Wound surveillance has been reported to result in a significant fall in the incidence of wound sepsis in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, there is currently little guidance on the definition of surgical wound infection that is best to be used for surveillance. The purpose of this study was to assess the agreement between three common definitions of surgical wound infection as a performance indicator in TKA; (a) the CDC 1992 definition, (b) the NINSS modification of the CDC definition and (c) the ASEPSIS scoring method applied to the same series of surgical wounds. A prospective study of 500 surgical wounds in patients who underwent knee arthroplasties between May 2002 and December 2004 from a single tertiary centre were assessed according to the different definitions of surgical wound infection.Introduction
Methods
Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare condition which requires urgent treatment to reduce the risk of long term neurological morbidity. Most authors recommend surgical decompression within 24–48 hours of the onset of symptoms, which may not be possible if there are delays in referral to hospital, performance of diagnostic imaging or poor access to a spine surgeon. We present a snap shot of referrals of patients with suspected cauda equina syndrome to the Orthopaedic department in a district general hospital including the diagnoses, management and outcome. A retrospective review of 20 consecutive patients (mean age 49, 11 males, 9 females) referred via Primary Care to the orthopaedic on call team between April and December 2010 was carried out. Data were recorded including the clinical symptoms and signs on admission, time taken to undergo MRI, diagnosis and treatment.Aims
Methods
