We evaluated the top 13 journals in trauma and
orthopaedics by impact factor and looked at the longer-term effect regarding
citations of their papers. All 4951 papers published in these journals during 2007 and 2008
were reviewed and categorised by their type, subspecialty and super-specialty.
All citations indexed through Google Scholar were reviewed to establish
the rate of citation per paper at two, four and five years post-publication.
The top five journals published a total of 1986 papers. Only three
(0.15%) were on operative orthopaedic surgery and none were on trauma.
Most (n = 1084, 54.5%) were about experimental basic science. Surgical
papers had a lower rate of citation (2.18) at two years than basic science
or clinical medical papers (4.68). However, by four years the rates
were similar (26.57 for surgery, 30.35 for basic science/medical),
which suggests that there is a considerable time lag before clinical
surgical research has an impact. We conclude that high impact journals do not address clinical
research in surgery and when they do, there is a delay before such
papers are cited. We suggest that a rate of citation at five years
post-publication might be a more appropriate indicator of importance
for papers in our specialty. Cite this article:
Using inaccurate quotations can propagate misleading
information, which might affect the management of patients. The
aim of this study was to determine the predictors of quotation inaccuracy
in the peer-reviewed orthopaedic literature related to the scaphoid.
We randomly selected 100 papers from ten orthopaedic journals. All references
were retrieved in full text when available or otherwise excluded.
Two observers independently rated all quotations from the selected
papers by comparing the claims made by the authors with the data
and expressed opinions of the reference source. A statistical analysis
determined which article-related factors were predictors of quotation
inaccuracy. The mean total inaccuracy rate of the 3840 verified
quotes was 7.6%. There was no correlation between the rate of inaccuracy
and the impact factor of the journal. Multivariable analysis identified
the journal and the type of study (clinical, biomechanical, methodological,
case report or review) as important predictors of the total quotation
inaccuracy rate. We concluded that inaccurate quotations in the peer-reviewed
orthopaedic literature related to the scaphoid were common and slightly
more so for certain journals and certain study types. Authors, reviewers
and editorial staff play an important role in reducing this inaccuracy.
A total of 38 patients with leprosy and localised nerve damage (11 median at the wrist and 37 posterior tibial at the ankle) were treated by 48 freeze-thawed skeletal muscle autografts ranging between 2.5 cm and 14 cm in length. Sensory recovery was noted in 34 patients (89%) and was maintained during a mean period of follow-up of 12.6 years (4 to 14). After grafting the median nerve all patients remained free of ulcers and blisters, ten demonstrated perception of texture and eight recognised weighted pins. In the posterior tibial nerve group, 24 of 30 repairs (80%) resulted in improved healing of the ulcers and 26 (87%) demonstrated discrimination of texture. Quality of life and hand and foot questionnaires showed improvement; the activities of daily living scores improved in six of seven after operations on the hand, and in 14 of 22 after procedures on the foot. Another benefit was subjective improvement in the opposite limb, probably because of the protective effect of better function in the operated side. This study demonstrates that nerve/muscle interposition grafting in leprosy results in consistent sensory recovery and high levels of patient satisfaction. Ten of 11 patients with hand operations and 22 of 25 with procedures to the foot showed sensory recovery in at least one modality.
