The December 2014 Foot & Ankle Roundup360 looks at: Charcot feet, biomarkers and diabetes; weight bearing following Achilles tendon rupture; endobuttons and mal-reduced diastasis; evidence for stem cell therapies in osteochondral lesions of the talus; syndesmosis fixation in SER ankle fractures; and self-reporting for foot and ankle outcomes

Modern athletes are constantly susceptible to performance-threatening injury as they push their bodies to greater limits and endure higher physical stresses. Loss of performance and training time can adversely and permanently affect a sportsperson’s career. Now more than ever with advancing medical technology the answer may lie in biologic therapy. We have been using peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) clinically and have been able to demonstrate that stem cells differentiate into target cells to enable regenerative repair. The potential of this technique as a regenerative agent can be seen in three broad applications: 1) articular cartilage, 2) bone and 3) soft tissue. This article highlights the successful cases, among many, in all three of these applications.

The December 2012 Research Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: whether the rheumatoid factor is just a ‘quick test’; osteonecrosis in smokers; pasteurisation effect on bone reconstruction; venous thromboembolism risk in rheumatoids; whether stem cells reverse age-related osteopenia; the effect of running on rat knees; rapid fracture healing in rats with ultrasound; magnetic stem cells; and the safety of surgery.