Unusual Morel-Lavallee lesion of the knee region in an elderly patient.

The Morel-Lavallee lesion (MLL) of the knee region has been described in the Orthopaedic literature, and all of those were fit and healthy young participants sustaining sports-related trauma to the knee. We describe a case of an elderly woman, on aspirin and prophylactic clexane, who sustained a low-energy injury to the right knee and developed an MLL of the knee region. A delayed recognition, led to the persistence of the MLL as a diffuse haematoma, which subsequently became colonised with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus We discuss the management of a case and highlight the importance of early identification and management of MLL of the knee region. Further evidence needs to be collected about MLL lesions in elderly, frail patients who are anticoagulated, and have increased risk of falls. This cohort of patients is more vulnerable to bleeding and infection than a fit, young adult population.

Evolving trauma and orthopedics training in the UK.

The ever-growing population of the UK has resulted in increasing demands on its healthcare service. Changes have been introduced in the UK medical training system to avoid loss of training time and make it more focused and productive. Modernizing medical careers (MMC) was introduced in 2005. This promised to reduce the training period for a safe trauma specialist, in trauma and orthopedics, to 10 years. At around the same time, the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) was introduced to reduce the working hours for junior doctors in training, to improve patient safety and also work-life balance of junior doctors. Introduction of the assessment tools from Orthopedic Competency assessment project (OCAP) will help tailor the training according to the needs of the trainee. The aim of this article is to review the changes in the UK orthopedic surgical training over the past two decades.

Relevance of World Health Organization surgical safety checklist to trauma and orthopaedic surgery.

Surgery like civil aviation is a risk-prone occupation. Civil Aviation has reported a death rate of less than 1 in a million exposures. On the other hand, surgery has a reported mortality rate of 100 per million surgeries. The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) database in England reported 152,017 'incidents' occurred during 4.2 million surgeries in 2008. Trauma and orthopaedic surgery accounted for 32.4 percent of these 'incidents'. Wrong-site surgery occurred in a total of 133 patients, with an incidence of 31.6 per million surgeries. A system to implement and maintain safe surgical practice is mandatory to prevent these 'incidents'. The factors identified in the genesis of these incidents are errors in decision making, lack of communication, leadership and teamwork. These human errors can easily be prevented using a formal structured communication, like the checklists. In 2008, the WHO published a set of guidelines to ensure the safety of surgical patients. In 2009, the checklist was modified with an intention to reduce major surgical complications and was proved to be effective. Wrong level spinal surgery needs special emphasis. There may be an increasing role for checklists in Trauma and Orthopaedic surgical practice to improve its safety profile by being procedure-specific.

Cervical laminoplasty for multilevel cervical myelopathy.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy can result from degenerative cervical spondylosis, herniated disk material, osteophytes, redundant ligamentum flavum, or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. Surgical intervention for multi-level myelopathy aims to decompress the spinal cord and maintain stability of the cervical spine. Laminoplasty was major surgical advancement as laminectomy resulted in kyphosis and unsatisfactory outcomes. Hirabayashi popularised the expansive open door laminoplasty which was later modified several surgeons. Laminoplasty has changed the way surgeons approach multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Management of ununited intracapsular femoral neck fractures by using quadratus femoris muscle pedicle bone grafting in young patients.

OBJECTIVES: Intracapsular femoral neck fracture with delayed presentation in young patients can pose surgical challenge. Such scenarios are rare in developed countries, but common in developing countries. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records and radiographs of 42 patients (28 males and 14 females) with ununited intracapsular femoral neck fracture who presented late to our unit. These subjects were managed by open reduction and internal fixation that was supplemented with cortico-cancellous bone graft from posterior iliac crest as well as quadratus femoris muscle pedicle bone graft. RESULTS: The mean delay in presentation was 9 months (range 3-18 months) after the fracture. The mean age of the patients at index procedure was 34 years (range 24-51 years). Radiological union occurred on average at 6 months (range 3-13 months). Thirty-six hip fractures (86%) proceeded to union. Six patients (14%) had non-union and needed revision surgery. Complications included varus union in 9 patients and leg length discrepancy with a mean of 1.5 cm (range 1 to 2.5 cm) in 10 patients. CONCLUSION: For the ununited intracapsular femoral neck fracture, favorable results can be achieved by anatomical reduction of the fracture, cortico-cancellous bone grafting to reconstruct the femoral neck, internal fixation with cancellous screws, and augmentation with quadratus femoris muscle pedicle bone graft.

Eccentric calf muscle training in athletic patients with Achilles tendinopathy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of eccentric strengthening exercises (ESE) in athletic patients with Achilles tendinopathy. METHODS: Forty-five athletic patients (29 men, average age 26 years +/- 12.8, range 18 - 42; 16 women, average age 28 years +/- 13.1, range 20 - 46; average height: 173 +/- 16.8, range 158 - 191; average weight 70.8 kg +/- 15.3, range 51.4 - 100.5) with a clinical diagnosis of unilateral tendinopathy of the main body of the Achilles tendon completed the VISA-A questionnaire at first attendance and at their subsequent visits. The patients underwent a graded progressive eccentric calf strengthening exercises programme for 12 weeks. RESULTS: The mean pre-management VISA-A scores of 36 (SD 23.8; 95% CI: 29 - 46) improved to 52 (SD 27.5; 95% CI: 41.3 - 59.8) at the latest follow up (p = 0.001). Twenty seven of the 45 patients responded to the eccentric exercises. Of the 18 patients who did not improve with eccentric exercises, 5 (mean age: 33 years) improved with two peritendinous aprotinin and local anaesthetic injections. 10 of the 18 patients (9 men, mean age 35 years; 1 woman aged 40 years) who did not improve with eccentric exercises and aprotinin injections proceeded to have surgery. The remaining three patients (3 women, mean age 59.6 years) of the 18 non-responders to eccentric exercises and aprotinin injections declined surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: ESE in athletic patients provide comparable clinical outcome compared to our previous results in non-athletic patients. ESE are a viable option for the management of AT in athletes, but, in our hands, only around 60% of our athletic patients benefited from an intensive, heavy load eccentric heel drop exercise regimen alone. If ESE fail to improve the symptoms, aprotinin and local anaesthetic injections should be considered. Surgery is indicated in recalcitrant cases after 3 to 6 months of non operative management.

Total hip replacement for acute femoral neck fracture: a survey of National Joint Registries.

Joint registers audit the performance of different types of prosthesis. The data from these registers is invaluable, as the conclusions are evidence based and are not based on the results from a small clinical trial or a case series. The 3rd National Joint Registry Annual Clinical Report (2005) of England and Wales was compared with the latest available online report of other national joint registers, particularly with reference to the usage of total hip replacement performed for fracture of the neck of the femur. In Sweden, total hip replacement is performed for the management of a fracture of the neck of the femur six times more often than in England and Wales, four times more often than in Australia, twice more often than in Canada. Hip fracture registers could provide us with the much needed clinical evidence that could help us solve the last controversy of this unsolved fracture.

Anteroposterior glide versus rotating platform low contact stress (LCS) knee arthroplasty: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Fifty thousand knee replacements are performed annually in the UK at an estimated cost of pound 150 million. Post-operative improvement depends on a number of factors including implant design and patient associated factors. To our knowledge there are no published study's comparing the results of AP glide and rotating platform designs of LCS knee arthroplasty. Therefore we feel that a study is required to investigate and compare the effects of two types of LCS total knee arthroplasty on joint proprioception and range of motion. METHODS/DESIGN: Patients will be randomised to receive either a LCS AP glide or Rotating platform prosthesis. Clinical scores (Oxford knee score, American knee society score, EuroQol), range of motion and proprioception will be assessed prior to and at 3,6, 12 and 24 months after the operation. Proprioception will be assessed in terms of absolute error angle (mean difference between the target angle and the response angle). Knee angles will be measured in degrees using an electromagnetic tracking device, Polhemus 3Space Fastrak that detects positions of sensors placed on the test limb. Student's t-test will be used to compare the mean of two groups. DISCUSSION: Evidence is lacking concerning the best prosthesis to use for patients undergoing total knee replacement. This pragmatic randomised trial will test the null hypothesis that anteroposterior glide LCS knee arthroplasty does not result in better post operative knee motion and proprioception as compared to rotating platform LCS knee.

Eccentric calf muscle training in non-athletic patients with Achilles tendinopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Achilles tendinopathy is prevalent in athletes, but can also affect sedentary patients. We studied the effects of eccentric exercises in sedentary non-athletic patients with Achilles tendinopathy. METHODS: Thirty-four sedentary patients (18 males, average age 44 years, range 23-67; 16 females, average age 51 years, range 20-76; average BMI: 28.6+/-4.7, range 22.1-35.4) with a clinical diagnosis of unilateral tendinopathy of the main body of the Achilles tendon completed the VISA-A questionnaire at first attendance (39+/-S.D. 22.8) and at their subsequent visits. The patients underwent a graded progressive eccentric calf strengthening exercises programme for 12 weeks. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (44%) did not improve with eccentric exercise regimen. Three patients improved after perintendinous injections aprotinin and local anaesthetic. Surgery was performed in seven patients as 6 months of conservative management failed to produce improvements. The overall average VISA-A scores at latest follow up was 50 (S.D. 26.5). CONCLUSIONS: Eccentric exercises, though effective in nearly 60% of our patients, may not benefit sedentary patients to the same extent reported in athletes.

Fracture strain and stability with additional locking screws in intramedullary nailing: a biomechanical study.

BACKGROUND: We studied the effect of additional locking screws on fracture strain and stability in tibial intramedullary nailing. METHODS: We drilled an additional diaphyseal locking hole into 8-mm solid tibial nails 185 mm from the proximal end of the nail, and locked it proximally and distally. An osteotomy was produced 4.5 cm distal to the additional hole, and the construct loaded axially, in flexion, extension, and torsion. The nails were also tested for their fatigue strength. RESULTS: With the additional locking screw, strain increased proximally during loading in neutral and flexion. Strain decreased on loading in extension. The extra locking screw decreased strain close to the osteotomy site in all loading positions. A significant reduction in angular motion at the osteotomy site occurred with the addition of the extra locking screw. The nails survived the fatigue test, although the stress increased around the additional locking hole CONCLUSIONS: Nails with additional locking options, by altering strain and motion at the fracture site, may have the clinical potential to affect fracture healing.

Non-obstructive urinary retention--an unusual presentation of prostate cancer.

Urinary retention due to obstruction is a common presenting symptom of carcinoma of the prostate. We report the first case in which non-obstructive urinary retention was the presenting symptom in a middle-aged patient with undiagnosed prostate cancer which had metastasized to the spine and caused cord compression.

Insertional Achilles tendinopathy.

There has been significant progress in our understanding of Achilles insertional tendinopathy since Clain and Baxter divided Achilles tendon disorders into noninsertional and insertional tendinopathy in 1992. In this article we specifically concentrate on Achilles insertional tendinopathy. Classically, overuse and poor training habits are considered to be the main etiology of Achilles insertional tendinopathy. This article discusses Achilles insertional tendinopathy from the anatomy of to its management.