Trabecular metal cup without augments for acetabular revision in case of extensive bone loss and low bone-prosthesis contact.

Current evidences in revision hip arthroplasty suggest to treat severe acetabular bone loss with dedicated implants, such as anti-protrusio cages, stemmed cups, modular systems supplied with iliac flanges and obturatory hook. However recent literature is reporting satisfactory outcomes with simple elliptical Trabecular Metal cups. Purpose of the study was to evaluate mid-term results of such a surgical procedure. All hip revisions performed from 2008 to 2009 with implantation of a TMT multi-hole acetabular cup without augmentations were retrospectively reviewed. The cases with low-degree acetabular bone loss (stage I and II according to GIR classification), with surgical report poorly describing the bone defect, with inadequate pre- and post-operative x-rays were ruled out. Twenty-five cases were identified, but four were lost to follow-up. The twenty-one patients were 71 year-old on average (from 60 to 82), with stage IV bone loss in 6 cases and stage III bone loss in 15 cases. Mean interval from surgery to evaluation was 20.9 months (from 13 to 30). The evaluation included bone-prosthesis contact estimation, component position, survivorship, complications, final Harris Hip Score, presence of periprosthetic radiolucencies. Host bone-prosthesis contact was estimated to be about 35%. Only three implant were subsequently reoperated (for infection, early migration, recurrent dislocation). The HHS among non-reoperated 18 patients was 81.96 on average (from 63.44 to 95.82). Six cases showed thin radiolucencies in one of the three Charnley zones, while three cases showed radiolucencies in two. None of these images was evolutive, thus they were not considered signs of loosening. The mid-term results of this series confirm the hypothesis that a porous tantalum acetabular cup is an effective option to deal with difficult acetabular revisions. Although no extra-acetabular fixation device is available, the very high surface friction guaranteed by the material and the supplemental stability provided by trans-acetabular screws seem to be sufficient to allow satisfactory reimplantation even in severely damaged pelves.

Pain and ketoprofen: what is its role in clinical practice?

Ketoprofen is a drug belonging to the family of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The present review examines the main available clinical evidence of ketoprofen in the treatment of acute and chronic pain, of both rheumatic and traumatic origin, as well as postoperative pain. Ketoprofen has shown to be an excellent choice of drug for the treatment of chronic pain in patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or gout, demonstrating a high level of efficacy with good tolerability also in elderly patients. Even in the treatment of acute forms of pain such as bursitis, tendinitis and back pain, ketoprofen compares favourably to other NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen and diclofenac) in terms of efficacy. Ketoprofen has been shown to be effective also for the treatment of post-operative pain, particularly in the orthopaedic field, with an efficacy similar to opioids in some studies. In this setting, some evidence indicates that ketoprofen exhibits additional important benefits, showing to be effective in the prophylaxis of heterotopic calcification following hip or pelvic major intervention, without affecting the bone healing process. Moreover, the use of ketoprofen in elastomeric pump in combination with opioids or other NSAIDs has proven to be effective and safe. In conclusion, available data confirm that ketoprofen is effective and well tolerated, through different administration routes, for the treatment of various forms of rheumatic, traumatic and post-surgical pain, and may therefore be considered as a valid therapeutic option for these patients.

Application of rhBMP-7 and platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of long bone non-unions: a prospective randomised clinical study on 120 patients.

The purpose of this prospective randomised clinical study was to compare the efficacy of recombinant bone morphogenetic protein 7 (rhBMP-7) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as bone-stimulating agents in the treatment of persistent fracture non-unions. One hundred and twenty patients were randomised into two treatment groups (group rhBMP-7 vs. group PRP). Sixty patients with sixty fracture non-unions were assigned to each group (median age: 44 years, range 19-65, for the rhBMP-7 group and 41 years, range 21-62, for the PRP group, respectively). In the rhBMP-7 group, there were 15 tibial non-unions, 10 femoral, 15 humeral, 12 ulnar, and 8 radial non-unions. In the PRP group, there were 19 tibial non-unions, 8 femoral, 16 humeral, 8 ulnar, and 9 radial non-unions. The median number of operations performed prior to our intervention was 2 (range 1-5) and 2 (range 1-5) with autologous bone graft being used in 23 and 21 cases for the rhBMP-7 and PRP groups, respectively. Both clinical and radiological union occurred in 52 (86.7%) cases of the rhBMP-7 group compared to 41 (68.3%) cases of the PRP group, with a lower median clinical and radiographic healing time observed in the rhBMP-7 group (3.5 months vs. 4 months and 8 months vs. 9 months, respectively). This study supports the view that in the treatment of persistent long bone non-unions, the application of rhBMP-7 as a bone-stimulating agent is superior compared to that of PRP with regard to their clinical and radiological efficacy.

Static-dynamic intramedullary nailing (SDIN) in diaphyseal and metaphyseal lower limb fractures.

The authors report their experience with the Grosse-Kempf nail in treatment of diaphyseal and metaphyseal fractures of the femur and tibia. The biological and biomechanical preconditions of the method as well as several details of the surgical technique are discussed, and the results of 70 procedures performed from 1986 to 1989 are evaluated. The outcomes are quite positive and confirm other reports in the literature.

The functional method of treatment in nonunion of fractures of the lower limb in which other methods have failed.

In the light of experience in the treatment of lower limb fractures with the functional method (plaster and orthoses), the authors applied this method in cases of nonunion which had failed to respond to other types of treatment. The excellent results obtained showed that the functional method may succeed in such cases.