We assessed the outcome after simultaneous multiple operations performed on 18 children with spastic diplegia, with emphasis on the changes in the physiological cost index (PCI) of walking. Fourteen patients had a measurable reduction at one year, but the more severely affected patients took up to two years to reach a new functional plateau. The level of the preoperative PCI allows prediction of the outcome of surgery in terms of reducing the effort of walking, or improving its appearance only. Intrapelvic intramuscular psoas tenotomy produced an improvement of hip flexion deformity in 15 of 17 patients without the loss of muscle power to initiate the swing phase. Fractional lengthening corrected hamstring tightness in 17 cases, and the mean popliteal angle was reduced from 63 degrees preoperatively to 30.2 degrees, with almost complete resolution of the fixed knee flexion deformity present in ten patients. Distal transfer of the rectus femoris, when it was shown to be contracting inappropriately, improved the knee flexion arc during walking from a mean of 28.3 degrees to 45.2 degrees.
A rare complication of massive osteolysis (disappearing bones, Gorham's disease)is presented--namely involvement and invasion of the thoracic duct by the angiomatous tissue spreading locally from involved upper thoracic vertebrae. The resultant chylothorax in our patient was investigated and the site of the lymphatic fistula established by lymphography. Operative obliteration of the chylous leak was successfully achieved and the patient has survived. A review of the literature shows this complication to have been fatal in six other cases, including Gorham's first patient.
1. A direct approach to trimalleolar fractures is described. 2. It is considered that a direct view of the fractured joint surface is essential in operations on all trimalleolar fractures and that access must be planned accordingly. 3. Failure to get a perfectly congruous surface is likely to be followed by osteoarthritis.
1. Four cases of arterial injury complicating meniscectomy are described. 2. The danger of using chisel-type meniscectomy knives, especially when they are incorrectly sharpened, is emphasised.
