Efficacy of debridement in hematogenous and early post-surgical prosthetic joint infections.

PURPOSES: To review patients with a hematogenous and early post-surgical prosthetic joint infection (PJI) due to S. aureus treated with debridement and retention of the implant and to compare their clinical characteristics and outcome. METHODS: From January 2000 all patients with a prosthetic joint infection treated in a single-center were prospectively registered and followed-up. All potentially variables associated with outcome were recorded. For the present study, cases with a hematogenous or early post-surgical PJI due to S. aureus treated with debridement and at least 2 years of follow-up were reviewed. Cox regression model to identify factors associated with outcome were applied. RESULTS: 12 hematogenous and 53 early post-surgical PJI due to S. aureus were included. Number of patients presenting with fever, leucocyte count, C-reactive protein concentration, and the number of bacteremic patients were significantly higher in hematogenous infections while the number of polymicrobial infections was lower in hematogenous than in early post-surgical infections. The global failure rate in hematogenous and early post-surgical PJI was 58.7% and 24.5%, respectively (p=0.02). The Cox regression model identified hematogenous infections (OR: 2.57, CI95%: 1.02-6.51, p=0.04) and the need of a second debridement (OR: 4.61, CI95%: 1.86-11.4, p=0.001) as independent predictors of failure. CONCLUSION: Hematogenous infections were monomicrobial and had more severe symptoms and signs of infection than early post-surgical PJI. Hematogenous PJI due to S. aureus, using debridement with implant retention, had a worse outcome than early post-surgical infections.

[Learning curve of arthroscopic hip surgery]. / Curva de aprendizaje en la cirugía artroscópica de cadera.

BACKGROUND: Hip arthroscopy has become an increasingly used technique in orthopedic surgery; the learning curve of this procedure has been discussed recently. The purpose of this study is to assess the learning curve of arthroscopic hip surgery using the complications occurred during the surgery as an objective parameter to measure the outcomes. METHODS: Hip arthroscopic surgeries were performed. Patients were divided into two groups, group A corresponded to the learning curve of the first surgeon and group B includes the remaining surgeries. The demographic, surgical, functional and complications data for both groups were collected. RESULTS: Group A: 30 patients were included, the traction time during surgery was a mean of 75 minutes (range: 45-120). Five complications occurred (16.6%), all of them related to transient neuropraxia of the pudendal nerve. Group B: 67 patients were included, traction time during surgery was a mean of 63 minutes (range: 35-90), 2 complications (2.9%) occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Before performing hip arthroscopy it is necessary to have knowledge of arthroscopic surgery and the regional anatomy, and to have received specific training, given that this technique involves a long learning curve.

[Symptomatic ganglions in the knee joint. Report of three cases and literature review]. / Gangliones sintomáticos en la rodilla. Reporte de casos.

BACKGROUND: The cystic lesions seen around the knee are usually meniscal or popliteal cysts. Cysts inside the articular cavity of the knee are rare and they are usually detected as incidental MRI findings. The ganglions originating in the cruciate ligaments or the infrapatellar fat have rarely been reported. We are reporting the cases of three intraarticular ganglions. The clinical diagnosis was made with magnetic resonance imaging. All patients were treated With arthroscopic surgery using the synovial shaver to remove the tissue. The three patients were reported as asymptomatic during the follow-up, with full range of motion. CONCLUSIONS: The literature review shows that the origin of ganglions is controversial. The three reported cases show that this is a pathology that should be suspected, as it is difficult to diagnose. MRI is essential to make the diagnosis and the arthroscopic treatment of intraarticular ganglions is effective.

[Meniscal harvesting, processing and preservation for allogeneic transplantation]. / Obtención, procesamiento y conservación de menisco para trasplante alógeno.

INTRODUCTION: The allogeneic meniscal transplantation (AMT) has received much attention lately for the treatment of young, active patients with painful knees previously subjected to meniscectomy. OBJECTIVE: Show the current concepts on AMT as well as the methods for meniscal harvesting, processing and preservation that the Tissue Bank must implement. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the short- and medium-term studies, the AMT has proven to relieve pain and improve function in patients with symptomatic knees and a history of meniscectomy. To respond to the requests from surgeons, the Tissue Bank should supply grafts that assure the appropriate processing and quality of the meniscus.

Knee chondral lesions treated with autologous chondrocyte transplantation in a tridimensional matrix: clinical evaluation at 1-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Despite the many studies on chondral injury repair, no outcomes have been evaluated with the Western Ontario and McMaster (WOMAC) Universities osteoarthritis index, the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and the Oxford Knee Score, all of which are specific for evaluating the presence of osteoarthritis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the clinical progress of patients following autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) performed by our Bone and Tissue Bank using a technique in which cells, instead of being introduced to the articular defect in a liquid form, are implanted into a tridimensional matrix of semisolid collagen (Condrograft((R))). A total of 22 patients underwent the procedure, 15 of whom were available for a 1-year follow-up that included clinical evaluation by WOMAC score before and after surgery and KOOS and the Oxford Knee Score after surgery. RESULTS: The results were improved WOMAC score from 56.4 before surgery to 16.2 after surgery (P < 0.002), average KOOS score of 83.6, and average Oxford Knee Score of 18.8. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that our tridimensional matrix technique effectively improved patients' quality of life, at least in the short term, and delayed any subsequent procedure. Long-term assessment is necessary to determine the true value of this technique.

Outcome of acute prosthetic joint infections due to gram-negative bacilli treated with open debridement and retention of the prosthesis.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the outcome of acute prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) due to gram-negative bacilli (GNB) treated without implant removal. Patients with an acute PJI due to GNB diagnosed from 2000 to 2007 were prospectively registered. Demographics, comorbidity, type of implant, microbiology data, surgical treatment, antimicrobial therapy, and outcome were recorded. Classification and regression tree analysis, the Kaplan-Meier survival method, and the Cox regression model were applied. Forty-seven patients were included. The mean age was 70.7 years, and there were 15 hip prostheses and 32 knee prostheses. The median number of days from the time of arthroplasty was 20. The most frequent pathogens were members of the Enterobacteriaceae family in 41 cases and Pseudomonas spp. in 20 cases. Among the Enterobacteriaceae, 14 were resistant to ciprofloxacin, while all Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. The median durations of intravenous and oral antibiotic treatment were 14 and 64 days, respectively. A total of 35 (74.5%) patients were in remission after a median follow-up of 463 days (interquartile range, 344 to 704) days. By use of the Kaplan-Meier survival curve, a C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration of < or = 15 mg/dl (P = 0.03) and receipt of a fluoroquinolone, when all GNB isolated were susceptible (P = 0.0009), were associated with a better outcome. By use of a Cox regression model, a CRP concentration of < or = 15 mg/dl (odds ratio [OR], 3.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 12.5; P = 0.043) and receipt of a fluoroquinolone (OR, 9.09; 95% CI, 1.96 to 50; P = 0.005) were independently associated with better outcomes. Open debridement without removal of the implant had a success rate of 74.5%, and the factors associated with good prognosis were a CRP concentration at the time of diagnosis < or = 15 mg/dl and treatment with a fluoroquinolone.

Traditional teaching supported by computer-assisted learning for macroscopic anatomy.

Over the years we have observed that there is a very low passing rate for the Anatomy and Neuroanatomy courses in our department, and for that reason we decided to implement the use of student-learning resources. The objective of this study was to compare the results of traditional methodology with those obtained with the support of computer-assisted learning (CAL). We performed a retrospective and joint study for Anatomy and Neuroanatomy groups during the period of September 2001 to February 2003, to establish a comparison between traditional learning and traditional learning supported by CAL. In the Anatomy group, students who used the traditional method (n1 = 365) received an average final grade of 58 (SD = 14.94), while the average final grade for students who used the traditional method supported by CAL (n2 = 283) was 68 (SD = 14.56). In the Neuroanatomy group, the students who used the traditional method (n3 = 217) had an average final grade of 61 (SD = 14.51), while the students who used the traditional method supported by CAL (n4 = 134) received an average final grade of 68 (SD = 13.52). A z-test was conducted to determine the difference in averages between the two groups (alpha = 0.05), and the results showed that the averages were significantly different (P <.001). The modified traditional method with CAL support was shown to be the best option in comparison with the traditional method.