To determine risk factors of infection in total knee arthroplasty. This descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics for a duration of three years from January 2016 to January 2019. All patients undergoing primary total knee replacement were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were all patients operated in another hospital and revision total knee replacement. All patients were followed up at 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks post-operatively. Signs of inflammation and inflammatory markers such as total leukocyte count (TLC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and ESR were measured. Risk factors like age, body mass index (BMI), ASA, co-morbid conditions were also noted. A total of 78 patients underwent primary unilateral Total Knee Replacement (TKR) during the study period. Of these, 30 (34.09%) were male and 48 (61.54%) female patients. Mean age of patients was 68.32 ± 8.54 years. Average BMI 25.89 Kg/m2 .Osteoarthritis was the pre-dominant cause of total knee replacement (94.87%). Among co-morbid factors 33.33% were diabetic, 28.20% having ischemic heart disease and 12.82% with chronic lung disease. Upon anaesthesia fitness pre-operatively, 91.02% patients had an American society of anaesthesiologist score (ASA) between 0–2 while 07 (8.97%) between 3- 5. Average duration of surgery was 85.62± 4.11 minutes. 6.41% cases got infected. In majority of the infected cases (60%), Staphylococcus aureus was the infective organism. Diabetes Mellitus (p=0.01) and Obesity (p=0.02) had a significant relation to post-operative infection. Pre-operative risk evaluation and prevention strategies along with early recognition of infection and control can greatly reduce the risk of joint infection post-TKR which will not only improve the mobility of patient but also its morbidity and mortality as well. Key Words:. C-reactive protein (CRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Staphylococcus aureus, Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA)

The treatment of chronic osteomyelitis requires both appropriate surgical and antibiotic management. Prolonged intravenous antibiotic therapy followed by oral therapy is widely adopted. Despite this, the long-term recurrence rate is around 20% to 30%. The aim of this cohort study was to examine the effectiveness of surgical marginal resection in combination with local application of antibiotics (Collatamp G - gentamicin in a collagen fleece). Post-operatively this was followed by a short course of intravenous antibiotics, then oral antibiotics, to 6 weeks in total. A cohort of 50 patients from a 10-year period, 2000 to 2010, with chronic osteomyelitis was identified. Most were male (n= 35, 70%) and the average age is 40.9 years (SD 15.9). The mean follow-up duration was 3.2 years (SD 1.8). The average length of admission was 9.8 days (SD 11.4). 6 patients (12%) suffered recurrence of infection requiring further treatment. We used the Cierny and Mader classification to further stratify the patients. ‘A’ hosts had a shorter duration of admission (7.1 days) than ‘B’ hosts (12.3 days). There was no significant difference between recurrence rates of ‘A’ and ‘B’ hosts. Where available, we found pre-operative C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels had no correlation with disease recurrence. Disease-free probability for this cohort compared favourably with a cohort treated with prolonged systemic and oral antibiotics (Simpson and colleagues, JBJS Br 2001). We believe local administration of gentamicin in a collagen fleece is a useful component in the management of chronic osteomyelitis

Background. Establishing the diagnosis in a child presenting with an atraumatic limp can be challenging. There is particular difficulty distinguishing septic arthritis (SA) from transient synovitis (TS) and consequently clinical prediction algorithms have been devised to differentiate the conditions using the presence of fever, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), raised white cell count (WCC) and inability to weight bear. Within Europe measurement of the ESR has largely been replaced with assessment of C-reactive protein (CRP) as an acute phase protein. We have evaluated the utility of including CRP in a clinical prediction algorithm to distinguish TS from SA. Method. All children with a presentation of ‘atraumatic limp’ and a proven effusion on hip ultrasound between 2004 and 2009 were included. Patient demographics, details of the clinical presentation and laboratory investigations were documented to identify a response to each of four variables (Weight bearing status, WCC >12,000 cells/m3, CRP >20mg/L and Temperature >38.5 degrees C. The definition of SA was based upon microscopy and culture of the joint fluid collected at arthrotomy. Results. 311 hips were included within the study. Of these 282 were considered to have transient synovitis. 29 patients met criteria to be classified as SA based upon laboratory assessment of the synovial fluid. The introduction of CRP eliminated the need for a four variable model as the use of two variables (CRP and weight bearing status) had similar efficacy. An algorithm that indicated a diagnosis of SA in individuals who could not weight-bear and who had a CRP >20mg/L correctly classified SA in 94.8% individuals, with a sensitivity of 75.9%, specificity of 96.8%, positive predictive value of 71.0%, and negative predictive value of 97.5%. CRP was a significant independent predictor of septic arthritis. Conclusions. CRP was a strong independent risk factor of septic arthritis, and its inclusion within a regression model simplifies the diagnostic algorithm, such that a two-variable model correctly classified 95% individuals with SA. Nevertheless, this and similar algorithms are generally more reliable in excluding SA, than confirming SA, and therefore a clinician's acumen remains important in identifying SA in those individuals with a single abnormal variable

Summary. Pyogenic spondylodiscitis is an uncommon but severe spinal infection. In majority of cases treatment is based on intravenous antibiotics and rigid brace immobilization. Posterior percutaneous spinal instrumentation is a safe alternative procedure in relieving pain, preventing deformity and neurological compromise. Introduction. Pyogenic spondylodiscitis (PS) is an uncommon but severe spinal infection. Patients affected by a non-complicated PS and treatment is based on intravenous antibiotics and rigid brace immobilization with a thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) suffices in most cases in relieving pain, preventing deformity and neurological compromise. Since January 2010 we started offering patients percutaneous posterior screw-rod instrumentation as alternative approach to TLSO immobilization. The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and effectiveness of posterior percutaneous spinal instrumentation for single level lower thoracic (T9-T12) or lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis. Materials and Methods. Retrospective cohort analysis on 27 patients diagnosed with PS who were offered to choose between 24/7 TLSO rigid bracing for 3 to 4 months and posterior percutaneous screw-rod instrumentation bridging the infection level followed by soft bracing for 4 weeks after surgery. All patients underwent antibiotic therapy. Fifteen patients chose conservative treatment, 12 patients chose surgical treatment. Patients were seen at 1, 3, 6, 9 months after diagnosis. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and complete blood count were measured at each follow-up visit. Segmental kyphosis was measured at diagnosis and at 9 months. VAS, SF-12, and EQ-5D questionnaires were recorded at each follow-up visit. Baseline groups’ demographic characteristics were assessed using independent sample t-tests for continuous variables and χ2 tests for frequency variables. Results. Complete healing was achieved in all patients, no difference was observed in healing time between the two groups (77.3±7.2 days vs 80.2±4.4). Instrumentation failure and screw loosening was not observed in any patient. In both group CRP and ESR decreased accordingly with response to antibiotic therapy. Surgically treated patients had significantly lower VAS scores at 1 month (3.05±0.57 in surgery group vs 5.20±1.21 in TLSO group) and 3 months (2.31±0.54 in surgery group vs 2.85±0.55 in TLSO group) post-diagnosis. Both groups had similar trends toward fast recovery in both mental (MCS) and physical components (PCS) of SF-12 questionnaire, surgically treated patients showed steeper and statistically significative improvement at 1 month (37.83±4.57 MCS in surgery group vs 24.52±3.03 MCS in TLSO group and 35.46±4.43 PCS in surgery group vs 27.07±4.45 PCS in TLSO group, p<0.001), 3 months (52.94±3.82 MCS in surgery group vs 39.45±4.92 MCS in TLSO group and 44.93±3.73 PCS in surgery group vs 35.33±6.44 PCS in TLSO group, p<0.001), and 6 months (54.93±3.56 MCS in surgery group vs 49.99±5.82 MCS in TLSO group) post-diagnosis, no statistically significant differences were detected at the other time points (9 months post-diagnosis). EQ-5D index was significantly higher in surgery patients at 1 month (0.764±0.043 in surgery group vs 0.458±0.197 in TLSO group) and 3 months (0.890±0.116 in surgery group vs 0.688±0.142 in TLSO group); no statistically significant changes were observed in segmental kyphosis between the two groups. Conclusion. Posterior percutaneous spinal instrumentation is a safe, feasible, and effective procedure in relieving pain, preventing deformity and neurological compromise. Surgical stabilization was associated with faster recovery, lower pain scores, and improved quality of life compared with TLSO conservative treatment at 1 and 3 months after diagnosis

Objectives

To determine the pattern of mutations of the WISP3 gene in clinically identified progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPD) in an Indian population.

We studied 51 patients with osteo-articular tuberculosis who were divided into two groups. Group I comprised 31 newly-diagnosed patients who were given first-line antituberculous treatment consisting of isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. Group II (non-responders) consisted of 20 patients with a history of clinical non-responsiveness to supervised uninterrupted antituberculous treatment for a minimum of three months or a recurrence of a previous lesion which on clinical observation had healed. No patient in either group was HIV-positive. Group II were treated with an immunomodulation regime of intradermal BCG, oral levamisole and intramuscular diphtheria and tetanus vaccines as an adjunct for eight weeks in addition to antituberculous treatment. We gave antituberculous treatment for a total of 12 to 18 months in both groups and they were followed up for a mean of 30.2 months (24 to 49). A series of 20 healthy blood donors served as a control group.

Twenty-nine (93.6%) of the 31 patients in group I and 14 of the 20 (70%) in group II had a clinicoradiological healing response to treatment by five months.

The CD4 cell count in both groups was depressed at the time of enrolment, with a greater degree of depression in the group-II patients (686 cells/mm³ (sd 261) and 545 cells/mm³ (sd 137), respectively; p < 0.05). After treatment for three months both groups showed significant elevation of the CD4 cell count, reaching a level comparable with the control group. However, the mean CD4 cell count of group II (945 cells/mm³ (sd 343)) still remained lower than that of group I (1071 cells/mm³ (sd 290)), but the difference was not significant. Our study has shown encouraging results after immunomodulation and antituberculous treatment in non-responsive patients. The pattern of change in the CD4 cell count in response to treatment may be a reliable clinical indicator.