The April 2024 Trauma Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: The infra-acetabular screw in acetabular fracture surgery; Is skin traction helpful in patients with intertrochanteric hip fractures?; Reducing pain and improving function following hip fracture surgery; Are postoperative splints helpful following ankle fracture fixation?; Biomechanics of internal fixation in Hoffa fractures: a comparison of four different constructs; Dual-plate fixation of periprosthetic distal femur fractures; Do direct oral anticoagulants necessarily mean a delay to hip fracture surgery?; Plate or retrograde nail for low distal femur fractures?.

The April 2023 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Can you treat type IIA supracondylar humerus fractures conservatively?; Bone bruising and anterior cruciate ligament injury in paediatrics; Participation and motor abilities after treatment with the Ponseti method; Does fellowship training help with paediatric supracondylar fractures?; Supracondylar elbow fracture management (Supra Man): a national trainee collaborative evaluation of practice; Magnetically controlled growing rods in early-onset scoliosis; Weightbearing restrictions and weight gain in children with Perthes’ disease?; Injuries and child abuse increase during the pandemic over 12,942 emergency admissions.

The June 2023 Knee Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Cementless total knee arthroplasty is associated with early aseptic loosening in a large national database; Is cementless total knee arthroplasty safe in females aged over 75 years?; Could novel radiological findings help identify aseptic tibial loosening?; The Attune cementless versus LCS arthroplasty at introduction; Return to work following total knee arthroplasty and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty; Complications and downsides of the robotic total knee arthroplasty; Mid-flexion instability in kinematic alignment better with posterior-stabilized and medial-stabilized implants?; Patellar resurfacing does not improve outcomes in modern knees.

The June 2024 Knee Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: The estimated lifetime risk of revision after primary knee arthroplasty influenced by age, sex, and indication; Should high-risk patients seek out care from high-volume surgeons?; Stability and fracture rates in medial unicondylar knee arthroplasties; Rethinking antibiotic prophylaxis for dental procedures post-arthroplasty; Evaluating DAIR: a viable alternative for acute periprosthetic joint infection; The characteristics and predictors of mortality in periprosthetic fractures around the knee; Patient health-related quality of life deteriorates significantly while waiting six to 12 months for total hip or knee arthroplasty; The importance of looking for diversity in knee implants.

Anatomical total knee arthroplasty alignment versus conventional mechanical alignment; or a combination?

The April 2015 Trauma Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Negative presure wound therapy in open tibial fractures; Priority-driven approach to pelvic injuries; Early surgery essential in hip fracture management; Sheer fractures to the posteromedial plateau; Fasciotomy closure under the spotlight; Why do patients die from hip fracture?; Acetabular fractures down the line; Biomechanics of femoral neck fractures reviewed

Mechanical alignment has been a fundamental tenet of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) since modern knee replacement surgery was developed in the 1970s. The objective of mechanical alignment was to infer the greatest biomechanical advantage to the implant to prevent early loosening and failure. Over the last 40 years a great deal of innovation in TKA technology has been focusing on how to more accurately achieve mechanical alignment. Recently the concept of mechanical alignment has been challenged, and other alignment philosophies are being explored with the intention of trying to improve patient outcomes following TKA.

This article examines the evolution of the mechanical alignment concept and whether there are any viable alternatives.

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.