The management of symptomatic osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) can be challenging. The number of ways of treating these lesions has increased considerably during the last decade, with published studies often providing conflicting, low-level evidence. This paper aims to present an up-to-date concise overview of the best evidence for the surgical treatment of OLTs. Management options are reviewed based on the size of the lesion and include bone marrow stimulation, bone grafting options, drilling techniques, biological preparations, and resurfacing. Although many of these techniques have shown promising results, there remains little high level evidence, and further large scale prospective studies and systematic reviews will be required to identify the optimal form of treatment for these lesions.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(2):207–212.

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A pilon fracture is a severe ankle joint injury caused by high-energy trauma, typically affecting men of working age. Although relatively uncommon (5% to 7% of all tibial fractures), this injury causes among the worst functional and health outcomes of any skeletal injury, with a high risk of serious complications and long-term disability, and with devastating consequences on patients’ quality of life and financial prospects. Robust evidence to guide treatment is currently lacking. This study aims to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of two surgical interventions that are most commonly used to treat pilon fractures.

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To analyze the potential role of synovial fluid peptidase activity as a measure of disease burden and predictive biomarker of progression in knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Antibiotic resistance represents a threat to human health. It has been suggested that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant infections could cause ten million deaths each year. In orthopaedics, many patients undergoing surgery suffer from complications resulting from implant-associated infection. In these circumstances secondary surgery is usually required and chronic and/or relapsing disease may ensue. The development of effective treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections is needed. Recent evidence shows that bacteriophage (phages; viruses that infect bacteria) therapy may represent a viable and successful solution. In this review, a brief description of bone and joint infection and the nature of bacteriophages is presented, as well as a summary of our current knowledge on the use of bacteriophages in the treatment of bacterial infections. We present contemporary published in vitro and in vivo data as well as data from clinical trials, as they relate to bone and joint infections. We discuss the potential use of bacteriophage therapy in orthopaedic infections. This area of research is beginning to reveal successful results, but mostly in nonorthopaedic fields. We believe that bacteriophage therapy has potential therapeutic value for implant-associated infections in orthopaedics.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(2):234–244.

We analysed the outcome of the Coonrad-Morrey total elbow replacement used for fracture of the distal humerus in elderly patients with no evidence of inflammatory arthritis and compared the results for early versus delayed treatment. We studied a total of 32 patients with 15 in the early treatment group and 17 in the delayed treatment group. The mean follow-up was 56.1 months (18 to 88). The percentage of excellent to good results based on the Mayo elbow performance score was not significantly different, 84% in the early group and 79% in the delayed group. Subjective satisfaction was 92% in both the groups. One patient in the early group developed chronic regional pain syndrome and another type 4 aseptic loosening. Two elbows in the early group also showed type 1 radiological loosening. Two patients in the delayed group had an infection, two an ulnar nerve palsy, one developed heterotopic ossification and one type 4 aseptic loosening. Two elbows in this group also showed type 1 radiological loosening. The Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis for the early and delayed treatment groups was 93% at 88 months and 76% at 84 months, respectively. No significant difference was found between the two groups

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Bone demonstrates good healing capacity, with a variety of strategies being utilized to enhance this healing. One potential strategy that has been suggested is the use of stem cells to accelerate healing.

In this retrospective study, we assessed the outcome in 99 patients who underwent reconstruction of the lateral ligaments of the ankle for chronic anterolateral instability with a minimum follow-up of 15 years. Two techniques were compared: 54 patients had an anatomical reconstruction (AR group) and 45 had an Evans tenodesis (ET group). They were followed up for 19.9 ± 3.6 years and 21.8 ± 4.6 years, respectively. During follow-up, seven patients in the AR group and 17 in the ET group required a further operation (p = 0.004). At follow-up, significantly more patients (n = 15) in the ET group had limited dorsiflexion than in the AR group (n = 6, p = 0.007) and 18 in the ET group had a positive anterior drawer test compared with seven in the AR group (p = 0002). In the ET group 27 had tenderness on palpation of the ankle compared with 15 in the AR group (p = 0.001). Stress radiographs showed ligamentous laxity significantly more often in the ET group (n = 30) than in the AR group (n = 13, p < 0.001). The mean values for talar tilt and anterior talar translation were significantly higher in the ET group than in the AR group (p < 0.001, p = 0.007, respectively). There were degenerative changes on standard radiographs in 32 patients in the AR group and 35 in the ET group (p = 0.05). Four patients in the ET group had developed severe osteoarthritis compared with none in the AR group (p = 0.025). Assessment of functional stability revealed a mean Karlsson score of 83.7 ± 10.4 points in the AR group and 67.0 ± 15.8 points in the ET group (p < 0.001). According to the Good rating system, 43 patients in the AR group had good or excellent results compared with 15 in the ET group (p < 0.001). Compared with anatomical reconstruction, the Evans tenodesis does not prevent laxity in a large number of patients. Long-standing ligamentous laxity leads to degenerative change in the ankle, resulting in chronic pain, limited dorsiflexion and further operations. The functional result deteriorates more rapidly after the Evans tenodesis than after anatomical reconstruction

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The purpose of this study was to use pharmacogenetics to determine the frequency of genetic variants in our total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients that could affect postoperative pain medications. Pharmacogenetic testing evaluates patient DNA to determine if a drug is expected to have a normal clinical effect, heightened effect, or no effect at all on the patient. It also predicts whether patients are likely to experience side effects from medicine. We further sought to determine if changing the multimodal programme based on these results would improve pain control or reduce side effects.

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The use of frozen tumour-bearing autograft combined with a vascularized fibular graft (VFG) represents a new technique for biological reconstruction of massive bone defect. We have compared the clinical outcomes between this technique and Capanna reconstruction.

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This feasibility study investigates the utilization and cost of health resources related to formal and informal care, home adaptations, and physiotherapy among patients aged 60 years and above after hip fracture from a multicentre cohort study (World Hip Trauma Evaluation (WHiTE)) in the UK.

Our aim in this prospective study was to determine the best diagnostic method for discriminating between patients with and without osteochondral lesions of the talus, with special relevance to the value of MRI compared with the new technique of multidetector helical CT. We compared the diagnostic value of history, physical examination and standard radiography, a 4 cm heel-rise view, helical CT, MRI, and diagnostic arthroscopy for simultaneous detection or exclusion of osteochondral lesions of the talus. A consecutive series of 103 patients (104 ankles) with chronic ankle pain was included in this study. Of these, 29 with 35 osteochondral lesions were identified. Twenty-seven lesions were located in the talus. Our findings showed that helical CT, MRI and diagnostic arthroscopy were significantly better than history, physical examination and standard radiography for detecting or excluding an osteochondral lesion. Also, MRI and diagnostic arthroscopy performed better than a mortise view with a 4 cm heel-rise. We did not find a statistically significant difference between helical CT and MRI. Diagnostic arthroscopy did not perform better than helical CT and MRI for detecting or excluding an osteochondral lesion

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Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a potentially devastating complication of the surgical treatment of a proximal humeral fracture. The literature on the rate and risk factors for the development of HO under these circumstances is lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors for the development of HO in these patients.

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To monitor the performance of services for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in Northern Ireland and identify potential improvements to enhance quality of service and plan for the future.

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The aim of this study was to examine the recent trend in delivery of arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD) in Scotland and to determine if this varies by geographical location.

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Few risk factors for rotator cuff disease (RCD) and corresponding treatment have been firmly established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between numerous risk factors and the incidence of surgery for RCD in a large cohort.

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To investigate the benefits of denosumab in combination with nerve-sparing surgery for treatment of sacral giant cell tumours (GCTs).