In England and Wales more than 175 000 hip and
knee arthroplasties were performed in 2012. There continues to be a
steady increase in the demand for joint arthroplasty because of
population demographics and improving survivorship. Inevitably though
the absolute number of periprosthetic infections will probably increase
with severe consequences on healthcare provision. The Department
of Health and the Health Protection Agency in United Kingdom established
a Surgical Site Infection surveillance service (SSISS) in 1997 to
undertake surveillance of surgical site infections. In 2004 mandatory
reporting was introduced for one quarter of each year. There has
been a wide variation in reporting rates with variable engagement
with the process. The aim of this article is to improve surgeon
awareness of the process and emphasise the importance of engaging
with SSISS to improve the quality and type of data submitted. In
Exeter we have been improving our practice by engaging with SSISS.
Orthopaedic surgeons need to take ownership of the data that are
submitted to ensure these are accurate and comprehensive. Cite this article:
The tibial components in 143 patients with
We have investigated the effect of using tranexamic
acid (TXA) during peri-acetabular osteotomy (PAO) on peri-operative
blood loss and blood transfusion requirements. In addition we analysed
whether the use of TXA was associated with an increased risk of
venous thromboembolism (VTE) following this procedure. A consecutive series of 96 PAOs, performed by a single surgeon,
were reviewed. A total of 48 patients received TXA and 48 did not.
The TXA group received a continuous infusion of TXA at a rate of
10 mg/kg/h. The primary outcome measure was the requirement for
blood transfusion. Secondary outcomes included total blood loss,
the decrease in the level of haemoglobin in the blood, the length
of hospital stay, and the complications of this treatment. The mean rate of transfusion was significantly lower in the TXA
group (62.5% The use of TXA reduced the blood loss and the rate of transfusion
after PAO significantly, without adverse effects such as an increased
rate of VTE. Cite this article:
A fracture of the hip is the most common serious orthopaedic
injury, and surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most significant
complications, resulting in increased mortality, prolonged hospital
stay and often the need for further surgery. Our aim was to determine
whether high dose dual antibiotic impregnated bone cement decreases the
rate of infection. A quasi-randomised study of 848 patients with an intracapsular
fracture of the hip was conducted in one large teaching hospital
on two sites. All were treated with a hemiarthroplasty. A total
of 448 patients received low dose single-antibiotic impregnated
cement (control group) and 400 patients received high dose dual-antibiotic impregnated
cement (intervention group). The primary outcome measure was deep
SSI at one year after surgery.Aims
Patients and Methods
Medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is associated
with successful outcomes in carefully selected patient cohorts.
We hypothesised that severity and location of patellofemoral cartilage
lesions significantly influences functional outcome after Oxford
medial compartmental knee arthroplasty. We reviewed 100 consecutive UKAs at minimum eight-year follow-up
(96 to 132). A single surgeon performed all procedures. Patients
were selected based on clinical and plain radiographic assessment.
All patients had end-stage medial compartment osteoarthritis (OA)
with sparing of the lateral compartment and intact anterior cruciate ligaments.
None of the patients had end-stage patellofemoral OA, but patients
with anterior knee pain or partial thickness chondral loss were
not excluded. There were 57 male and 43 female patients. The mean
age at surgery was 69 years (41 to 82). At surgery the joint was
carefully inspected for patellofemoral chondral loss and this was documented
based on severity of cartilage loss (0 to 4 Outerbridge grading)
and topographic location (medial, lateral, central, and superior
or inferior). Functional scores collected included Oxford Knee Score
(OKS), patient satisfaction scale and University College Hospital
(UCH) knee score. Intraclass correlation was used to compare chondral
damage to outcomes.Aims
Patients and Methods
We report a prospective randomly controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of continuous passive motion (CPM) in improving postoperative function and range of movement after
The use of robots in orthopaedic surgery is an
emerging field that is gaining momentum. It has the potential for significant
improvements in surgical planning, accuracy of component implantation
and patient safety. Advocates of robot-assisted systems describe
better patient outcomes through improved pre-operative planning
and enhanced execution of surgery. However, costs, limited availability,
a lack of evidence regarding the efficiency and safety of such systems
and an absence of long-term high-impact studies have restricted
the widespread implementation of these systems. We have reviewed
the literature on the efficacy, safety and current understanding of
the use of robotics in orthopaedics. Cite this article:
Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterised by articular cartilage degradation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified in the development of OA. The purpose of our study was to explore the functional role and underlying mechanism of miR-138-5p in interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β)-induced extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation of OA cartilage. Human articular cartilage was obtained from patients with and without OA, and chondrocytes were isolated and stimulated by IL-1β. The expression levels of miR-138-5p in cartilage and chondrocytes were both determined. After transfection with miR-138-5p mimics, allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO)-miR-138-5p, or their negative controls, the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of aggrecan (ACAN), collagen type II and alpha 1 (COL2A1), the protein levels of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and both the mRNA and protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 were evaluated. Luciferase reporter assay, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and Western blot were performed to explore whether Forkhead Box C1 (FOCX1) was a target of miR-138-5p. Further, we co-transfected OA chondrocytes with miR-138-5p mimics and pcDNA3.1 (+)-FOXC1 and then stimulated with IL-1β to determine whether miR-138-5p-mediated IL-1β-induced cartilage matrix degradation resulted from targeting FOXC1.Objectives
Materials and Methods
The October 2015 Knee Roundup360 looks at: Allergy and outcome in arthroplasty; Physiotherapy and drains not such a bad combination?; Another nail in the coffin for arthroscopists?; Graft precondition hocus pocus; Extended dose steroids in knee arthritis?; Indolent peri-prosthetic infection; Computer modelling and medial knee arthritis
The widely used and well-proven Palacos R (a.k.a. Refobacin Palacos
R) bone cement is no longer commercially available and was superseded
by Refobacin bone cement R and Palacos R + G in 2005. However, the
performance of these newly introduced bone cements have not been
tested in a phased evidence-based manner, including roentgen stereophotogrammetric
analysis (RSA). In this blinded, randomised, clinical RSA study, the migration
of the Stanmore femoral component was compared between Refobacin
bone cement R and Palacos R + G in 62 consecutive total hip arthroplasties.
The primary outcome measure was femoral component migration measured
using RSA and secondary outcomes were Harris hip score (HHS), Hip
disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D)
and Short Form 36 (SF-36).Aims
Patients and Methods
A key to the success of revision total knee arthroplasty
(TKA) is a safe surgical approach using an exposure that minimises
complications. In most patients, a medial parapatellar arthrotomy
with complete synovectomy is sufficient. If additional exposure
is needed, a quadriceps snip performed through the quadriceps tendon
often provides the additional exposure required. It is simple to
perform and does not alter the post-operative rehabilitative protocol.
In rare cases, in which additional exposure is needed, or when removal
of a cemented long-stemmed tibial component is required, a tibial
tubercle osteotomy (TTO) may be used. Given the risk of post-operative
extensor lag, a V-Y quadricepsplasty is rarely indicated and usually
considered only if TTO is not possible. Cite this article:
Patellofemoral complications are common after
total knee replacement (TKR). Leaving the patellar unsurfaced after
TKR may lead to complications such as anterior knee pain, and re-operation
to surface it. Complications after patellar resurfacing include
patellar fracture, aseptic loosening, patellar instability, polyethylene
wear, patellar clunk and osteonecrosis. Historically, patellar complications
account for one of the larger proportions of causes of failure in
TKR, however, with contemporary implant designs, complication rates
have decreased. Most remaining failures relate to patellofemoral
tracking. Understanding the causes of patellofemoral maltracking
is essential to prevent these complications as well as manage them
when they occur. Cite this article:
Only limited data are available regarding the
infiltration of local anaesthetic for total hip arthroplasty (THA),
and no studies were performed for THA using the anterior approach. In this prospective, randomised placebo-controlled study we investigated
the effect of both standard and reverse infiltration of local anaesthetic
in combination with the anterior approach for THA. The primary endpoint
was the mean numeric rating score for pain four hours post-operatively.
In addition, we recorded the length of hospital stay, the operating
time, the destination of the patient at discharge, the use of pain
medication, the occurrence of side effects and pain scores at various
times post-operatively. Between November 2012 and January 2014, 75 patients were included
in the study. They were randomised into three groups: standard infiltration
of local anaesthetic, reversed infiltration of local anaesthetic,
and placebo. There was no difference in mean numeric rating score
for pain four hours post-operatively (p = 0.87). There were significantly
more side effects at one and eight hours post-operatively in the
placebo group (p = 0.02; p = 0.03), but this did not influence the
mobilisation of the patients. There were no differences in all other
outcomes between the groups. We found no clinically relevant effect when the infiltration
of local anaesthetic with ropivacaine and epinephrine was used in
a multimodal pain protocol for THA using the anterior approach. Cite this article:
Revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a complex
procedure which carries both a greater risk for patients and greater
cost for the treating hospital than does a primary TKA. As well
as the increased cost of peri-operative investigations, blood transfusions,
surgical instrumentation, implants and operating time, there is
a well-documented increased length of stay which accounts for most
of the actual costs associated with surgery. We compared revision surgery for infection with revision for
other causes (pain, instability, aseptic loosening and fracture).
Complete clinical, demographic and economic data were obtained for
168 consecutive revision TKAs performed at a tertiary referral centre
between 2005 and 2012. Revision surgery for infection was associated with a mean length
of stay more than double that of aseptic cases (21.5 Current NHS tariffs do not fully reimburse the increased costs
of providing a revision knee surgery service. Moreover, especially
as greater costs are incurred for infected cases. These losses may
adversely affect the provision of revision surgery in the NHS. Cite this article:
The Unified Classification System (UCS) was introduced
because of a growing need to have a standardised universal classification
system of periprosthetic fractures. It combines and simplifies many
existing classification systems, and can be applied to any fracture
around any partial or total joint replacement occurring during or
after operation. Our goal was to assess the inter- and intra-observer
reliability of the UCS in association with knee replacement when
classifying fractures affecting one or more of the femur, tibia
or patella. We used an international panel of ten orthopaedic surgeons with
subspecialty fellowship training and expertise in adult hip and
knee reconstruction (‘experts’) and ten residents of orthopaedic
surgery in the last two years of training (‘pre-experts’). They
each received 15 radiographs for evaluation. After six weeks they
evaluated the same radiographs again but in a different order. The reliability was assessed using the Kappa and weighted Kappa
values. The Kappa values for inter-observer reliability for the experts
and the pre-experts were 0.741 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.707
to 0.774) and 0.765 (95% CI 0.733 to 0.797), respectively. The weighted
Kappa values for intra-observer reliability for the experts and
pre-experts were 0.898 (95% CI 0.846 to 0.950) and 0.878 (95% CI
0.815 to 0.942) respectively. The UCS has substantial inter-observer reliability and ‘near
perfect’ intra-observer reliability when used for periprosthetic
fractures in association with knee replacement in the hands of experienced
and inexperienced users. Cite this article:
Recently, several high impact randomised controlled
trials have been published suggesting no greater benefit from orthopaedic
surgery over conservative treatment, or limited surgical intervention.
These studies can have profound effects on clinical practice, leading
to the abandonment of previously widely-used operations. How do surgeons who believe these operations are beneficial over
conservative treatment rationalise these findings, and justify their
use with hospital administrators and health care funders who require
evidence for the value and efficacy of surgical treatment? Cite this article: