The number of arthroplasties being undertaken
is expected to grow year on year, and periprosthetic joint infections will
be an increasing socioeconomic burden. The challenge to prevent
and eradicate these infections has resulted in the emergence of
several new strategies, which are discussed in this review. Cite this article:
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) causes pain
and chondrolabral damage via mechanical overload during movement
of the hip. It is caused by many different types of pathoanatomy,
including the cam ‘bump’, decreased head–neck offset, acetabular
retroversion, global acetabular overcoverage, prominent anterior–inferior
iliac spine, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, and the sequelae
of childhood Perthes’ disease. Both evolutionary and developmental factors may cause FAI. Prevalence
studies show that anatomic variations that cause FAI are common
in the asymptomatic population. Young athletes may be predisposed
to FAI because of the stress on the physis during development. Other
factors, including the soft tissues, may also influence symptoms and
chondrolabral damage. FAI and the resultant chondrolabral pathology are often treated
arthroscopically. Although the results are favourable, morphologies
can be complex, patient expectations are high and the surgery is
challenging. The long-term outcomes of hip arthroscopy are still
forthcoming and it is unknown if treatment of FAI will prevent arthrosis.
Obesity is an epidemic across both the developed
and developing nations that is possibly the most important current
public health factor affecting the morbidity and mortality of the global
population. Obese patients have the potential to pose several challenges
for arthroplasty surgeons from the standpoint of the influence obesity
has on osteoarthritic symptoms, their peri-operative medical management,
the increased intra-operative technical demands on the surgeon,
the intra- and post-operative complications, the long term outcomes
of total hip and knee arthroplasty. Also, there is no consensus
on the role the arthroplasty surgeon should have in facilitating
weight loss for these patients, nor whether obesity should affect
the access to arthroplasty procedures.
This review considers the surgical treatment
of displaced fractures involving the knee in elderly, osteoporotic patients.
The goals of treatment include pain control, early mobilisation,
avoidance of complications and minimising the need for further surgery.
Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) frequently results in
loss of reduction, which can result in post-traumatic arthritis
and the occasional conversion to total knee replacement (TKR). TKR
after failed internal fixation is challenging, with modest functional
outcomes and high complication rates. TKR undertaken as treatment
of the initial fracture has better results to late TKR, but does
not match the outcome of primary TKR without complications. Given
the relatively infrequent need for late TKR following failed fixation,
ORIF is the preferred management for most cases. Early TKR can be
considered for those patients with pre-existing arthritis, bicondylar
femoral fractures, those who would be unable to comply with weight-bearing restrictions,
or where a single definitive procedure is required.
