Posterolateral instability of the elbow.

The authors describe a rare case of recurrent posterior post-traumatic subdislocation of the elbow in a male aged 40 years. From a clinical point of view, it is a highly disabling condition, due to lesion of the ulnar portion of the radial collateral ligament. It is produced at minimum degrees of flexion movement in the elbow and depending on the entity of capsuloligamentous injury it may occur with episodes of instability, recurrent subdislocation or recurrent dislocation. Treatment is surgery and capsuloligamentous reconstruction according to the Osborne-Cotteril method, which has allowed for very satisfactory results to be obtained.

[Spiral CT and MR in injuries of the ankle and the foot]. / Spiral-TC e RM nei traumi della caviglia e del retropiede.

Conventional radiography is the first radiological examination in injuries of ankle and foot, but often it has normal findings or it is difficult to execute for critical conditions of patients. Our purpose was to assess the value of CT and MRI in injuries of ankle and foot; we retrospectively reviewed the MR and CT images from 48 patients (age range 18-55 years), whose 16 had a major trauma with other skeletal segment lesions and the remaining a minor trauma limited to ankle and foot. On the basis of our results and experience, we think that in major trauma CT and MRI have similar findings about preoperative evaluation of fractures even if MR better identifies ischemia of fragments, subcortical contusions and lesions of ligaments, capsula or tendons. In minor trauma, MR is superior to CT because it can diagnose lesions of bone and periarticular structures that are difficult or impossible to identify with other instrumental examinations.

Tubercular osteitis of the spine of the scapula.

At present the incidence of osteoarticular tuberculosis is increasing in the western world. The authors describe a case of tubercular osteitis of the scapula. Surgical treatment in association with antitubercular therapy obtained excellent results.

[Osteoid osteoma of the limbs: the clinical aspects and diagnostic problems]. / Osteoma osteoide degli arti: aspetti clinici e problemi diagnostici.

The authors report their experience in the treatment of "osteoid osteoma", drawing attention to the great clinical polymorphism of this affection. They also demonstrate the reliability of a preliminary systematic study with bone scan and CT, which are indispensable to early diagnosis and correct surgical procedure.

[Treatment of fractures of the finger phalanges using a mini external fixator]. / Traitement des fractures des phalanges des doigts avec mini fixateur externe.

The authors describe a new method for external fixation of phalangeal hand fractures. This method is atraumatic and very easy to perform. It permitted early mobilization and good healing in a series of 20 patients.