This study aimed to evaluate the association between the sagittal alignment of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and new Knee Society Score (2011KSS), under the hypothesis that outliers such as the excessive extended or flexed femoral component were related to worse clinical outcomes. A group of 156 knees (134 F:22 M) in 133 patients with a mean age 75.8 years (SD 6.4) who underwent TKA with the cruciate-substituting Bi-Surface Knee prosthesis were retrospectively enrolled. On lateral radiographs, γ angle (the angle between the distal femoral axis and the line perpendicular to the distal rear surface of the femoral component) was measured, and the patients were divided into four groups according to the γ angle. The 2011KSSs among groups were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. A secondary regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the 2011KSS and γ angle.Aims
Methods
The use of vitamin E-infused highly crosslinked polyethylene (HXLPE) in total knee prostheses is controversial. In this paper we have compared the clinical and radiological results between conventional polyethylene and vitamin E-infused HXLPE inserts in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The study included 200 knees (175 patients) that underwent TKA using the same total knee prostheses. In all, 100 knees (77 patients) had a vitamin E-infused HXLPE insert (study group) and 100 knees (98 patients) had a conventional polyethylene insert (control group). There were no significant differences in age, sex, diagnosis, preoperative knee range of movement (ROM), and preoperative Knee Society Score (KSS) between the two groups. Clinical and radiological results were evaluated at two years postoperatively.Aims
Patients and Methods
The objective of this study was to validate the
efficacy of Takeuchi classification for lateral hinge fractures
(LHFs) in open wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). In all 74 osteoarthritic
knees (58 females, 16 males; mean age 62.9 years, standard deviation
7.5, 42 to 77) were treated with OWHTO using a TomoFix plate. The
knees were divided into non-fracture (59 knees) and LHF (15 knees)
groups, and the LHF group was further divided into Takeuchi types
I, II, and III (seven, two, and six knees, respectively). The outcomes
were assessed pre-operatively and one year after OWHTO. Pre-operative
characteristics (age, gender and body mass index) showed no significant
difference between the two groups. The mean Japanese Orthopaedic
Association score was significantly improved one year after operation
regardless of the presence or absence of LHF (p = 0.0015, p <
0.001, respectively). However, six of seven type I cases had no
LHF-related complications; both type II cases had delayed union;
and of six type III cases, two had delayed union with correction
loss and one had overcorrection. These results suggest that Takeuchi
type II and III LHFs are structurally unstable compared with type
I. Cite this article:
Patients with Bertolotti’s syndrome have characteristic lumbosacral anomalies and often have severe sciatica. We describe a patient with this syndrome in whom standard decompression of the affected nerve root failed, but endoscopic lumbosacral extraforaminal decompression relieved the symptoms. We suggest that the intractable sciatica in this syndrome could arise from impingement of the nerve root extraforaminally by compression caused by the enlarged transverse process.
We studied nine patients who had had a transtrochanteric anterior rotational osteotomy, as developed by Sugioka, for osteonecrosis of the femoral head. At a mean of 2.5 years after the initial operation we carried out a histological study of the previously necrotic femoral head which had not shown collapse of the new primary weight-bearing site. In seven joints, there was proliferation of fibrous tissue in the dead trabeculae with vascular ingrowth. New bone covering dead trabeculae created the characteristic appearance of ‘creeping substitution’. However, these changes were limited and did not extend over the entire necrotic area. Dead bone remained in all the cases. In the other two heads we did not observe proliferation of fibrous tissue or vascular ingrowth, only dead trabeculae and dead bone marrow.
The afferent pathways of discogenic low-back pain have not been fully investigated. We hypothesised that this pain was transmitted mainly by sympathetic afferent fibres in the L2 nerve root, and in 33 patients we used selective local anaesthesia of this nerve. Low-back pain disappeared or significantly decreased in all patients after the injection. Needle insertion provoked pain which radiated to the low back in 23 patients and the area of skin hypoalgesia produced included the area of pre-existing pain in all but one. None of the nine patients with related sciatica had relief of that component of their symptoms. Our findings show that the main afferent pathways of pain from the lower intervertebral discs are through the L2 spinal nerve root, presumably via sympathetic afferents from the sinuvertebral nerves. Discogenic low-back pain should be regarded as a visceral pain in respect of its neural pathways. Infiltration of the L2 nerve is a useful diagnostic test and also has some therapeutic value.
We studied the prognostic value of MRI in 32 radiographically normal, asymptomatic hips in 25 patients at risk of osteonecrosis from glucocorticoids or alcoholism. The early findings were band-like hypointense zones on spin-echo images. No operations were performed. Life-table survival curves showed that femoral heads in which the hypointense zone traversed the middle portion of the head were most at risk of subsequent segmental collapse.
