Informed consent in spinal surgery.

Informed consent is a very important part of surgical treatment. In this paper, we report a number of legal judgements in spinal surgery where there was no criticism of the surgical procedure itself. The fault that was identified was a failure to inform the patient of alternatives to, and material risks of, surgery, or overemphasizing the benefits of surgery. In one case, there was a promise that a specific surgeon was to perform the operation, which did not ensue. All of the faults in these cases were faults purely of the consenting process. In many cases, the surgeon claimed to have explained certain risks to the patient but was unable to provide proof of doing so. We propose a checklist that, if followed, would ensure that the surgeon would take their patients through the relevant matters but also, crucially, would act as strong evidence in any future court proceedings that the appropriate discussions had taken place. Although this article focuses on spinal surgery, the principles and messages are applicable to the whole of orthopaedic surgery. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B:355-360.

Knee pain and the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve.

Pain over the front of the knee is common after surgery or trauma but often a definite diagnosis is difficult to make. Over the past year we have seen five cases in which the pain could be ascribed to damage to a branch of the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve. Two were subsequent to trauma and three to surgical procedures. In all five cases surgical exploration gave symptomatic relief. Eight cadaveric knees were prosected to explore further the anatomy of this nerve in relation to the injuries. Injury to one of these branches should be considered in cases of persistent anterior, anteromedial or anterolateral knee pain or neurological symptoms following surgery or trauma.

Protective gloves for use in high-risk patients: how much do they affect the dexterity of the surgeon?

Twenty-five orthopaedic surgeons underwent eight motor and sensory tests while using four different glove combinations and without gloves. As well as single and double latex, surgeons wore a simple Kevlar glove with latex inside and outside and then wore a Kevlar and Medak glove with latex inside and outside, as recommended by the manufacturers. The effect of learning with each sequence was neutralised by randomising the glove order. The time taken to complete each test was recorded and, where appropriate, error rates were noted. Simple sensory tests took progressively longer to perform so that using the thickest glove combination led to the completion times being doubled. Error rates increased significantly. Tests of stereognosis also took longer and use of the thickest glove combination caused these tests to take three times as long on average. Error rates again increased significantly. However, prolongation of motor tasks was less marked. We conclude that, armed with this quantitative analysis of sensitivity and dexterity impairment, surgeons can judge the relative difficulties that may be incurred as a result of wearing the gloves against the benefits that they offer in protection.

Current attitudes to cementing techniques in British hip surgery.

Aseptic loosening is the major problem in hip joint replacement. Improved cementing techniques have been shown to improve the long-term survival of implants significantly. To assess the use of modern cementing techniques in British surgeons, a detailed questionnaire was sent to all Fellows of The British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) regarding cement preparation, bone preparation, cementing technique and prostheses used in total hip arthroplasty. Excluding retired fellows, surgeons who use no cement, and those who had filled in forms inadequately, 668 responded, who between them performed 43,680 hip arthroplasties per year. In this survey, 21 different types of hip prostheses were implanted by the surgeons; 48% of hips implanted were Charnley type. Of the surgeons, 46% used Palacos with gentamicin as their cement for both the femur and acetabulum. For the femur, 44% of surgeons remove all cancellous bone, 40% use pulse lavage, 59% use a brush to clear debris, 94% dry the femur, 97% plug the femur, 76% use a cement gun and 70% pressurise the cement. For the acetabulum, 88% of surgeons retain the subchondral bone, 40% use pulse lavage, 100% dry the acetabulum, 22% use hypotensive anaesthesia and 58% pressurise the cement. Overall only 25% of surgeons (26% of hips implanted) use 'modern' cementing techniques. This has implications for the number of arthroplasties that may require early revision.

Closing the audit circle: effect of continuing audit on arthroscopic practice.

A prospective study in a single orthopaedic unit for one calendar year was carried out to examine the effect of continuing audit on arthroscopic practice. A standard proforma was introduced to record information and results were analysed using a system of audit codes. Two audit periods were examined, the first 3 months and the subsequent 9 months. Results after audit of the first period were compared with the second period; diagnostic accuracy and clarity had improved as had the accuracy of audit coding. The subset of patients with a preoperative diagnosis of a meniscal tear was analysed and the diagnostic accuracy for this group improved over the year. We found that the Audit Circle had been closed in the areas of diagnostic clarity, diagnostic accuracy of meniscal tears and the accuracy of audit coding.

Anti-inflammatory drug therapy after arthroscopy of the knee. A prospective, randomised, controlled trial of diclofenac or physiotherapy.

We report a prospective, randomised, controlled trial of the effect of either a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (diclofenac sodium) or physiotherapy on the recovery of knee function after arthroscopy. At 42 days after surgery there was no significant benefit from either form of postoperative treatment compared with the control group. Complications attributable to the anti-inflammatory drug occurred in 9.6% of the patients so treated. Neither the routine administration of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent nor routine physiotherapy is justified after arthroscopy of the knee.

Serial residual volumes in men with prostatic hypertrophy.

Thirty men with prostatic hypertrophy were scanned on 3 occasions on the day before TURP. Five commonly used formulae to estimate residual urine were used. All of these methods are subject to large degrees of error; 66% of these patients had residual volumes that varied significantly on the same day. We suggest that it is of no clinical value to perform a single residual urine measurement in patients with prostatic hypertrophy.