The purpose of this study was to develop a quality appraisal tool for the assessment of laboratory basic science biomechanical studies.

Materials andScore development comprised of the following phases: item identification/development, item reduction, content/face/criterion validity, weighting, test-retest reliability and internal consistency. For item identification/development, the panel was asked to independently list criteria and factors they considered important for cadaver study and generate items that should be used to appraise cadaver study quality. For content validity, the content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated. The minimum accepted content validity index (CVI) was set to 0.85. For weighting, equal weight for each item was 6.7% [15 items]. Based on these figures the panel was asked to either upscale or downscale the weight for each item ensuring that the final sum for all items was 100%. Face validity was assessed by each panel member using a Likert scale from 1–7. Strong face validity was defined as a mean score of >5. Test-retest reliability was assessed using 10 randomly selected studies. Criterion validity was assessed using the QUACS scale as standard. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha.

Five items reached a CVI of 1 and 10 items a CVI of 0.875. For weighting five items reached a final weight of 10% and ten items 5%. The mean score for face validity was 5.6. Test-retest reliability ranged from 0.78–1.00 with 9 items reaching a perfect score. Criterion validity was 0.76 and considered to be strong. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to be 0.71 indicating acceptable internal consistency.

The new proposed quality score for basic science studies consists of 15 items and has been shown to be reliable, valid and of acceptable internal consistency. It is suggested that this score should be utilised when assessing basic science studies.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term results of the surgical treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome by comparing the in-situ decompression and release of the ulnar nerve with or without partial medial epicondylectomy and the anterior transposition and release respectively.

Material and Method: From 1991 since 2008, 119 patients, (81 men and 38 women) with an average age of 51(13–72 years) years were treated surgically for ulnar nerve compression at the elbow. The average duration of symptoms before surgery was 15 months (2–48 months). Preoperatively 2 patients were grade I, 52 patients were grade IIA, 31 patients were IIB and 34 were grade III according to the modified McGowan score. We performed in-situ decompression of the ulnar nerve in 35 patients, release with partial medial epicon-dylectomy in 44 patients and release with anterior transposition of the nerve in 40 patients.

17 patients were lost to follow-up. 108 patients were clinically assessed. Comparing the results among different surgical procedures, an improvement of at least one McGowan grade was obtained in 26 of 30 patients treated with simple decompression, in 29 of 35 patients treated with release and anterior transposition of the nerve and in 38 of 43 patients treated with release and medial epicondylectomy.

The results of this study show that the possibility for complete recovery is inversely related to the initial neuropathy grade. Partial medial epicondylectomy is a valuable surgical procedure for treating grade I to IIB ulnar neuropathy because is an anatomic method with minimal nerve manipulation preserving regional blood supply.