Nonoperative modalities to treat symptomatic cervical spondylosis.

Cervical spondylosis is a common and disabling condition. It is generally felt that the initial management should be nonoperative, and these modalities include physiotherapy, analgesia and selective nerve root injections. Surgery should be reserved for moderate to severe myelopathy patients who have failed a period of conservative treatment and patients whose symptoms are not adequately controlled by nonoperative means. A review of the literature supporting various modalities of conservative management is presented, and it is concluded that although effective, nonoperative treatment is labour intensive, requiring regular review and careful selection of medications and physical therapy on a case by case basis.

A quantitative assessment of facial protection systems in elective hip arthroplasty.

We aimed to assess the risk to surgeons of blood splatter during total hip arthroplasty. Hoods from personal protection systems used in 34 consecutive total hip replacements were collected and the area of blood splatter was measured and compared to goggles and visors. Thirty one primary THA's (13 cemented, 4 hybrid, 14 uncemented) and 3 revisions (1 hybrid, 2 uncemented) were collected. Splashes were detected on all of the masks with a mean of 034% cover. Splatter was greatest for the operating surgeon, followed by the first assistant, though the difference was not statistically significant. Operating personnel were at greater risk of contamination during uncemented arthroplasty (p < 0.0001; 95% CI). On average 50.60% and 45.40% of blood cover was outside the area protected by goggles and visors respectively. There was a significant difference between the Personal Protection Systems (PPS) and goggles (p = 0.0231; 95% CI) as well as between the PPS and visors (p = 0.0293; 95% CI).

Clavicle fractures: a comparison of five classification systems and their relationship to treatment outcomes.

We compared five classification systems for clavicle fractures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of each system. Over a two-year period we reviewed all new radiographs of the shoulder region and identified 487 clavicle fractures. Each radiograph was classified using five classification systems. We reviewed all subsequent X-rays and clinical records until the patient was discharged. We assessed each classification system's prognostic value in predicting delayed/non-union. Our data show that 79.3% of clavicle fractures occur in the middle third, 19.3% in the lateral third and 1.4% in the medial third. The overall prevalence of delayed/non-union was 7.3%, with 3.2% requiring operative management and 4.1% developing asymptomatic non-union. The incidence of non-union in the lateral third was 9.6%, but only 0.4% required operative management. Craig's classification had the greatest prognostic value for lateral third fractures, and Robinson's classification had the greatest prognostic value for middle third fractures. Fractures of the clavicle are common injuries but non-union is an uncommon occurrence. Non-union is more common in the lateral third, but we found these to be mostly asymptomatic. Middle third fractures are more likely to require operative fixation. Middle third fractures should be classified according to Robinson's classification system and lateral third fractures according to Craig's classification. We did not assess sufficient medial third fractures for the data to be significant.