treat this fracture conservatively especially in the case of 1.2.A fracture pattern.

Aim: To determine the clinical improvement and the radiological time to fusion as well as correction of the lordosis angle in patients undergoing anterior cervical interbody fusion with the use of a silicate substituted calcium phosphate ceramic (Si-CaP) (Actifuse™ Synthetic Bone Graft, ApaTech, Ltd., Elstree, UK) as the bone graft substitute in the cage.

Design: We conducted a prospective clinical and radiological study to evaluate the use of Si-CaP as bone graft substitute in anterior cervical fusion for degenerative cervical spondylosis.

Materials and methods: Thirty patients were selected prospectively by preoperative and postoperative clinical and radiological assessments. All patients were operated on by a single surgeon (D.A.J.). Neck disability index and visual analogue score were used for the clinical assessment. Radiological assessment included improvement in the lordosis angle and time to fusion. Patients were evaluated at three months, six months and one year post-surgery.

Results: At present 14 patients with a total of 19 levels have completed their one year follow-up. The patients had an average of 50.4 years (range 34–69), with ratio of male to female of 6:7. Lordosis angle improved significantly from a mean lordosis angle of 0.31 preoperatively to 4.75 degree postoperatively (p< 0.05). All the levels had fused at the 1 year follow up and there was no radiological evidence of sinkage of the cage.

Conclusion: Substitution of silicate ions into calcium phosphate ceramics has been shown to impart a negative surface charge, leading to greater protein absorption, increased osteoblast proliferation, and higher production of extracellular matrix. Our results show that Si-CaP has excellent clinical performance as a synthetic bone graft in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Postoperatively, patients demonstrate a good fusion with an excellent correction and maintenance of the lordosis angle.

Aim: To determine the incidence of adjacent level osteophytes in patients who have had anterior cervical fusion using an anterior cervical plate as compared to those who are fused without an anterior cervical plate.

Design: We retrospectively reviewed the lateral radiograms of sixty two patients who have had an anterior cervical fusion with a minimum follow up of twelve months.

Materials and methods: We looked for the development of adjacent level osteophytes in these patients at their final follow up, which was generally at the time radiological fusion. There were 27 patients in the first group who had an anterior cervical plate used to fix the vertebrae in addition to the Cervios cage, while the 35 patients in the second group in whom only a Rabea cage was used for the fusion. The mean follow-up was 20.6 months (range 12–48).

Results: 64.3% of the patients who had an anterior cervical plate developed adjacent level osteophytes while none of the patients who have had the fusion without the cage developed the osteophytes.

Conclusion: We found the patients who had an anterior cervical interbody fusion using a plate had a significant risk of developing adjacent level osteophytes while this is not seen in patients who do not have the plate for the fixation.

Introduction: Osteoarhthritis is a degenerative disease affecting a large proportion of the population. Recently, there has been renewed interest in the use of neutraceuticals (such as glucosamine) for the treatment of symptomatic pain and pathology in arthritic joints. However, little research has been carried out to assess the biochemical mechanisms by which glucosamine imparts its effects on the disease process. Biochemically, an early change in the cartilage metabolism is a loss of the large aggregating proteoglycan, aggrecan. Functionally, this loss results in a decreased capacity for the tissue to sustain mechanical loading that leads to cartilage destruction and a painful joint. The enzymes responsible for the loss of aggrecan from the tissue are commonly referred to as the aggrecanases and are members of the ADAMTS family of enzymes. Degradation of aggrecan by the aggrecanases can be detected using a specific neoepitope monoclonal antibody BC-3 (1). Model systems using cartilage explant cultures that mimic the degradative processes seen in osteoarthritis have been developed in which cytokine such as IL-1 are used to initiate the catabolic processes leading to cartilage degradation.

Methods: Cartilage explant cultures (bovine) were established using published methodologies (1). Explants were then incubated in either DMEM, DMEM supplemented with a chemically modified glucosamine (0.5–15mM) or DMEM supplemented with glucosamine hydrochloride (0.5–15mM) for 1 hour. IL-1 (10ng/ml) was then added to half of the explant cultures in each experimental group. Cultures were maintained for 4 days in the experimental media after which media and explants were harvested for analysis. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) concentrations of media samples and cartilage extracts were determined using the DMMB assay. RNA was extracted from cartilage explants and RT-PCR was performed using primers to cartilage matrix molecules, ADAMTS and MMPs. Western blot analysis was performed on the experimental media using MAb BC-3 to determine the presence of aggrecanase-generated aggrecan catabolites.

Results: Experiments show that glucosamine hydrochloride (0.5–15mM) was unable to inhibit the release of GAG from explant cultures induced by treatment with IL-1. However, explant cultures preincubated with 10–15mM chemically-modified glucosamine were able to inhibit the release of GAG induced by IL-1 to that of control culture levels. The decreased release of GAG corresponded to a decrease in the detection of aggrecanase-generated aggrecan catabolites as assessed by Western blotting with MAb BC-3.

Discussion: This data questions the effectiveness of glucosamine hydrochloride in the inhibition of biochemical mechanisms involved in the IL-1 induced degradation of aggrecan in articular cartilage. However, the data suggests a role for a chemically modified glucosamine in the IL-1 induced degradative pathways involved in the loss of aggrecan from cartilage. The use of glucosamine in the treatment of arthritic diseases is controversial, however, the modified form of glucosamine used in this study helps to support the potential use of the dietary ingestion of glucosamine and its beneficial effects in arthritis patients. 1. Hughes, C.E., et al. (1995). Biochem. Journal. 305, 799–80