Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, East Kent Hospitals NHS University Trust, UK. Surfaces of supports used to position patients for hip replacement are usually are in direct contact with the patient skin around the groin/buttock areas & repeated use of same supports, in trauma & elective surgeries, can be a source of cross-infection & wound contamination. Swab samples from 12 supports, employed interchangeably for elective & trauma surgery. Cultured & incubated at 37 0 C in Columbia Blood Agar. 2 random supports cleaned using Sani Cloth Detergent non-alcoholic wipes & 2 samples were obtained from each support, 5 min later. 71% sampled supports were contaminated, with Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, including Staph Epidermidis, being the most commonly grown organism with average of 5.3 colony forming units (CFU) (0-38) per swab. 5 min after cleaning 2 of above supports there was a 100% reduction in their contamination with no growth from the 4 swabs.PURPOSE
MATERIALS AND RESULTS
We wish to report our observations on a prospective series of 22 patients with high energy posterolateral corner injuries undergoing surgery at our Unit. Since 1997, all patients presenting to our Unit with posterolateral corner injuries were analysed prospectively. Twenty two patients are presented with a mean follow-up of two years. Thirteen patients underwent acute exploratory surgery within two weeks of injury. The majority of patients had four or more injured structures identified at operation. The surgery involved reattachment of the injured structures together with selective staged intra-articular reconstruction in high demand individuals. Nine patients were referred to our unit a number of years after their original accident. The majority of these chronic cases underwent popliteofibular reconstruction using semitendinosus. All patients from both groups returned to activities of daily living after surgery. Ten patients returned to sport after reconstruction. Eight out of ten of these had undergone acute reconstruction. Posterolateral corner injuries are high-energy multiple ligament injuries. Acute repair with staged selective intra-articular reconstruction in our series led to 61% of the acute patients returning to sport. Only 22% of the patients presenting late, returned to sport after reconstruction. This suggests that patients are more likely to return to sport if their knees are reconstructed early and we would encourage an assertive approach to these high-energy injuries.
One of the major long term problems of total shoulder replacement is loosening of the glenoid component. Since 1997 we have been using atmospheric pressure to drive cement into the interstices of the glenoid trabecular bone by lowering the intraosseous pressure. This is achieved by introducing a wide bore needle into the base of the coracoid process and attaching it to surgical suction. During this period approximately 200 Tornier Aequalis shoulder replacements were performed by the senior author. For the purpose of this detailed study 20 consecutive cases were studied. Good exposure of the glenoid is achieved using an extended approach and aggressive surgical releases. The surface is prepared according to the manufacturers recommendation. The base of the coracoid is now exposed and drilled with a 3.5mm AO drill bit, angled so as not to collide with the keel of the glenoid component. A Verres needle is hammered into the glenoid at this point and connected to a separate, second suction apparatus, placed on high suction during final lavage, cement insertion and cement curing. Blood and lavage fluid can be seen to be sucked from the glenoid during preparation and cementation. Standard true antero-posterior radiographs were taken by the same experienced radiographer in the plane of the glenoid face two days following surgery, and at 3 months and one year. A Mitotoyu digital microcalliper with a resolution of 0.1mm was used to determine the depth of cement intrusion and presence of lucent lines. Three independent observers measured each radiograph. Analysis of interobserver error shows agreement between observers. For assessment the glenoid was divided into five zones – Superior flange; superior slope of keel; base of keel; inferior slope of keel; inferior flange. No patient had a complete lucent line around the glenoid component. Four patients had a single zone lucent line (ranging from 1.1mm to 1.7mm) None of these patients had a lucent line around the keel, and those four areas of lucency under the superior or inferior flange were more likely due to incomplete removal of articular cartilage than a failure of cement technique. The reported prevalence of glenoid lucent lines varies from 22% to 89%. The significance of glenoid lucent lines is controversial but several studies have reported a direct relationship between the presence of radiolucent lines and the development of loosening of cemented components. Secure cement technique is more difficult in the shoulder than in the knee or hip. Access is tighter, bleeding more difficult to control and peroxide should not be contemplated because of close proximity of the axillary nerve to the glenoid. Classic socket pressurisers can not fit into such a small space. We have found that the second sucker technique is extremely effective in establishing a secure cement-bone interface during glenoid replacement.
