While the demand for orthopaedic surgical expertise in the developing world is in critically short supply, short-term remedy from visiting doctors cannot solve this long-term healthcare problem. Capacity building by senior and training orthopaedic surgeons from established Western training programmes can offer a significant contribution to the orthopaedic patient in the developing world and the gains for those visiting are extremely valuable. We report on several visits by a UK orthopaedic team to a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan and discuss the operative and non-operative case mix and the benefits in terms of local capacity building and the unique experience of those visiting.

The August 2014 Hip & Pelvis Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Serial MRIs best for pseudotumour surveillance; Is ultrasound good enough for MOM follow-up?; Does weight loss in obese patients help?; Measuring acetabular anteversion on plain films; Two-stage one-stage too many in fungal hip revisions? and 35 is the magic number in arthroplasty.

The August 2014 Knee Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: re-admission following total knee replacement; out with the old and in with the new? computer navigation revisited; approach less important in knee replacement; is obesity driving a rise in knee replacements?; knee replacement isn’t cheap in the obese; cruciate substitution doesn’t increase knee flexion; and sonication useful diagnostic aid in two-stage revision.

The August 2014 Foot & Ankle Roundup360 looks at: calcaneotibial nail in ankle fractures; reamer irrigator aspirator for ankle fusion; periprosthetic bone infection; infection in ankle fixation; cheap and cheerful OK in MTP fusion plates; sliding fibular graft for peroneal tendon pathology and fusion for failed ankle replacement.

The August 2014 Wrist & Hand Roundup360 looks at: Trapeziectomy superior to arthrodesis;Tamoxifen beneficial in the short term; Semi-occlusive dressing “the bee’s knees” even with exposed bone; “Open” a relative concept in the hand and wrist; Editorial decisions pushing up standards of reporting; Ulnar variance revisited; Traditionalists are traditional; Diabetes not so bad with carpal tunnel

The August 2014 Shoulder & Elbow Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Myofibroblasts perhaps not implicated in post-traumatic elbow stiffness; olecranon tip biomechanically sound for coranoid reconstruction; obesity and elbow replacement don’t mix; single column plating successful for extra-articular distal humeral fractures; satisfaction not predictable in frozen shoulder; tenodesis and repair both acceptable in Grade II SLAP tears; glenoid bone grafting is effective and glenohumeral articular lesions best seen with an arthroscope.

The August 2014 Spine Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: rhBMP complicates cervical spine surgery; posterior longitudinal ligament revisited; thoracolumbar posterior instrumentation without fusion in burst fractures; risk modelling for VTE events in spinal surgery; the consequences of dural tears in microdiscectomy; trends in revision spinal surgery; radiofrequency denervation likely effective in facet joint pain and hooks optimally biomechanically transition posterior instrumentation.

The August 2014 Trauma Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: On-table CT for calcaneal fractures; timing of femoral fracture surgery and outcomes; salvage arthroplasty for failed internal fixation of the femoral neck; screw insertion in osteoporotic bone; fibular intramedullary nailing on the ascendant; posterior wall acetabular fractures not all that innocent; bugs, plating and resistance and improving outcomes in olecranon tension band wiring.

The August 2014 Oncology Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Anaesthesic modality does not affect outcomes in tumour surgery; infection predictors in orthopaedic oncology; sarcoma depth unimportant in survival; photon/proton radiotherapy surprisingly effective in chondrosarcoma control; total humerus replacement a success!; LDH simple predictor of survival in sarcoma; Denosumab again! and Oops procedures in triplicate.

The August 2014 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Conservative treatment still OK in paediatric clavicular fractures; Femoral anteversion not the usual suspect in patellar inversion; Shoulder dislocation best treated with an operation; Perthes’ disease results in poorer quality of adult life; Physiotherapy little benefit in supracondylar fractures; Congenital vertical talus addressed at the midtarsal joint; Single-sitting DDH surgery worth the effort; and cubitus valgus associated with simple elbow dislocation

The August 2014 Research Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Antibiotic loaded ceramic of use in osteomyelitis; fibronectin implicated in cartilage degeneration; Zinc Chloride accelerates fracture healing in rats; advertisements and false claims; Net Promoter Score: substance or rhetoric?; aspirin for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and dissection, stress and the soul.

In a decidedly upper limb themed series of reviews this edition of Cochrane Corner summarises four new and updated reviews published by the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group over the last few months. The tenacious reviewers at the Cochrane collaboration have turned their beady eyes to conservative treatments for shoulder dislocations and clavicle fractures along with evaluation of femoral nerve blocks in knee replacement and how to best manage entrapment injuries in children.

Whiplash injury is surrounded by controversy in both the medical and legal world. The debate on whether it is either a potentially serious medical condition or a social problem is ongoing. This paper briefly examines a selection of studies on low velocity whiplash injury (LVWI) and whiplash associated disorder (WAD) and touches upon the pathophysiological and epidemiological considerations, cultural and geographical differences and the effect of litigation on chronicity. The study concludes that the evidence for significant physical injury after LVWI is poor, and if significant disability is present after such injury, it will have to be explained in terms of psychosocial factors.