Intracapsular and para-articular osteochondromas are a rare subtype of soft tissue chondroma occurring in and around joints. We report a giant 5.5cm × 5.5cm × 3.0cm mass occurring in the knee of a 45 years old lady and examine previous cases to update our understanding of para-articular soft tissue osteochondromas.

Clinicopathological data were obtained from medical records for the case report whilst a multi-database literature search was conduction for the literature review. 27 articles containing 39 cases were identified in the English literature under our strict inclusion criteria. Along with our data, 40 cases were collated and analysed to provide a set of reference characteristics. These included: age, male-female ratio, spatial location, time of onset, tumour size, clinical symptoms, mechanism of injury, investigations used, treatment received, histopathology features, follow-up and recurrence characteristics. Statistical analysis was performed on data to elicit any discernable pattern of tumour formation.

Median age of patients was 50 years old with a male to female ratio of 1:1.11. Most commonly occurs in the 40s, 50s and 60s accounting for two-thirds of all cases. Majority of tumours were located within or adjacent to a fat pad structure. 33 were located in the infra-patellar region, 3 in the suprapatella/pre-femoral region and 4 in other para-articular locations. Average time of onset to diagnosis was 5.81 yrs with a mean volume of 87.5 cubic centimetres. No discernable correlation between time of onset to diagnosis and tumour size was found (spearman correlation co-efficient 0.534, p=0.007). The main symptom reported was pain in 29 cases, whilst 5 were pain free, 6 cases were unspecified. X-Rays, CT and MRI have become the core imaging modalities in investigation. En bloc excision is the choice of treatment, whilst arthroscopic techniques have also been used with similar success. Histologically, 35 cases had a typical description of a cartilage capped lesion with central trabecular bone and areas of endochondral ossification. 3 cases had a histological appearance of predominantly bone whilst 2 cases had predominantly cartilage. All tumours analysed were benign. No recurrences were reported with an average follow up period of 1.91 years.

We have provided the latest set of data for the characterisation of para-articular and intracapsular soft tissue osteochondromas. These tumours are benign entity with an invariably good outcome following simple excision. Recognition of this entity is important to prevent over investigation and the performance unnecessarily invasive and radical procedures.

Hip fracture is a common cause of hospital admission and is often followed by reduced quality of life, or by death. International experiences indicate there are many benefits to be gained from national hip fracture registries. This pilot project aims to implement a hip fracture registry at three sites, a large metropolitan public hospital (Flinders Medical Centre), a large metropolitan private hospital (Epworth HealthCare) and a rural regional hospital (Goulburn Valley Health) to assess the feasibility of establishing a national registry.

Patients undergoing surgery for a hip fracture will be recruited from the three participating hospitals between March and September 2009. A minimum data set will be collected at discharge, from hospital records. Items include patient demographics, fracture descriptors, length of stay, residential status, mobility, health status, surgical details and discharge destination. A phone interview at four months after surgery will measure outcomes by using the Extended Glasgow Outcomes Scale and documenting residential status, mobility, hip pain and readmissions. Re- operations, if any, will be collected. The availability of data from State Health Departments for validation of hospital case data will be reported.

The pilot study is in progress at the time of writing. Ethical approval has been obtained, data collection, transmission and storage systems have been developed and deployed, and case data collection is underway. Case data will be summarised to describe hip fracture at the participating hospitals. Analysis will review the data elements in the pilot data set and assess their priority for inclusion in a national register—taking account of the quality of the data obtained and the time and other resources required for their collection. We will also evaluate the four-month review process. Any potential obstacles to a national registry that are identified during the pilot will be described and ways to overcome them will be proposed.

A national hip fracture registry will improve the quality of care and safety of patients following hip fracture by developing an efficient mechanism to compare and improve the effectiveness of acute health care delivery by all hospitals involved in the management of hip fractures.