This study was proposed to evaluate the efficacy of fibrin clot augmentation in meniscal tear using inside-out meniscal repair. A total of 35 patients with meniscus tears were operated on with inside-out meniscus repair and fibrin clot augmentation. Patients were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively with clinical criteria, Lysholm knee scoring system, and MRI. Out of the total 35 cases, 5 cases were lost to follow up. Clinical improvement was observed in 29 out of 30 patients (96.6%). The mean Lysholm score improved significantly from 67.63 ± 6.55 points preoperatively to 92.0 ± 2.9 points postoperatively (P < 0.05) in 2 years follow-up. Follow-up MRI in all patients revealed complete healing except in 1 case where the patient presented with recurrence of symptoms such as pain and locking which resolved with partial meniscectomy. Paraesthesia in the anterior part of the knee was observed in 2 cases. (6.6%). We conclude that fibrin clot augmentation is a good cost-effective modality of treatment for repairable meniscus tears to preserve the meniscus and decrease the point contact pressure on the condyles which may prevent the early occurrence of osteoarthritis.
Ramp lesions are meniscocapsular or meniscosynovial tears associated with chronic ACL injury and are postulated to occur because of disruption of meniscotibial ligament. Various techniques have been described in literature for their diagnosis and repair. Each of the described techniques have had some concerns. The authors, hereby, describe a novel technique for RAMP repair. Patient is positioned supine with the knee at 90 degrees with a side support. Standard arthroscopic portals are established. Ramp lesions are visualised through a trans-notch approach and probed simultaneously using an 18-guage needle posteromedialy. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed a posteromedial (PM) portal is established. The edges of the tear are freshened from the PM portal using a shaver or rasp. Knee Scorpion device (Arthrex) is then introduced through the PM which is loaded with No. 0 Fibrewire (Arthrex) in its lower jaw. The Scorpion device is deployed on the capsular side first, avoiding injury to the posterior structures and the suture loop is retrieved. Scorpion is loaded again with the other strand and is passed through the meniscal edge. A sliding knot is used. Ramp lesion is re-probed after tying a sliding knot for requirement of another suture. This technique provides us with an improved visualisation and diagnosis, better quality of debridement and complete closure of the ramp lesion using a simple suture device. In our experience this is a safe, successful and easily reproducible technique.Abstract
Our Technique
Occlusion of the femoral canal is an important step in cemented hip arthroplasty. The goal of occlusion is to allow cement pressurisation and prevent cement egress into the femoral diaphysis. There are numerous designs of cement plugs made out of different materials but there is no consensus or clinical guideline for the choice of cement restrictors. At our centre two types of plugs are used – autologous bone block from femoral canal and the gelatine C-plug (Depuy International). We conducted this study to evaluate the stability of these two plugs and their effect on quality of cementation. The purpose of our study was to assess retrospectively both the length of the “cement tail” i.e. the length of the cement column distal to the stem tip and the cement mantle quality in both groups. A retrospective comparative review was designed after approval from the local R & D department. Power analysis indicated that a minimum of 74 patients per group would be needed. A total of 203 consecutive patients were analysed, 89 received an autologous bone block and 114 had C-plugs. Apart from the plugs both the groups were treated similarly with regards to surgical approach, cementing and operative technique. Surgical technique was to achieve adequate pressurisation and a minimum length of cement tail. Immediate post-operative radiographs were used for analysis. The primary outcome measure was the length of the cement tail, i.e. the length of the cement column from the tip of the stem. The secondary outcome measure was the quality of cementing which was quantified using Barrack's grading. The data was tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The means of cement tail lengths in between the two groups were compared using the Wilcoxon ranked sum test. The cementation grades were compared using ANOVA. The correlation between the length of cement tail and the quality of cementation was calculated using ordinal regression. Both the groups were similar in terms of age, sex and primary diagnosis. The mean cement tail length was 6.42 (SE 0.71 mms; range-0–31) in the bone block group and 17.11 (SE-1.34 mms; range 0–65.7 mms) in the C-plug group. This difference was statistically significant (p< 0.0001). The proportion of patients with good quality of cementation (grade A) was significantly higher in the bone block group (80.6%) as compared to the C-plug group (56%) (p < 0.0001). There was a negative correlation between the length of the cement tail and the Barrack grade (rho=0.398), indicating that a short cement tail is associated with better quality cementation. Quality of cementation is of paramount importance in cemented hip arthroplasty. Revision surgery can be more difficult and higher risk in the presence of a long cement tail. We have shown that better quality cementation and shorter cement tails can be achieved with the cheapest of all options for canal occlusion, an autologous bone block and recommend its use.
