How reliable are the synovial cell count and blood parameters in the diagnosis of septic arthritis?

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the reliability of the joint fluid cell count and blood parameters compared to the culture results in the diagnosis of septic arthritis (SA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 192 patients (112 males, 80 females, mean age: 60.3±19.2 years; range, 18 to 98 years) who presented with SA between January 2018 and July 2022 were evaluated retrospectively. The recorded joint fluid cell count, complete blood count (CBC), white blood cell (WBC) count, serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and culture results were analyzed comparatively according to SA diagnosis. RESULTS: The most commonly involved joint was the knee joint (82.3%), which was affected in 158 patients. Thirty-six (18.8%) of the patients who underwent joint aspiration had positive culture result. The cultures were positive in 10 (35.7%) of 28 patients with synovial WBC value greater than 50,000/mm3, while 26 (15.9%) of 164 patients with a synovial WBC value less than 50,000/mm3 had positive culture results (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: Patients with SA may present variable blood and synovial parameters. Making decision based on the commonly used synovial WBC count cut-off value of 50,000/mm3 may lead to misdiagnosis. To avoid misdiagnosis or delay in treatment, it is of utmost importance not to exclude the diagnosis acutely, and suspicion of SA should remain even with unlikely values.

Lesion prevalence and patient outcome comparison between primary and recurrent anterior shoulder instability.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare lesion prevalence and treatment outcomes in patients with primary and recurrent anterior shoulder instability. METHODS: Patients who were admitted to the institution with a diagnosis of anterior shoulder instability and who underwent arthroscopic surgery between July 2006 and February 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. Minimum follow-up duration of the patients was 24 months. The recorded data and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the patients were examined. Patients aged ≥40 years, with a history of shoulder region fracture, inflammatory arthritis, a history of epilepsy, multidirectional instability, nontraumatic dislocation, and off-track lesions were excluded from the study. Shoulder lesions were documented and patient outcome evaluation was made with the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) and visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: A total of 340 patients were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 25.6 years (±6.49). The recurrent instability group had a significantly higher rate of anterior labroligamentous periosteal sleeve avulsion (ALPSA) lesions compared to the primary instability group (40.6% vs. 24.6% respectively) (P = .033). Twenty-five patients (43.9%) had superior labrum anterior and posterior (SLAP) lesions in the primary instability group and 81 patients (28.6%) had SLAP lesions in the recurrent instability group (P = .035). OSS increased for both primary (from 35 [16-44] to 46 [36-48]) (P = .001) and recurrent instability groups (from 33 [6-45] to 47 [19-48]) (P = .001). There was no significant difference between the groups regarding postoperative VAS and OSS scores (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Successful results were obtained in patients younger than 40 years with both primary and recurrent anterior shoulder instability after arthroscopic treatment. ALPSA lesion prevalence was higher whereas SLAP lesion prevalence was lower in patients with recurrent instability. Although the postoperative OSS was comparable between the patient groups, the failure rate was higher in the recurrent instability patients.

Predictivity of International Hip Dysplasia Institute classification in Pavlik harness treatment and correlation with Graf ultrasonographic classification.

Hip ultrasonography applied according to Graf's criteria is frequently used in early diagnosis and monitoring of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Recently, the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI) classification has been proposed to be a prognostic indicator for patients with walking-age DDH. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reliability of IHDI classification in the follow-up of patients with DDH diagnosed by ultrasonography scanning. A total of 69 hips of 38 patients (10 men, 28 women; mean age 59.9 ± 19.8 days, range 29-90 days) were diagnosed with DDH younger than 90 days of age. The AP pelvis radiographs of the patients who were diagnosed with DDH by ultrasound and classified according to the Graf method were evaluated and classified according to IHDI classification. A total of 52 hips were treated successfully with Pavlik harness treatment, 15 hips underwent closed reduction and pelvipedal casting (PPC) and 2 hips underwent open reduction and PPC after failed Pavlik harness treatment. Increasing IHDI grades correlated with the failure of Pavlik harness treatment (P = 0.001). Graf classification was not found to be predictive of successful Pavlik harness treatment (P = 0.482). There was no significant correlation between the IHDI classification and the Graf classification (Kappa = 0.079 ± 0.102, P = 0.402). The IHDI method is reliable in predicting the success of Pavlik harness treatment in patients diagnosed with DDH using the Graf method.

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Western Ontario Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder Index.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to adapt the Western Ontario Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder (WOOS) index specific to shoulder osteoarthritis into Turkish and to evaluate its validity and reliability. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The WOOS index was translated and culturally adapted into Turkish, systematically. It was applied to a total of 68 patients (17 males, 51 females; mean age: 61.5±8.7 years; range, 45 to 80 years) with osteoarthritis of the shoulder treated conservatively. The reliability of the scale was checked through internal consistency and test-retest methods. Internal consistency was analyzed with Cronbach alpha value. Test-retest reliability was assessed using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with 25 patients. The Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC), the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and the Society of American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment (ASES) scores were used to conduct concurrent validity. RESULTS: The Cronbach alpha value of the scale was found to be excellent as 0.92 (p<0.001). The ICC value was also excellent as 0.97 (p<0.001). There was an excellent positive correlation with WORC (0.847; p<0.001) and a very good positive correlation with SPADI (0.788; p<0.001). It was also negatively very good to correlate with the ASES (-0.754; p<0.001). Additionally, subsections of WOOS had a good correlation with the corresponding subsections of WORC (0.779-0.664; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The Turkish version of the WOOS index is a valid and reliable tool and is recommended for use in the assessment of patients with osteoarthritis of the shoulder.

Is arthroscopic surgery as successful as open approach in the treatment of lateral ankle instability?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical results of arthroscopic repair and open Ahlgren-Larsson method in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 60 patients who were operated in our clinic between 2010 and 2018 with the diagnosis of chronic lateral ankle instability. Preoperative and postoperative clinical evaluations were performed with AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score, FAOS, and VAS scores. RESULTS: Sixty patients with chronic lateral ankle instability were evaluated. 28 patients were treated with Ahlgren-Larsson method, and 32 patients were treated with arthroscopic repair. Follow-up duration was 35 ± 12 months for the open surgery group and 19 ± 2 months for the arthroscopic surgery group. The mean age of the arthroscopy group was 44 ± 9; the mean age of the open surgery group was 46 ± 11. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of demographic features (age, sex, BMI). Postoperative clinical improvement was observed in both groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of functionality. However, there was a statistically significant difference in VAS in terms of pain and patient satisfaction in favor of arthroscopy group. CONCLUSIONS: Ahlgren-Larsson method and arthroscopic repair technique are safe and effective for chronic lateral ankle instability. Arthroscopic technique may be preferred for pain and patient satisfaction as it is less invasive and less morbid. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Recurrent anterior shoulder instability in patients 40-60 years old. Accompanying injuries and patient outcomes of arthroscopic repair.

BACKGROUND: Accompanying injuries are frequently seen in middle aged patients with recurrent instability. The aim of this study was to elucidate the associated injuries, report patient outcomes of the following arthroscopic instability surgery regarding 40-60 years old patients with recurrent shoulder instability. METHODS: Patients that underwent arthroscopic instability surgery due to recurrent shoulder instability between February 2008 and November 2015, and which were 40-60 years old were included and evaluated retrospectively. Minimum follow-up duration was 24 months. Anterior-inferior labral injuries and accompanying pathologies such as rotator cuff tears and SLAP lesions were documented. Postoperative patient-reported outcome evaluation was made using Oxford Shoulder Instability Score. RESULTS: Among 355 patients that underwent arthroscopic instability surgery, 88 patients which had pathology of recurrent instability were in the range of 40-60 years old. Patients who had previous shoulder surgery or fracture (n = 8) epileptic seizure history (n = 3), neurologic deficit (n = 2) were excluded from the study. 75 patients were included with a mean follow-up 69 ± 23 months (32-125). The percentage of middle-aged and elderly (40-60 years old) was 24.8% among recurrent shoulder instability patients. 44% had isolated Bankart lesion whereas 56% revealed multiple pathologies. Bankart + SLAP lesions were found in 32%, whereas Bankart + Rotator Cuff tears in 26.7% (13 isolated supraspinatus, 4 supraspinatus + subscapularis, 1 isolated subscapularis full-thickness and 2 partial-thickness supraspinatus tears). The mean Oxford Shoulder Instability Score was 38.4 ± 5.2 (26-48). The scores of patients which were treated with labrum and rotator cuff repair (median 42, range 30-48) were significantly better than the patients who were treated with isolated labrum repair (median 39, range 20-46) (p = 0.015). There was no difference regarding patients with or without SLAP repair (median 39 vs 39 and range 30-48 vs 20-48, respectively) (p = 0.702). CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic repair of capsulolabral lesions is a safe and successful technique in 40-60 years old patients. Furthermore, the presence of repaired rotator cuff tears led to even superior results. Accompanying SLAP lesions did not affect the results. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective Case Series. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4, Retrospective Case Series.

Midterm outcomes after arthroscopic repair of partial rotator cuff tears: A retrospective study of correlation between partial tear types and surgical technique.

OBJECTIVE: Patients who underwent arthroscopic repair for partial rotator cuff tears were evaluated retrospectively. This study purposed to assess the postoperative clinical results of arthroscopic treatment of intratendinous rotator cuff tears and to investigate the effect of the tear type on the postoperative clinical outcomes. METHODS: Overall, 60 patients [36 women and 24 men; mean age: 48.6±12.2 years (range 33-67 years)] who underwent arthroscopic repair of Ellman stage 3 partial rotator cuff tear were evaluated retrospectively. These patients were grouped into the following three groups: articular-sided tears, bursal-sided tears, and intratendinous tears, with 20 patients included in each group. Subacromial decompression, acromioplasty, and tear repair without transforming to full-thickness tear were applied to the bursal-sided tears. The same technique was performed for intratendinous ruptures, with the only technical difference was that the capsular tissue was preserved during debridement of intratendinous tears. The articular-sided tears were transformed to complete tears and repaired arthroscopically. The preoperative and postoperative ASES scores and range of motion improvements were evaluated in all patients. The mean follow-up time was 44±6.5 months (range: 36-62 months). RESULTS: No significant intergroup differences were observed concerning the age and the mean follow-up duration (p=0.524, p=0.665). A similar increase in ASES scores was observed for all three types of tears (bursal-sided tears: 31.09-82.65; articular-sided tears: 35.50--84.00; intratendinous tears: 34.01-83.49). Statistically, no significant intergroup difference was observed concerning ASES score improvement (p=0.585). An increase in mean forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation were observed, especially, a statistically significant increase in flexion (p=0.001) and abduction (p=0.001) in all three types of tears. No patient experienced any intraoperative or postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: The results of arthroscopic treatment of intratendinous tears were similar to the other types of partial tears, and the results of arthroscopic treatment of grade 3 partial rotator cuff tears revealed satisfactory outcomes, regardless of the type of the tear. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, Therapeutic study.

Comparison of arthroscopic microfracture and cell-free scaffold implantation techniques in the treatment of talar osteochondral lesions.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare two single-step arthroscopic techniques, microfracture and cell-free scaffold implantation, in the treatment of talar osteochondral lesions (OCLs) clinically and radiologically. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 62 patients (35 males, 27 females; mean age 41±13 years; range, 15 to 65 years) diagnosed with talar OCLs between March 2007 and January 2015. Patients who were followed-up with a minimum of 24 months with lesions larger than 1 cm2 were included. Pre- and postoperative clinical evaluations were performed according to the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale and radiological evaluations according to the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) scale. RESULTS: Patients were divided into microfracture (n=22) and scaffold (n=40) groups. The mean follow-up duration was 36.1±14.9 months. The mean preoperative AOFAS score increased from 60.6±13.9 to 82.1±11.8 in the microfracture group (p<0.001) and from 53.8±13.6 to 89.4±9.9 in the scaffold group (p<0.001). The scaffold group had superior results than the microfracture group clinically (p=0.011). Clinical results were superior in younger patients (<45 years) (p=0.018), male patients (p=0.020), and traumatic lesions (p=0.014). There was no significant difference between the two techniques according to the total MOCART scores (p=0.199). However, the scaffold technique was more successful in terms of lesion border and effusion subgoups of MOCART scale. CONCLUSION: Both single-step arthroscopic techniques are effective and safe in the treatment of talar OCLs. The scaffold technique showed superior clinical results than the microfracture technique in short-term follow-up. Age, trauma history and gender significantly affected the treatment outcomes. The scaffold technique can be considered as a safe and good alternative particularly in the treatment of large lesions.

Bilateral congenital dislocation of the patella associated with synostosis of proximal tibiofibular and proximal radioulnar joints: A case report.

Congenital dislocation of the patella is a rare and difficult pathology to treat. We present a case of bilateral congenital dislocation of the patella with synostosis of proximal tibiofibular and proximal radioulnar joints without genu valgum deformity of both knees in a 30-year-old man. To our knowledge, congenital dislocation of the patella associated with synostosis of proximal tibiofibular and proximal radioulnar joints has not been reported in the literature yet.

Single-Step Arthroscopic Repair With Cell-Free Polymer-Based Scaffold in Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus: Clinical and Radiological Results.

PURPOSE: To report the clinical and radiological results of patients with talar osteochondral lesions who were treated by microfracture and cell-free scaffold implantation in a single-step arthroscopic surgery. METHODS: Forty patients, treated with a single-step arthroscopic surgery, were evaluated in this single-center-based retrospective study. Patients with degenerative arthritis (n = 1), history of ankle fracture (n = 1), kissing lesions (n = 1), lower extremity deformity (n = 1), and lesions <1.5 cm2 (n = 4) were excluded. Oversized (>10 mm depth) bone cysts were additionally treated with bone graft. Patients were evaluated clinically, using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot score. Radiological assessment was performed with magnetic resonance imaging, using the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients with a mean age of 38 ± 12 years were evaluated. The mean defect size was 2.5 ± 0.8 cm2 and the mean defect volume was 2.4 ± 1.9 cm3. The mean preoperative AOFAS score was 52.8 ± 13.9 and increased to 87.1 ± 11.1 postoperatively at the mean follow-up of 33.8 ± 14.0 months (P = .0001). A total of 84.4% of patients had good to excellent clinical scores. Clinical scores had no significant relation with age, lesion size, depth, or body mass index. The mean MOCART score was 64.2 ± 12.0. There was no significant correlation between the total MOCART and AOFAS scores (P = .123). A significant relation was found between the defect filling (the subgroup of the MOCART score) and the clinical outcomes (P = .0001, rho = 0.731). CONCLUSIONS: The arthroscopic scaffold implantation technique is a single-step, safe, and effective method for the treatment of talar osteochondral lesions with satisfactory clinical and radiological outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.

Atypical femoral fracture following zoledronic acid treatment.

A 68-year-old female patient admitted to our clinic with right anterior thigh pain ongoing for six months and which increased in last two months. The patient had no trauma history. The patient had been followed-up for 15 years because of osteoporosis and administrated alendronate and ibandronate treatment for 10 years. Patient had three shots of zoledronate once a year during the last three years. Her pain was increasing when she was walking. Physical examination revealed pain in her right thigh. Radiogram showed thickened lateral cortex of the subtrochanteric area. Magnetic resonance imaging also showed thickening and edema of the same area. These images were correlated with atypical fracture in right femoral subthrochanteric zone. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry revealed that T score was -3.3 in lumbar region and -2.5 in femoral neck. Zoledronate treatment was ended. Prophylactic surgical fixation was performed with titanium elastic nails.