We report the outcome of 161 of 257 surgically fixed acetabular fractures. The operations were undertaken between 1989 and 1998 and the patients were followed for a minimum of ten years. Anthropometric data, fracture pattern, time to surgery, associated injuries, surgical approach, complications and outcome were recorded. Modified Merle D’Aubigné score and Matta radiological scoring systems were used as outcome measures. We observed simple fractures in 108 patients (42%) and associated fractures in 149 (58%). The result was excellent in 75 patients (47%), good in 41 (25%), fair in 12 (7%) and poor in 33 (20%). Poor prognostic factors included increasing age, delay to surgery, quality of reduction and some fracture patterns. Complications were common in the medium- to long-term and functional outcome was variable. The gold-standard treatment for displaced acetabular fractures remains open reduction and internal fixation performed in dedicated units by specialist surgeons as soon as possible.
The optimal timing of percutaneous vertebroplasty
as treatment for painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures
(OVCFs) is still unclear. With the position of vertebroplasty having
been challenged by recent placebo-controlled studies, appropriate
timing gains importance. We investigated the relationship between the onset of symptoms
– the time from fracture – and the efficacy of vertebroplasty in
115 patients with 216 painful subacute or chronic OVCFs (mean time
from fracture 6.0 months ( It was found that there was an immediate and sustainable improvement
in the level of back pain and HRQoL after vertebroplasty, which
was independent of the time from fracture. Greater time from fracture
was associated with neither worse pre-operative conditions nor increased
vertebral deformity, nor with the presence of an intravertebral cleft. We conclude that vertebroplasty can be safely undertaken at an
appropriate moment between two and 12 months following the onset
of symptoms of an OVCF.
We investigated the functional outcome in patients
who underwent reverse shoulder replacement (RSR) after removal of
a tumour of the proximal humerus. A total of 16 patients (ten women
and six men) underwent this procedure between 1998 and 2011 in our
hospital. Five patients died and one was lost to follow-up. Ten
patients were available for review at a mean follow-up of 46 months
(12 to 136). Eight patients had a primary and two patients a secondary
bone tumour. At final follow up the mean range of active movement was: abduction
78° (30° to 150°); flexion 98° (45° to 180°); external rotation
32° (10° to 60°); internal rotation 51° (10° to 80°). The mean Musculoskeletal
Tumor Society score was 77% (60% to 90%) and the mean Toronto Extremity
Salvage Score was 70% (30% to 91%). Two patients had a superficial
infection and one had a deep infection and underwent a two-stage
revision procedure. In two patients there was loosening of the RSR;
one dislocated twice. All patients had some degree of atrophy or
pseudo-atrophy of the deltoid muscle. Use of a RSR in patients with a tumour of the proximal humerus
gives acceptable results. Cite this article:
The outcome after total hip replacement has improved
with the development of surgical techniques, better pain management
and the introduction of enhanced recovery pathways. These pathways
require a multidisciplinary team to manage pre-operative education,
multimodal pain control and accelerated rehabilitation. The current economic
climate and restricted budgets favour brief hospitalisation while
minimising costs. This has put considerable pressure on hospitals
to combine excellent results, early functional recovery and shorter
admissions. In this review we present an evidence-based summary of some common
interventions and methods, including pre-operative patient education,
pre-emptive analgesia, local infiltration analgesia, pre-operative
nutrition, the use of pulsed electromagnetic fields, peri-operative
rehabilitation, wound dressings, different surgical techniques, minimally
invasive surgery and fast-track joint replacement units. Cite this article:
We evaluated the efficacy of Cite this article:
To assess the effectiveness of a modified tibial tubercle osteotomy
as a treatment for arthroscopically diagnosed chondromalacia patellae. A total of 47 consecutive patients (51 knees) with arthroscopically
proven chondromalacia, who had failed conservative management, underwent
a modified Fulkerson tibial tubercle osteotomy. The mean age was
34.4 years (19.6 to 52.2). Pre-operatively, none of the patients
exhibited signs of patellar maltracking or instability in association
with their anterior knee pain. The minimum follow-up for the study
was five years (mean 72.6 months (62 to 118)), with only one patient
lost to follow-up.Objectives
Methods
In the management of a pelvic fracture prompt recognition of an unstable fracture pattern is important in reducing mortality and morbidity. It is believed that a fracture of the transverse process of L5 is a predictor of pelvic fracture instability. However, there is little evidence in the literature to support this view. The aim of this study was to determine whether a fracture of the transverse process of L5 is a reliable predictor of pelvic fracture instability. We reviewed our hospital trauma database and identified 80 patients who sustained a pelvic fracture between 2006 and 2010. There were 32 women and 48 men with a mean age of 40 years (10 to 96). Most patients were injured in a road traffic accident or as a result of a fall from a height. A total of 41 patients (51%) had associated injuries. The pelvic fractures were categorised according to the Burgess and Young classification. There were 45 stable and 35 unstable fractures. An associated fracture of the transverse process of L5 was present in 17 patients; 14 (40%) of whom had an unstable fracture pattern. The odds ratio for an unstable fracture of the pelvis in the presence of a fracture of the transverse process of L5 was 9.3 and the relative risk was 2.5. A fracture of the transverse process of L5 in the presence of a pelvic fracture is associated with an increased risk of instability of the pelvic fracture. Its presence should alert the attending staff to this possibility.
The painful subluxed or dislocated hip in adults
with cerebral palsy presents a challenging problem. Prosthetic dislocation
and heterotopic ossification are particular concerns. We present
the first reported series of 19 such patients (20 hips) treated
with hip resurfacing and proximal femoral osteotomy. The pre-operative
Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) was level V in
13 (68%) patients, level IV in three (16%), level III in one (5%) and
level II in two (11%). The mean age at operation was 37 years (13
to 57). The mean follow-up was 8.0 years (2.7 to 11.6), and 16 of the
18 (89%) contactable patients or their carers felt that the surgery
had been worthwhile. Pain was relieved in 16 of the 18 surviving
hips (89%) at the last follow-up, and the GMFCS level had improved
in seven (37%) patients. There were two (10%) early dislocations;
three hips (15%) required revision of femoral fixation, and two
hips (10%) required revision, for late traumatic fracture of the
femoral neck and extra-articular impingement, respectively. Hence
there were significant surgical complications in a total of seven
hips (35%). No hips required revision for instability, and there
were no cases of heterotopic ossification. We recommend hip resurfacing with proximal femoral osteotomy
for the treatment of the painful subluxed or dislocated hip in patients
with cerebral palsy.
The October 2013 Shoulder &
Elbow Roundup360 looks at: Deltoid impairment not necessarily a contra-indication for shoulder arthroplasty; The tricky radiograph; Not so asymptomatic cuff tears; Total shoulder arthroplasty: kinder on the glenoid; Barbotage for calcific tendonitis; What happens to the arthritic glenoid?; Two screws a screw too few?; Sloppy hinge best for elbow arthroplasty.
The presacral retroperitoneal approach for axial lumbar interbody fusion (presacral ALIF) is not widely reported, particularly with regard to the mid-term outcome. This prospective study describes the clinical outcomes, complications and rates of fusion at a follow-up of two years for 26 patients who underwent this minimally invasive technique along with further stabilisation using pedicle screws. The fusion was single-level at the L5-S1 spinal segment in 17 patients and two-level at L4–5 and L5-S1 in the other nine. The visual analogue scale for pain and Oswestry Disability Index scores were recorded pre-operatively and during the 24-month study period. The evaluation of fusion was by thin-cut CT scans at six and 12 months, and flexion-extension plain radiographs at six, 12 and 24 months. Significant reductions in pain and disability occurred as early as three weeks postoperatively and were maintained. Fusion was achieved in 22 of 24 patients (92%) at 12 months and in 23 patients (96%) at 24 months. One patient (4%) with a pseudarthrosis underwent successful revision by augmentation of the posterolateral fusion mass through a standard open midline approach. There were no severe adverse events associated with presacral ALIF, which in this series demonstrated clinical outcomes and fusion rates comparable with those of reports of other methods of interbody fusion.
We report a multicentre prospective consecutive
study assessing the long-term outcome of the proximally hydroxyapatite
(HA)-coated ABG II monobloc femoral component in a series of 1148
hips in 1053 patients with a mean age at surgery of 64.77 years
(22 to 80) at a mean follow-up of 10.84 years (10 to 15.25). At
latest follow-up, the mean total Harris hip score was 94.7 points
( Cite this article:
The Cementless Oxford Unicompartmental Knee Replacement
(OUKR) was developed to address problems related to cementation,
and has been demonstrated in a randomised study to have similar
clinical outcomes with fewer radiolucencies than observed with the
cemented device. However, before its widespread use it is necessary
to clarify contraindications and assess the complications. This
requires a larger study than any previously published. We present a prospective multicentre series of 1000 cementless
OUKRs in 881 patients at a minimum follow-up of one year. All patients
had radiological assessment aligned to the bone–implant interfaces
and clinical scores. Analysis was performed at a mean of 38.2 months
(19 to 88) following surgery. A total of 17 patients died (comprising
19 knees (1.9%)), none as a result of surgery; there were no tibial
or femoral loosenings. A total of 19 knees (1.9%) had significant
implant-related complications or required revision. Implant survival
at six years was 97.2%, and there was a partial radiolucency at
the bone–implant interface in 72 knees (8.9%), with no complete radiolucencies.
There was no significant increase in complication rate compared
with cemented fixation (p = 0.87), and no specific contraindications
to cementless fixation were identified. Cementless OUKR appears to be safe and reproducible in patients
with end-stage anteromedial osteoarthritis of the knee, with radiological
evidence of improved fixation compared with previous reports using
cemented fixation. Cite this article:
We reviewed the long-term radiological outcome,
complications and revision operations in 19 children with quadriplegic
cerebral palsy and hip dysplasia who underwent combined peri-iliac
osteotomy and femoral varus derotation osteotomy. They had a mean
age of 7.5 years (1.6 to 10.9) and comprised 22 hip dislocations
and subluxations. We also studied the outcome for the contralateral
hip. At a mean follow-up of 11.7 years (10 to 15.1) the Melbourne
cerebral palsy (CP) hip classification was grade 2 in 16 hips, grade
3 in five, and grade 5 in one. There were five complications seen
in four hips (21%, four patients), including one dislocation, one
subluxation, one coxa vara with adduction deformity, one subtrochanteric
fracture and one infection. A recurrent soft-tissue contracture occurred
in five hips and ten required revision surgery. In pre-adolescent children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy good
long-term outcomes can be achieved after reconstruction of the hip;
regular follow-up is required.
Cite this article:
The strain on clinic and surgeon resources resulting
from a rise in demand for total knee replacement (TKR) requires reconsideration
of when and how often patients need to be seen for follow-up. Surgeons
will otherwise require increased paramedical staff or need to limit
the number of TKRs they undertake. We reviewed the outcome data
of 16 414 primary TKRs undertaken at our centre to determine the
time to re-operation for any reason and for specific failure mechanisms.
Peak risk years for failure were determined by comparing the conditional
probability of failure, the number of failures divided by the total
number of TKRs cases, for each year. The median times to failure
for the most common failure mechanisms were 4.9 years (interquartile
range (IQR) 1.7 to 10.7) for femoral and tibial loosening, 1.9 years
(IQR 0.8 to 3.9) for infection, 3.1 years (IQR 1.6 to 5.5) for tibial
collapse and 5.6 years (IQR 3.4 to 9.3) for instability. The median
time to failure for all revisions was 3.3 years (IQR 1.2 to 8.5),
with an overall revision rate of 1.7% (n = 282). Results from our
patient population suggest that patients be seen for follow-up at
six months, one year, three years, eight years, 12 years, and every
five years thereafter. Patients with higher pain in the early post-operative
period or high body mass index (≥ 41 kg/m2) should be
monitored more closely. Cite this article:
We have investigated the benefits of patient
specific instrument guides, applied to osteotomies around the knee. Single,
dual and triple planar osteotomies were performed on tibias or femurs
in 14 subjects. In all patients, a detailed pre-operative plan was
prepared based upon full leg standing radiographic and CT scan information.
The planned level of the osteotomy and open wedge resection was
relayed to the surgery by virtue of a patient specific guide developed
from the images. The mean deviation between the planned wedge angle
and the executed wedge angle was 0° (-1 to 1, Cite this article:
The October 2013 Hip &
Pelvis Roundup360 looks at: Young and impinging; Clothes, weather and femoral heads?; Go long, go cemented; Surgical repair of the abductors?; Aspirin for DVT prophylaxis?; Ceramic-on-polyethylene: a low-wear solution?; ALVAL and ASR™: the story continues….; Salvaging Legg-Calve-Perthes’ disease
Ensuring correct rotation of the femoral component
is a challenging aspect of patellofemoral replacement surgery. Rotation
equal to the epicondylar axis or marginally more external rotation
is acceptable. Internal rotation is associated with poor outcomes.
This paper comprises two studies evaluating the use of the medial
malleolus as a landmark to guide rotation. We used 100 lower-leg anteroposterior radiographs to evaluate
the reliability of the medial malleolus as a landmark. Assessment
was made of the angle between the tibial shaft and a line from the
intramedullary rod entry site to the medial malleolus. The femoral
cut was made in ten cadaver knees using the inferior tip of the
medial malleolus as a landmark for rotation. Rotation of the cut
relative to the anatomical epicondylar axis was assessed using CT.
The study of radiographs found the position of the medial malleolus
relative to the tibial axis is consistent. Using the inferior tip
of the medial malleolus in the cadaver study produced a mean external
rotation of 1.6° (0.1° to 3.7°) from the anatomical epicondylar
axis. Using the inferior tip of the medial malleolus to guide the
femoral cutting jig avoids internal rotation and introduces an acceptable
amount of external rotation of the femoral component.
Options for the treatment of subcapital femoral
neck fractures basically fall into two categories: internal fixation
or arthroplasty (either hemiarthroplasty or total hip arthroplasty).
Historically, the treatment option has been driven by a diagnosis-related approach
(non-displaced neck fractures versus displaced neck fractures).
More recently, the traditional paradigm has changed. Instead of
a diagnosis-related approach, it has become more of a patient-related
approach. Treatment options take in to consideration the patient’s age,
functional demands, and individual risk profile. A simple algorithm
can be helpful in terms of directing the treatment. Non-displaced
fractures, regardless of age of the patient, should be treated with
closed reduction and internal fixation. For displaced femoral neck fractures,
the treatment differs depending on the age of the patient. The younger
patient should be treated with urgent ORIF with the goal of an anatomic
reduction. For displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly,
cognitive function should be determined. For those who are cognitively
functioning, total hip arthroplasty appears to be the best option.
In the cognitively dysfunctional, a bipolar hemiarthroplasty or
a total hip arthroplasty with use of larger heads (32 mm or 36 mm)
and/or constrained sockets are a viable option.
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is commonly
associated with early hip arthritis. We reviewed our series of 1300
hip resurfacing procedures. More than 90% of our male patients,
with an average age of 53 years, had cam impingement lesions. In
this condition, there are anterior femoral neck osteophytes, and
a retroverted femoral head on a normally anteverted neck. It is
postulated that FAI results in collision of the anterior neck of
the femur against the rim of the acetabulum, causing damage to the
acetabular labrum and articular cartilage, resulting in osteoarthritis.
Early treatment of FAI involves arthroscopic or open removal of
bone from the anterior femoral neck, as well as repair or removal
of labral tears. However, once osteoarthritis has developed, hip
replacement or hip resurfacing is indicated. Hip resurfacing can
re-orient the head and re-shape the neck. This helps to restore
normal biomechanics to the hip, eliminate FAI, and improve range
of motion. Since many younger men with hip arthritis have FAI, and
are also considered the best candidates for hip resurfacing, it
is evident that resurfacing has a role in these patients.
We performed a prospective study to examine the
influence of the patient’s position on the location of the abdominal
organs, to investigate the possibility of a true lateral approach
for transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy. Pre-operative abdominal
CT scans were taken in 20 patients who underwent endoscopic lumbar discectomy.
Axial images in parallel planes of each intervertebral disc from
L1 to L5 were achieved in both supine and prone positions. The most
horizontal approach angles possible to avoid injury to the abdominal
organs were measured. The results demonstrated that the safe approach
angles were significantly less (i.e., more horizontal) in the prone
than in the supine position. Obstacles to a more lateral approach
were mainly the liver, the spleen and the kidneys at L1/2 (39 of
40, 97.5%) and L2/3 (28 of 40, 70.0%), and the intestines at L3/4
(33 of 40, 82.5%) and L4/5 (30 of 30, 100%). A true lateral approach
from each side was possible for 30 of the 40 discs at L3/4 (75%)
and 23 of the 30 discs at L4/5 (76.7%). We concluded that a more
horizontal approach for transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy
is possible in the prone position but not in the supine. Prone abdominal
CT is more helpful in determining the trajectory of the endoscope.
While a true lateral approach is feasible in many patients, our
study shows it is not universally applicable.