ABSTRACT
Infantile Blount disease (IBD) is a pathologic varus knee deformity that, if left untreated, can lead to abnormal gait, limb length discrepancy, and pain. Traditionally, bracing and tibial osteotomy have been the primary treatments. More recently, guided growth with tension-band plating (TBP) has gained popularity, although there is a lack of data stratifying between the infantile, juvenile, and adolescent disease types. Therefore, the present review aims to determine the efficacy and complications of TBP in the IBD population. A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Eligible studies included those focused on guided growth correction for IBD. Studies that did not stratify subjects by subgroup (infantile, juvenile, and adolescent) within their analysis were excluded. The outcomes of interest included demographic information, correction rate, failure rate, recurrence rate, and postoperative complications. Database review identified 541 studies. After screening, seven studies met our inclusion criteria, all of which were retrospective observational studies published between 2012 and 2022. In total, 92 limbs afflicted with Infantile Blount Disease underwent treatment with TBP. The recorded follow-up period ranged from four months to eight years. The age of patients at the time of surgery varied from 1.8 to nine years. On average, there was a 78.99% correction of deformities, with a range of 57.14% to 100%. Six studies provided data on failure and recurrence rates, with an average rate of 23.47%. Notably, infection and hardware failure emerged as the most prevalent postoperative complications, with mean rates of 11.44% and 9.50%, respectively. The average reoperation rate was 29.90%, with a range from 0.00% to 47.06%. The current literature shows a high rate of deformity correction with a relatively low risk of complications after TBP for IBD. Given the reported reoperation rates greatly varied, further data is needed to determine risk factors for reoperation following TBP. Our results suggest that guided growth with TBP may be a preferable first-line treatment for IBD.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postoperative infection, aseptic loosening, and perioperative medical complications after total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) are all devastating problems. While previous studies have shown diabetes as a risk factor predisposing patients to postoperative complications, not all literature supports this association following TAA. The goal of this study is to determine if diabetes influences midterm outcomes following TAA. METHODS: An insurance database was utilized to identify patients undergoing TAA for ankle arthritis with a concurrent diagnosis of diabetes based on Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) and Tenth Revision (ICD-10), diagnosis and procedure codes from 2010 to 2021. The postoperative outcomes of all-cause revision, periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), septic revision, and aseptic revision were compared between patients with and without diabetes with a minimum 2-year follow-up using Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and Charlson Comorbidity Index were analyzed via univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The study population included 8317 patients, 345 (4.1%) of whom had a concurrent diabetes diagnosis, who underwent TAA. After multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis, the 5-year cumulative incidence of being coded as having PJI was 7.3% in patients with known diabetes compared to 3.9% in patients without known diabetes, with a 95% increased risk (hazard ratio [HR] 1.95, 95% CI 1.15-3.30, P = .01). Patients with diabetes also demonstrated a 5-year cumulative incidence of septic revision of 1.4% compared to 0.4% in those without, with a 363% increased risk (HR 4.63, 95% CI 1.22-17.52, P = .02). However, there was no difference in the 5-year cumulative incidence of all-cause revision TAA with 4.6% in patients with diabetes and 4.3% in those without (HR 1.29, 95% CI 0.69-2.44, P = .42). CONCLUSION: In this database, the 5-year risk of PJI and septic revision was higher among patients with diabetes compared to those without, but cumulative incidence of all-cause revision TAA was not different between groups. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective cohort database study.
