Autografted and Allogrfted Meniscal Transplantation in the Knee Joint / 대한정형외과학회잡지

The degenerative arthritis following total menisectomy has led to consideration of the need for meniscal transplantation, this study evaluates the morphologic and histologic changes fol lowing fresh meniscal autograft and allograft in therabbits. Transplantation of the medial meniscus was carried out in two groups of 32 rabbits(autograft group=16 rabbits, allograft group=16 rabbits). The morphological and histological changes of the transplanted auto-and allografted menisci and the articular cartilage of the medial femoral and tibial condyle were observed at 2,4,6,8,10,12,22,28 weeks postoperatively. There were no significant differences between auto and allograft groups in gross appearance. Histologically, the fibrous adhesion was noted between grafted meniscus and joint capsule 2 weeks after operation, but complete healing was seen at the suture sites without rejection phenomenon at 6 weeks in both groups. There were prominent inflammatory reactions such as lymphocytes and inflammatory cells infiltration during early postoperative stages(2,4 weeks) only in the allograft group, and more prominent fibrotic reactions in the allograft group than auto-graft group. The results of this study suggest that meniscal allografts are able to adapt to the host tissues, survive within the joint environment, and provide a functional replacement for the removed meniscus, but further studies for graft-host immune response and a method to take the maintenance and deposits of graft must be needed to perform the meniscal allograft in human.

Supracondylar Fracture of the Humerus in Children: Part I : Extension / 대한정형외과학회잡지

The authors made an attempt to classify the supracondylar extension-valgus fracture according to the direction and location of the fracture line based on the radiographic manifestation. This new classification helps to dictate the model of treatment, possible sequence of reduction and the causes of deformity of the elbow after treatment. During the last 12 years of this study, 200 supracondylar fractures of the humerus were treated in the Kyung Hee University Hospital. Of the cases 82 were extension-valgus fractures. The results were as follows: 1. The supracondylar extension-valgus fracture were classified into 5 types: Type I: fish-tail fracture (14 cases) Type II : obtuse fish-tail fracture (27 cases) Type III: oblique fracture (16 cases) Type IV: oblique fracture with comminution of lateral column (14 cases) Type V: Transverse fracture (11 cases) 2. The displacement of the distal fragment in the fish-tail fracture is severe but it can be reduced easily by manipulation. Once reduction has been obtained, the fracture is stable and maintained by a long arm cast with acute flexion of the elbow alone. There is no need of percutaneous pinning. Among 14 cases of type I fracture there was no cubitus varus deformity. 3. The line of the obtuse fish-tail fracture lies distal to fish-tail fracture. This is unstable so it is necessary to percutaneous pinning. 4. The oblique fracture is produced by the hyperextension of the elbow and degrees of the obliquity of the fracture line were 12 to 20 degrees (Av. 14 degrees). The valgus angles in opposit elbows were 9 to 25 degrees (Av. 16 degrees). The forearm must be pulled into valgus position during the reduction of the fracture. 5. Type IV fracture occures under 4 years old, and more commonly in girls. This is unstable, so it is necessary to percutaneous pinning.

Replantations of Amputated Limbs and Digits: An analysis of 200 replantations / 대한정형외과학회잡지

We studied two hundread cases of replantations-61 cases of major limb replantation and 139 cases of finger replantation. 53 of 179 patients had multiple amputation. The most common cause of amputation was cutting-machine injury and the next one was belt and roller injury. The patients were followed than 6 months, ranging 6 months to 5 years and 10 months, averaging 36 months. The success rate of replantation is 86.9%(53/61) in the amputated limbs and 80.6%(112/139) in the amputated digits. Main causes of failure were tissue crushing, vessel thrombosis, long ischemic time, and amputation wound infection. Common complications were infection (25 cases), delayed union(7 cases), nonunion(2 cases), bleeding tendency and hematoma formation due to systemic heparinization(5 cases). We used Seddon's classification to assess the recovery of the nerve function of the replanted limbs and digits. 84.6 % of success cases of limb replantation presented the excellent result in the motor fuction recovery and 89.1% also presented the excellent sensory recovery. 89.8% of the success cases of the digit replantation showed the excellent result in the sensory recovery. The factors influencing the functional recovery of the replantation surgery were mechanism of injury, ischemic time, surgical technique, numbers of anastomosed vessels, ratio between anastomosed artery and vein, and wound infection. This analysis demonstrated that strict selection of the indication or the replantation is the first step in the limb and digit replantation surgery.

Interfascicular Nerve Grafting in the Treatment of the Peripheral Nerve Injury / 대한정형외과학회잡지

The authors performed the interfascicular nerve grafting in the gap of injured nerves using the microsurgical technique to obtain the accurate coaptation of the fascicles. The authors experienced the 33 cases(26 patients) of the interfascicular nerve grafting in the median(11), ulnar(9), radial(2), common peroneal(3) and digital(8) nerves at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University from Jan. 1980 to June 1984. The patients were followed up from 12 to 26 months (average 20 1/2 months). The following results were obtained; 1. The shorter the length of the donor nerve and the younger the age of the patients are, the better the recovery of the nerve function is. 2. The medial and lateral cutaneous nerves of forearm as donor nerve are suitable as well as the sural and superficial radial nerves. 3. The end result of each patient was evaluated by Seddon's classification. The excellent motor recovery was 72.0% (18/25) and the excellent sensory recovery was 81.8% (27/33). 4. The interfascicular nerve grafting is an excellent method in treating the widely separated,severed peripheral nerve injury.