ischVascular Calcification in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: Frequency and Effects on the Surgery

Background@#This study aims to investigate the frequency of distal femoral and popliteal arterial calcification and to evaluate the intraoperative and postoperative effects of arterial calcification in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty using a tourniquet. @*Methods@#The records of 5,438 patients who had undergone primary total knee arthroplasty between January 2003 and January 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. We examined the preoperative radiographs of the knee from all patients for calcifications of the femoral and popliteal arteries. Vascular calcification was identified on preoperative radiographs in 223 cases. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were investigated among these patients. Postoperative complications were analyzed from the time of surgery to the last follow-up (minimum 1-year follow-up). @*Results@#Vascular calcification of the arteries around the knee was found in 223 cases (4.1%). The mean patient age was 70.6 years in the non-calcification group and 73.8 years in the calcification group (p > 0.05). The calcification group was classified into medial, intimal, or mixed subgroups according to the morphology of calcification on preoperative radiographs. The medial type included 46 cases (20.6%); intimal type, 161 cases (72.2%); and mixed type, 16 cases (2.7%). There was no statistically significant difference in demographic and surgical data among the three groups. There were intraoperative complications in two cases in the medial type group, both of which involved tourniquet failure. There was also a postoperative complication in one case in the medial type group, which involved wound dehiscence at 2 weeks postoperatively. No other postoperative complications were identified during 1-year follow-up. @*Conclusions@#Despite the presence of calcifications in the arteries around the knee, total knee arthroplasty (using a tourniquet) can be performed without serious complications.

Redomicrofracture as a Treatment for Osteochondral Lesion of Talus after the Failure of Arthroscopic Microfracture / 대한족부족관절학회지

Arthroscopic treatment has been reported to provide effective improvement of ankle function when used in treatment of small osteochondral lesion of talus; however, favorable long-term results have been less predictable for large osteochondral lesion of talus. In cases in which primary arthroscopic treatment fails, the decision regarding which subsequent technique to choose has become increasingly difficult, as good clinical outcomes may be unlikely for such patients irrespective of the surgical technique used. Redomicrofracture should be used judiciously for treatment of osteochondral lesion of talus in which arthroscopic treatment has failed.