Acromioclavicular Joint Separation: Repair Through Suture Anchors for Coracoclavicular Ligament and Nonabsorbable Suture Fixation for Acromioclavicular Joint.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of patients undergoing coracoclavicular (CC) ligament repair by two suture anchors and acromioclavicular (AC) joint (ACJ) fixation using heavy nonabsorbable sutures for the treatment of types III-V ACJ injuries with a minimum of 1-year follow-up. METHODS: The clinical and radiographic outcomes of 36 consecutive patients (26 men and 10 women) who underwent anatomic reduction for acute ACJ dislocation using two suture anchors for CC ligament reconstruction and two strands of non-absorbable stitches for ACJ fixation between December 2013 and December 2018 were reviewed. Two 3.5 mm suture anchors with double-loaded sutures were separately inserted into the anterolateral and posteromedial portions of the coracoid process. The suture strands were passed through the hole created in the clavicle using 2.0 mm drill and tied over the clavicle. Additional ACJ augmentation using two strands of non-absorbable heavy sutures was performed in all patients. At 3, 6, and 12 months and last follow-up visit, the scores on the visual analog scale (VAS), the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Constant-Murley score, and simple shoulder test (SST) questionnaires were used to provide a final evaluation of shoulder function. Comparison between baseline and treatment results was performed. Radiographic analysis included vertical displacement and horizontal shift. RESULTS: A total of 29 patients (20 men and nine women) were included in the study. A total of seven, six, and 16 patients had Rockwood type III, type IV, and type V ACJ dislocations, respectively. The mean patient age was 42.8 ± 13.5 years, with a mean follow-up of 28 months (range, 12-56 months). At the 12-month follow-up, the mean ASES score was 92.1 ± 3.5, with a mean pain score of 0.5 ± 0.7 on the VAS and mean Constant-Murley score of 93.0 ± 2.4. The new number of positive answers on the SST was 11.5 ± 0.6. Compared with the baseline, the clinical results improved significantly (P < 0.05). No significant difference could be found between the 6- and 12-month follow-up evaluations (P > 0.05). Radiographs showed two partial loss of reduction, whereas no horizontal displacement was found in all patients. One patient developed a superficial wound infection 3 weeks postoperation. The wound healed after routine wound care. No neurovascular complications were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: CC ligament reconstruction using two suture anchors and ACJ augmentation using two strands of non-absorbable heavy sutures on high-grade AC dislocation is a reliable technique for restoring stability to the ACJ and can obtain good to excellent clinical results.

Experimental and clinical study of influence of high-frequency electric surgical knives on healing of abdominal incision.

AIM: To study the influence of high-frequency electric surgical knives on healing of abdominal incision. METHODS: Two hundred and forty white rats were divided into 10(0), 10(2), 10(5), and 10(8) groups and rat models of abdominal operation were induced by using electric surgical knives and common lancets respectively. Then they were respectively given hypodermic injections of normal saline and 0.2 mL quantitative mixture of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at a concentration of 10(2), 10(5) and 10(8). On the basis of the animal experiment, 220 patients undergoing abdominal operations (above type II) were randomly allocated into one of following three groups: electric knife (EK, 93 cases), electro-coagulation (EC, 55 cases) and control (72 cases). High-frequency electric surgical knives were used to dissect abdominal tissues and electro-coagulation for hemostasis in EK group. Common lancets and electro-coagulation were applied in EC group. Common lancets and tying silk suture were used in the controls. RESULTS: In all the groups except group 10(0), infection rate of incisional wounds made by electric surgical knives were remarkably higher than that with common lancets. Furthermore, there were significant differences in groups 10(2), 10(5), and 10(8) (P<0.05), but not in group 10(0) (P>0.05) between EK and EC groups. Clinical studies showed a delayed wound healing in 16 cases (17.20%) in EK, 11 cases (16.36%) in EC and 2 cases (2.86%) in the control groups. A significant difference between EK and the control groups (chi2 = 8.57, P<0.01), and between EC and the control groups (chi2 = 5.66, P<0.05) was observed, but not between EK and EC (chi2 = 0.017, P>0.05). CONCLUSION: High-frequency electric knives may remarkably delay abdominal incision healing. Its application should be minimized so as to reduce the possibility of postoperative complications.