A representative assessment of the management of open fractures of the lower limb within UK orthoplastic centres: A two-centre audit of compliance with national standards.

BACKGROUND: Open fractures of the lower limb represent a complex and varied array of injuries. The BOAST 4 document produced by BAPRAS and the BOA provides standards on how to manage these patients, and NICE have recently produced additional guidance. We aimed to assess concordance with these standards in a large cohort representative of UK orthoplastic centres. METHODS: Patients admitted to the orthoplastic units at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital with open lower limb fractures between 2009 and 2014 were included. Data was gathered from notes and endpoints based on the BOAST 4 document. RESULTS: In total, 84 patients were included across the two sites, with 83 having their initial debridement within 24h (98.8%). Forty-two patients had a documented out-of-hours initial surgery. Of these, 10 (23.8%) had an indication for urgent surgery. This pattern was consistent across both hospitals. A plastic surgeon was present at 33.3% of initial operations. Of 78 patients receiving definitive soft tissue cover, 56.4% had cover within 72h and 78.2% within 7days. Main reasons for missing these targets were transfer from other hospitals, plastic surgeons not present at initial operation and intervening critical illness. CONCLUSIONS: This study has identified key areas for improving compliance with the national BOAST 4 and NICE standards. Out-of-hours operating is occurring unnecessarily and time targets are being missed. The development of dedicated referral pathways and a true orthoplastic approach are required to improve the management of this complex set of injuries.

A worldwide bibliometric analysis of published literature in plastic and reconstructive surgery.

BACKGROUND: Bibliometrics is the analysis of the content and citations of journal articles to quantify trends in published data. In this study, we aimed to use bibliometric analysis to identify the contribution of various countries to the plastic surgical literature over a 5-year period. METHODS: In this study, the top 20 countries publishing articles on surgery and 10 plastic surgical journals with the highest impact factors (IFs) were included. The number of scientific articles published in each journal per year (2009-2013) in each country was found using PubMed. As a marker of quality, the mean IF for each country was calculated using the number of articles and journal IF. These data were compared with population, gross domestic product (GDP) and dollars spent on research. RESULTS: A total of 10,051 articles were included. The USA was the largest contributor, with 4008 articles published over 5 years, followed by the UK (1163 articles). The USA's mean IF was 2.084, closely followed by Canada (2.037). The UK had the highest number of publications per million population (PMP; 18.14 publications PMP). When considering the overall research spending per country, Turkey had the most cost-effective publication output. The least cost-effective country was South Korea. Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada had the greatest increase in publication quality. CONCLUSIONS: Bibliometric analysis can be used to identify not only major centres of plastic surgical research, such as the USA and UK, but also centres that produce high-quality data, such as Canada, and cost-effective research, such as Turkey. It can also highlight the areas of increasing success in plastic surgical research.

Inter- and intrarater reliability of osteoarthritis classification at the trapeziometacarpal joint.

PURPOSE: To assess the reliability of the Eaton and Glickel classification for base of thumb osteoarthritis. METHODS: The interrater and intrarater reliability of this classification were assessed by comparing ratings from 6 raters using quadratic weighted kappa scores. RESULTS: Median inter-rater reliability ranged from kappa of .53 to .54; intrarater reliability ranged from kappa of .60 to .82. Using unweighted kappa interrater reliability was "slightly" reliable, and intrarater reliability was "fairly" reliable. Overall, the value of the intraclass correlation for all 6 raters was .56. CONCLUSIONS: This radiological classification does not describe all stages of carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis accurately enough to permit reliable and consistent communication between clinicians. Therefore we believe it should be used with an understanding of its limitations when communicating disease severity between clinicians or as a tool to assist in clinical decision making.

A prospective case-control study to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the grind and traction-shift (subluxation-relocation) clinical tests in osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint.

The diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint is made predominantly by correlating examination findings with patients' symptoms and radiographs. The importance of clinical examination is enhanced due to the poor correlation between radiological severity of osteoarthritis of this joint and symptoms. Despite the importance of clinical examination findings, no previous studies have analyzed the traction-shift test nor compared clinical tests for this diagnosis. In this prospective case-control study the relative performance of the commonly used grind and traction-shift (subluxation-relocation) tests were compared in 30 patients and 30 unaffected controls. The traction-shift test had greater sensitivity (66.7%) and specificity (100%) than the grind test (30% and 96.7%, respectively), whilst also demonstrating superior positive (100%) and negative (75%) predictive value than the grind test (90% and 58%, respectively). Therefore, we believe this to be the superior clinical test for osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb.

Successful management of recalcitrant infection related to total hip replacement using pedicled rectus femoris or vastus lateralis muscle flaps.

Deep prosthetic joint infection remains an uncommon but serious complication of total hip replacement. We reviewed 24 patients with recalcitrant hip wounds following infected total hip replacement treated with either pedicled rectus femoris or vastus lateralis muscle flaps between 1998 and 2009. The mean age of the patients was 67.4 years (42 to 86) with ten men and 14 women. There had been a mean of four (1 to 8) previous attempts to close the wound. A total of 20 rectus femoris and five vastus lateralis flaps were used, with one of each type of flap failing and requiring further reconstruction. All patients had positive microbiology. At a mean follow-up of 47 months (9 to 128), 22 patients had a healed wound and two had a persistent sinus. The prosthesis had been retained in five patients. In the remainder it had been removed, and subsequently re-implanted in nine patients. Six patients continued to take antibiotics at final follow-up. This series demonstrates the effectiveness of pedicled muscle flaps in healing these infected wounds. The high number of previous debridements suggests that these flaps could have been used earlier.

High resolution ultrasonography of the hand and wrist: three-year experience at a District General Hospital Trust.

A retrospective analysis of 227 patients undergoing ultrasonography (US) of the hand/wrist over a three-year period in a district general hospital trust was performed. The usefulness in each case was assessed by two independent reviewers using a qualitative rating system, as (A) Useful: determines management, (B) Useful: contributory, (C) Not useful: not misleading, or (D) Not useful: misleading/potentially harmful. US was useful in 74.8% of cases but misleading/potentially harmful in 13.1%. Misleading rates exceeding 10% in sub-categories including tendinopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, foreign body and lumps, where US findings may influence the decision to operate or not, are particularly worrying. There were a number of cases where US led to unnecessary operations or suggested operating on the wrong structures, and also cases where US findings wrongly suggested that surgery was unnecessary. Various recommendations aimed to improve the usefulness of US in the Hand and Wrist, including mandatory/formal musculoskeletal US training, are made.

Outcome following coronal fractures of the hamate.

This is a case series of 14 hamate body fractures, in the coronal plane, with 12 patients having an associated metacarpal injury. Treatment was either conservative or operative and was decided according to the degree of fracture displacement and presence of carpometacarpal subluxation. Patient follow-up was 14.8 months on average, using DASH scores and postoperative radiographs to determine functional and anatomical outcomes. Undisplaced fractures were treated in a cast with good outcome. Postoperative radiographs of patients treated with Kirschner wires for displaced fractures showed incomplete reduction and the outcomes were less favourable. Rigid internal fixation gave excellent radiographic results, although these did not correlate with functional outcome in all patients.

A modified papaverine test and the use of venous constriction in erectile dysfunction.

A simple technique employing a penoscrotal tourniquet in the investigation and management of impotence due to venous leakage is described. Fifteen patients were investigated using a constriction band and intracorporeal injection of papaverine. Colour doppler ultrasound studies demonstrated that the tourniquet abolished venous leakage in 11 cases and there was a close correlation between clinical and ultrasonographic findings. Most of the patients with venogenic impotence found the device to be of therapeutic benefit. The technique is simple and provides reliable clinical information about the likely cause of erectile failure and is an effective and acceptable aid to treatment in correctly selected cases.

A feminizing adrenocortical carcinoma presenting with gynaecomastia.

A case is presented in which gynaecomastia was the sole initial presenting symptom of a feminizing adrenocortical carcinoma. This rare pathological lesion is discussed.

Testicular denervation. A new surgical procedure for intractable testicular pain.

Chronic testicular pain has many different aetiologies. Identification and treatment of an underlying problem resolve the issue in most cases. However, a proportion of patients with chronic testicular pain have no demonstrable aetiological factor and pose a difficult treatment problem. All of these patients are initially treated by non-surgical measures. Various operations advocated in the literature for non-responders include epididymectomy, scrotal orchiectomy and inguinal orchiectomy, all of which have a significant failure rate. We describe a hitherto unreported operative procedure in a series of 4 patients, with immediate and lasting relief of their pain.

The current status of embolization in renal cell carcinoma--a survey of local and national practice.

The current role of renal embolization in carcinoma of the kidney is uncertain. In order to assess surgeons' opinion of its usefulness a questionnaire was circulated to all general urologists practising in Britain and Ireland. Also, a series of cases in which the technique was employed (n = 35) was reviewed and compared with a similar group who were not embolized (n = 40). There was a 71% response to the survey. The principal findings were that all but five urologists believe that embolization should not be used routinely in the management of renal cell carcinoma. Thirty-five per cent stated that they felt it has a role in management of symptoms in metastatic or inoperable tumours. The review of both series of patients in our unit shows that embolization (using 95% ethanol infused via a balloon occlusion catheter) did not reduce peroperative blood loss and did significantly increase hospital stay. There were no deaths in this series, and morbidity was confined to 'post-embolization syndrome' in 16 cases. We believe that in those cases where embolization is indicated, alcohol infusion via a balloon occlusion catheter is a safe and efficient method.

Case report: limey urine.

A case is described of multiple tiny bladder stones giving rise to unusual ultrasound and plain radiograph appearances of a calcified sediment within the bladder.

Terodiline: a dose titrated, multicenter study of the treatment of idiopathic detrusor instability in women.

Idiopathic detrusor instability is a common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms at all ages and in both sexes. Treatment initially is conservative and often includes drug therapy. Terodiline has the theoretical advantage of being a drug with anticholinergic and calcium channel blocking effects. Theoretically, by using a drug with dual action the beneficial effect of reduced detrusor overactivity might occur at a dosage below that likely to lead to the troublesome side effects experienced by patients who take pure anticholinergic agents. A total of 70 female patients completed a study characterized by extremely strict inclusion criteria and a tight protocol. Other novel elements to the study were the extensive use of urinary diaries for symptom evaluation, standardized urodynamic studies agreed upon by the participating centers and the dose titration design of the trial. Terodiline has been demonstrated to be a safe, well tolerated and effective drug in the treatment of idiopathic detrusor instability. Drug treatment led to significant decreases in urinary frequency and incontinence episodes. Pre-micturition symptoms, such as urgency, were markedly reduced and the voided volume was significantly increased. Although there were consistent trends towards greater improvement in the urodynamic measurements, when the terodiline and placebo groups were compared these did not reach statistical significance, partly due to a large improvement in the placebo group. Nevertheless, terodiline has been shown to be a useful drug for conservative management of patients with detrusor instability.

Percutaneous drainage in emphysematous pyelonephritis--an alternative to major surgery.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a rare, life-threatening infection of the kidney associated with the production of gas, usually found in diabetic patients. Experience of this condition reported in the literature suggests that vigorous medical treatment and early nephrectomy are advisable. We report a case in which percutaneous renal drainage combined with medical therapy produced not only complete recovery of the patient, but also preservation of renal function on the affected side.

A controlled trial of otis urethrotomy.

Otis urethrotomy is an empirical procedure when used in the treatment of recurrent urinary tract infection and the urethral syndrome. Sixty-four female patients were randomised into two treatment groups. One group had cystoscopy alone and the other cystoscopy and Otis urethrotomy. The patients were assessed pre-operatively and at 6 weeks after surgery both symptomatically and by urodynamic testing. There was no significant difference in the results obtained in the two groups. We conclude that Otis urethrotomy has no advantage in the routine treatment of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms.