A comparison of screw and suture button fixation in the management of adolescent ankle syndesmotic injuries.

Purpose: Ankle injuries involving the tibiofibular syndesmosis often necessitate operative fixation to restore stability to the ankle. Recent literature in the adult population has suggested that suture button fixation may be superior to screw fixation. There is little evidence as to which construct is preferable in the pediatric and adolescent population. This study investigates outcomes of suture button and screw fixation in adolescent ankle syndesmotic injuries. Methods: A retrospective matched cohort study over 10 years of pediatric patients who underwent ankle syndesmotic fixation at a large Level 1 Trauma Center was conducted. Both isolated syndesmotic injuries and ankle fractures with syndesmotic disruption were included. Preoperative variables collected include basic patient demographics, body mass index, and fracture type. Suture button and screw cohorts were matched based on age, race, sex, and open fracture utilizing propensity scores. Outcomes assessed include reoperation and implant failure. Results: A total of 44 cases of operative fixation of the ankle syndesmosis were identified with a mean age of 16 years. After matching cohorts based on age, sex, race, and open fracture status, there were 17 patients in the suture button and screw cohorts, respectively. Patients undergoing screw fixation had a six times greater risk of reoperation (p = 0.043) and 13 times greater risk of implant failure (p < 0.001). Out of six cases of reoperation in the screw cohort, five were unplanned. Conclusion: Our findings favor suture button fixation in operative management of adolescent tibiofibular syndesmotic injuries. Compared with screws, suture buttons are associated with lower risk of both reoperation and implant failure. Level of evidence: level III therapeutic.

Microbiological culture methods for pediatric musculoskeletal infection: a guideline for optimal use.

BACKGROUND: Culture results affect the diagnosis and treatment of children with musculoskeletal infection. To our knowledge, no previous large-scale study has assessed the relative value of culture methods employed during the evaluation of these conditions. The purpose of this study was to identify an optimal culture strategy for pediatric musculoskeletal infection. METHODS: Children with musculoskeletal infection were retrospectively studied to assess culture results from the infection site or blood; culture type, including aerobic, anaerobic, fungal, and acid-fast bacteria (AFB); antibiotic exposure history; and clinical history of children with positive culture results. RESULTS: We studied 869 children, including 353 with osteomyelitis, 199 with septic arthritis, forty-two with pyomyositis, and 275 with abscess. The 4537 cultures processed included 1303 aerobic, 903 anaerobic, 340 fungal, 289 AFB, and 1702 blood. Of 3004 specimens sent during initial work-up, positive results occurred in 677 of 1049 aerobic cultures (64.5%), 140 of 763 blood cultures (18.3%), eighteen of 722 anaerobic cultures (2.5%), five of 251 fungal cultures (2.0%), and two of 219 AFB cultures (0.9%). Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen isolated, from 428 (50.7%) of 844 children for whom blood or infection-site culture material was sent (methicillin-resistant S. aureus, 252; and oxacillin-sensitive S. aureus, 176). Cultures were negative in 206 (29.0%) of the 710 children for whom culture material from the site of infection was sent. Children with true-positive anaerobic, fungal, or AFB cultures had a history of immunocompromise, penetrating inoculation, or failed primary treatment. Antibiotic exposure prior to culture-sample acquisition did not interfere with aerobic culture results from the site of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that anaerobic, fungal, and AFB cultures should not be routinely performed during the initial evaluation of children with hematogenous musculoskeletal infection. These cultures should be performed for children with immunocompromise, clinical suspicion of penetrating inoculation, or failed primary treatment.

Effect of surgical treatment on mortality after acetabular fracture in the elderly: a multicenter study of 454 patients.

OBJECTIVES: Controversy exists regarding the effect of operative treatment on mortality after acetabular fracture in elderly patients. Our hypothesis was that operative treatment would confer a mortality benefit compared with nonoperative treatment even after adjusting for comorbidities associated with death. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Three University Level I Trauma Centers. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: All patients aged 60 years and older with acetabular fractures treated from 2002 to 2009 were included in the study. Four hundred fifty-four patients were identified with an average age of 74 years. Sixty-seven percent of the study group was male and 33% female. INTERVENTION: One of 4 treatments: nonoperative management with early mobilization, percutaneous reduction and fixation, open reduction and internal fixation, acute total hip arthroplasty. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Kaplan-Meier survival curves were created, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for covariates of interest. RESULTS: In contrast to previous smaller studies, the overall mortality was relatively low at 16% at 1 year [95% confidence interval (CI), 13-19]. Unadjusted survivorship curves suggested higher 1-year mortality rates for nonoperatively treated patients (21% vs. 13%, P < 0.001); however, nonoperative treatment was associated with other risk factors for higher mortality. By accounting for these patient risk factors, our final multivariate model of survival demonstrated no significant difference in hazard of death for nonoperative treatment (0.92, P = 0.6) nor for any of the 3 operative treatment subgroups (P range, 0.4-0.8). As expected, we did find a significantly increased hazard for factors such as the Charlson comorbidity index [HR, 1.25 per point (95% CI, 1.16-1.34)] and age [HR, 1.08 per year of age more than 70 years (95% CI, 1.05-1.11)]. In addition, associated fracture patterns (compared with elementary patterns) significantly increased the hazard of death with a ratio of 1.51 (95% CI, 1.10-2.06). CONCLUSIONS: The operative treatment of acetabular fractures does not increase or decrease mortality, once comorbidities are taken into account. The reasons for this are unknown. Regardless of the causes, the decision for operative versus nonoperative treatment of geriatric acetabular fractures should not be justified based on the concern for increased or decreased mortality alone. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Functional outcomes in elderly patients with acetabular fractures treated with minimally invasive reduction and percutaneous fixation.

OBJECTIVES: To present the functional outcomes of elderly patients treated with percutaneous acetabular surgery and compare them with those treated with traditional open reduction and internal fixation in previously published series. DESIGN: Retrospective. SETTING: University level I trauma center. PATIENTS: All patients aged 60 and older treated with percutaneous screw fixation for acetabular fractures from 1994 to 2007 were included. Seventy-nine consecutive patients were identified. Thirty-six patients died before functional outcomes were obtained, leaving 43 patients and fractures in our study group. Functional outcomes were obtained in 35 of 43 (81.3%) patients at an average of 6.8 years after the index surgery. INTERVENTION: Minimally invasive reduction and percutaneous fixation of acetabular fractures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: Short musculoskeletal functional assessment and Harris Hip Score. RESULTS: One-year mortality was 13.9% (11 of 79). Average short musculoskeletal functional assessment dysfunction and bother indices were 23.3 and 21.3, respectively, in 24 patients who maintained their native hip. When compared with Short Musculoskeletal Functional Assessment data from 2 other series of patients treated with formal open reduction and internal fixation, no differences existed in the dysfunction (P = 0.49) or bother (P = 0.55) indices. Conversion to total hip arthroplasty occurred in 11 of 36 patients (30.6%). Average Harris Hip Scores in patients with their native hip was 77 (range, 33-100). In the 11 patients converted to total hip arthroplasty, average Short Musculoskeletal Functional Assessment dysfunction and bother indices were 24.3 and 23.9, respectively. No differences were found in the dysfunction (P = 0.93) or bother (P = 0.16) indices when compared with patients converted from open reduction and internal fixation to total hip arthroplasty. Average Harris Hip Score in patients converted to total hip arthroplasty was 83 (range, 68-92), and this was not significantly different from the best scores reported with acute total hip arthroplasty. CONCLUSIONS: Functional outcomes and rates of conversion to total hip arthroplasty of acetabular fractures in elderly patients treated with percutaneous reduction and fixation show no significant differences when compared with published series of patients treated with formal open reduction and internal fixation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.