Management of distal tibial intra-articular fractures with circular external fixation.

The treatment of tibial plafond fractures requires careful management of the soft tissue envelope, reconstruction of the articular surface and stable fixation with minimal additional damage. Thirty cases of AO type 43 C tibial fractures were treated by transosseous osteosynthesis (Ilizarov technique). The external fixator constructs used were Ilizarov (Transosseous osteosynthesis: theoretical and clinical aspects of the regeneration and growth of tissue, Springer, Berlin, 1992) and Sheffield (Classification AO des fractures, Springer, Berlin, 1987) circular fixator systems. All tibial plafond fractures healed. Using radiological criteria for assessment of reduction of the articular fragments and the clinical scoring system described by Teeny and Wiss, there were excellent and good restoration of articular structure in 27 cases and good clinical results in 14. This treatment method compares well with previous published series and is to be recommended for this group of difficult fractures.

Osteomyelitis of the pubic symphysis, abscess and late disjunction after delivery. A case report.

Infection of the pubic symphysis after delivery is rare, and probably occurs through a small vaginal laceration and is usually silent in the early phase: as the disease progresses, bone infection, sequestra formation and septicemia man occur. This report presents one case of staphylococcal osteomyelitis of the symphysis in a twenty five years old woman, with onset of symptoms 2 months after delivery. Staphylococcus Aureus was collected from pus and blood. Bone sequestra and a large abscess extending in the rectus abdominis fascia were present. Drainage and curettage resolved infection, but sourapubic pain persisted because of symphysis disjunction, and was treated by external pelvic fixation.

Anterior gonalgic syndrome after intramedullary nailing: ultrasound and radiologic study.

A total of 33 patients submitted to tibial intramedullary osteosynthesis for fracture (27 cases) and non-union were assessed by ultrasound and x-rays an average of 10.9 months after surgery. The route of access was patellar transtendineal in each case; the means of synthesis used was the Marchetti Vicenzi nail. In 19 patients (57.6%) there was anterior gonalgia. Radiologic assessment evaluated prominence of the nail, while nail-tendon impingement was examined by ultrasound. Nail-tendon impingement was frequently observed (24 cases, 72.7%); in cases such as these anterior pain in the knee was present in 17 patients: however, this fact did not achieve statistical significance. The patellar tendon was thickened as compared to the contralateral one, with disorganization of the fibrillar echotexture, but it was not shortened. The tendinous morphostructure did not reveal any relationship with anterior gonalgia. In none of the cases did we observe the formation of scarring nuromas. In the area of the Hoffa body reactive synovitis phenomena with structural hyperechogenicity, an unclear aspect of the posterior tendinous profile and calcifications were observed. Radiographic prominence of the nail was correlated with echographic impingement, but not with clinical findings. Removal of the instrumentation carried out in 8 patients characterized by anterior gonalgia did not lead to resolution of symptoms in 2 cases in which MRI study showed patellar tendinitis and in 1 case patellar chondropathy with irregularity of the Hoffa body in the second.