Anterior Open-Wedge Osteotomy in Posterior Cruciate Ligament Deficient Knees: From a Historical Perspective to First Clinical Results.

Recently, the bony anatomy of the proximal tibia has gained strong interest, particularly in the cruciate ligament deficient knee. Regarding the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), several studies outlined that a steep tibial slope (≥12 degrees) contributes to early failures after ACL reconstruction. As a consequence, the first clinical reports are available on slope reducing osteotomies in revision ACL surgery. Vice versa, biomechanical as well as clinical reports suggest that a flat slope increases the load on the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and might contribute to a poor result after PCL reconstruction. Since many decades, slope increasing anterior open wedge osteotomies are used to treat a symptomatic genu recurvatum. The aim of the current report is to describe different surgical techniques and report our first clinical experience of an anterior open wedge osteotomy as a sole procedure in chronic PCL deficient knees with a flat tibial slope. In six cases, a mean preoperative slope of 3.7 degrees (range = 2-5 degrees) was increased to a mean of 11.5 degrees (range = 9-13 degrees). There was one case with a delayed bone healing, which was successfully treated without loss of correction by revision internal fixation and bone grafting.

Dega Transiliac Pelvic Osteotomy: the History of Surgical Technique Development.

BACKGROUND: Wiktor Dega originally described the surgical technique of transiliac osteotomy in 1969 in the Polish Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery Journal. Its worldwide popularity spread just after it was presented in English by Grudziak and Ward in 2001 [1]. This paper aims to describe the development of the technique by Wiktor Dega's team. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An analysis of original papers published by Dega between 1929-1974 was performed to clarify the chronology of development of the technique. RESULTS: Dega's interest in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) had begun as early as 1929, when he presented in Vilnius a paper about the aetiology and pathogenesis of the disease. The concept of transiliac osteotomy had been initially based on König's idea of shelf procedure. Dega called this procedure plastic surgery of the acetabular roof and performed it between 1927 and 1930. In 1964, Dega published a paper that described the basic concept of DDH treatment with a pelvic osteotomy termed supraacetabular semi-circular osteotomy. This procedure differed from transiliac osteotomy because it did not involve cutting the inner cortex of the ilium. In 1968 the first 'technically proper' transiliac osteotomy was performed and then described in 1969. In 1974, Dega emphasized that both the outer and inner iliac walls should be osteotomized in the transiliac osteotomy. CONCLUSION: The political situation of the 1950s and the 1960s made it difficult to freely exchange views and clinical experiences between the Western and Eastern political camps. Despite this, Wiktor Dega became a precursor of effective surgical treatment in DDH worldwide.

The True Ponte Osteotomy: By the One Who Developed It.

STUDY DESIGN: Technique and applications. OBJECTIVES: To define the anatomy, biomechanics, indications, and surgical technique of the true Ponte osteotomy. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The Ponte osteotomy, originally developed for thoracic kyphosis, was the first one to obtain posterior shortening of the thoracic spine, maintaining the anterior column load-sharing capacity. It has become a widely applied technique in various types of spine deformities and a frequent topic of presentations at meetings and in scientific articles. Several of them offer unquestionable evidence of an incorrect execution, with consequently distorted outcomes and erroneous conclusions. A clearing up became essential. METHODS: Our original experience is based on a series of 240 patients with thoracic hyperkyphosis operated in the years 1969-2015, at first with a standard posterior Harrington technique and then by using the Ponte osteotomy with different instrumentations. A series of 78 of them, operated in the years 1987-1997, who had Ponte osteotomies at every level, is presented. RESULTS: The average preoperative kyphosis has been corrected from 80° (range 61°-102°) to 31° (range 15°-50°) by a substantial posterior shortening. CONCLUSIONS: A number of publications use the term Ponte osteotomy loosely for by far incomplete resections and mixing it up with Smith-Petersen's osteotomy. The true Ponte osteotomy is capable of producing marked flexibility in extension, flexion and rotation, justifying its wide use in thoracic deformities, mainly in scoliosis. An exact performance of the osteotomy with adequate bony resections, including the laminae, is an absolute condition to take full advantage of its properties. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study.

History of osteochondral allograft transplantation.

Osteochondral defects or injuries represent the most challenging entities to treat, especially when occur to young and active patients. For centuries, it has been recognized that such defects are almost impossible to treat. However, surgeons have never stopped the effort to develop reliable methods to restore articular cartilage and salvage the endangered joint function. Osteochondral allograft transplantation in human was first introduced by Eric Lexer in 1908. Since that era, several pioneers have been worked in the field of osteochondral allotransplantation, presenting and developing the basic research, the methodology and the surgical techniques. Herein we present in brief, the history and the early clinical results of osteochondral allograft transplantation in human.

History of Spine Deformity in Turkey.

Spine deformities are among the most important spinal disorders, affecting health-related life quality. Although there are some studies in past centuries, most spine deformity-related studies and research has started in the last century. Many surgical techniques, performed between 1960 and 1990, made scoliosis a touchable pathology. These techniques started with Harrington"s system, wiring techniques, pedicle screw techniques, and all other universal techniques. Anterior and 360 degree techniques contributed to this process. The use of spinal osteotomies, and recent technologies such as magnetic rods, intraoperative neuromonitoring added much to the body of knowledge of literature and improved the outcome. Advancement has not been limited to surgery only and diagnostic advancements had also impact to this process. Surgical techniques performed in the west have been performed soon in our countries. Currently almost all surgical techniques for treatment of spine deformities can be performed in our country. This article reviews historical aspects related to the diagnosis and treatment of spine deformities in Turkey.

Transzygomatic Approach to Skull Base: History, Evolution, and Possibility of a Simple Modification.

The surgical approaches to anterior, middle, and lateral skull base have evolved drastically, transcending from an era of oblivion to well-defined and systematically executed, state-of-the-art, refined surgery. The transzygomatic approach, which was developed to access the nasopharynx, has been applied to versatile locations of skull base pathology, with continuous evolution and modification of the osteotomies and skin flaps involved. A simple modification is proposed which could help reach a compromise between the wide exposure provided by the hemicoronal incision and the minimally invasive preauricular approach.

First metatarsal head osteotomies for the correction of hallux abducto valgus.

An array of distal first metatarsal osteotomies has been described over the decades for the correction of hallux valgus. No one procedure is proficient in correcting all forms and severities of hallux valgus deformities. To optimize results, it is imperative for the surgeon to match a procedure and its modifications to the patient's deformity. The dorsal long arm chevron osteotomy stands at the forefront for correction of mild to moderate hallux abductovalgus. The results with this specific osteotomy are predictable; it allows for early ambulation, and it is easily modified to compensate for the deformity at hand.

History of spinal osteotomy.

Spinal deformity is one of the oldest known diseases with descriptions documented many of the earliest civilizations. Historical treatments have had little efficacy, especially in adults. However, in the modern era, there has been a rapid expansion of new technologies and surgical techniques aided by advances in supportive care that now allow the spinal surgeon to have powerful tools to correct spinal deformity. In this manuscript, we review the origins of spinal deformity surgery and the development of spinal instrumentation. The focus of the manuscript is to review the relationship of these developments to the implementation of spinal osteotomies for deformity correction.

Midface osteotomies lines: evolution by Paul Tessier, the second Tessier classification.

The Tessier collection is an inheritance of a whole career of a surgeon and a life dedicated to cranio-facial malformations. It is a good opportunity to analyse some particular points of the surgical work of Paul Tessier, in particular to understand how the midface advancement procedures were made up and thought out. Medical files, pictures, X-rays and drawings help us to describe step by step the different types of midface osteotomies done by Paul Tessier, from TESSIER I to TESSIER VII osteotomies. The author describes the reason for the surgical lines and their modifications justified by all those files and by Tessier's personal annotations. Based on a single clinical case, Tessier experimented with new surgical procedures, firstly on skulls and dissection then the proposed surgery, the experience of the surgery and the post-operative result for each patient made him decide to change lines and procedures. At each step, the modification was done to improve stability, aesthetics, or to do the procedure in an easier way. Difficulties and mistakes were always new lessons for further patients.

[Clubfoot treatment through the ages: the Ponseti method in comparison to other conservative approaches and operative procedures]. / Klumpfußbehandlung im Wandel der Zeit: Die Ponseti-Methode im Vergleich zu anderen konservativen Therapieansätzen sowie operativen Verfahren.

Clubfoot is one of the most common congenital deformities of the musculoskeletal system with incidence rates ranging from 0.6 to 6.8 per 1,000 live births. The treatment of clubfoot historically belongs to one of the oldest orthopedic therapies. By the end of the nineteenth century redressement with various tools, such as clamps, braces and casts was the standard treatment of clubfoot. Through further development of operational capabilities and the fact that soft tissue structures show amore resistant reaction to pressure and strain than the surrounding cartilage and bone, operative therapy was favored in the late twentieth century. Surgical correction involves the release of contracted capsular and ligamentous structures to varying degrees and the lengthening of tendons.In 1963 Ponseti published his method. He recognized that the internal rotation and plantar flexion of the calcaneus is the key deformity. However, his method first became known worldwide at the turn of the millennium as long-term results of release operations showed stiff scar healing and the risk of over-correction as problems in these operations.Many comparative studies have shown the superiority of the Ponseti method regarding invasiveness, primary correction rate, functional outcome and recurrence rate in both idiopathic and non-idiopathic clubfoot. In this article the current literature regarding this will be presented as well as prominent landmarks in the development of clubfoot treatment.

John Rhea Barton: the birth of osteotomy.

Osteotomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed everyday all over the world. This technique dates back to the first half of nineteenth century and to the fundamental contribution made by Pennsylvania Hospital surgeon John Rhea Barton (1794-1871), who can be considered the pioneer of modern osteotomies; this paper focuses on his life and career highlights with a description of the first corrective osteotomies for hip and knee ankylosis (documented in two fundamental papers whose original pictures are here reproduced). The success of osteotomy as a current surgical approach to treat several orthopaedic conditions is confirmation of the importance of this procedure in the orthopaedic discipline and prompted an investigation into the pioneering mind who introduced it.

Osteotomy around the knee: evolution, principles and results.

PURPOSE: This article summarises the history and evolution of osteotomy around the knee, examining the changes in principles, operative technique and results over three distinct periods: Historical (pre 1940), Modern Early Years (1940-2000) and Modern Later Years (2000-Present). We aim to place the technique in historical context and to demonstrate its evolution into a validated procedure with beneficial outcomes whose use can be justified for specific indications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A thorough literature review was performed to identify the important steps in the development of osteotomy around the knee. RESULTS: The indications and surgical technique for knee osteotomy have never been standardised, and historically, the results were unpredictable and at times poor. These factors, combined with the success of knee arthroplasty from the 1980s onward, led to knee osteotomy being regarded as an irrelevant surgical option by many surgeons. Despite its fluctuating reputation, this article demonstrates the reasons for the enduring practice of osteotomy, not least because achieving the appropriate alignment is now recognised as the foundation step when planning any surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate patient selection, accurate pre-operative planning, modern surgical fixation techniques and rapid rehabilitation, osteotomy around the knee is now an effective biological treatment for degenerative disease, deformity, knee instability and also as an adjunct to other complex joint surface and meniscal cartilage surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V.

Replication of ancient Egyptian osteotomies of the facial skeleton: insights into the mummification process.

A recent radiographic study of an Egyptian mummified head from the Middle Kingdom revealed methodical mutilations of the facial skeleton that were performed after death and prior to wrapping the corpse for burial. These mutilations consisted of removal of the coronoid processes of the mandible and portions of the zygomas presumably via an intraoral approach. They are unique in the archaeological record. The authors hypothesize that the procedures were carried out to facilitate jaw opening and may be related to a ritual known as the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of performing these remarkable osteotomies on two human cadavers using instruments similar to those available to the ancient embalmer. Bilateral osteotomies of the zygomas and coronoid processes were carried out transorally and the bones removed. Pre- and postoperative maximal incisal opening measured 25 mm and 53 mm, respectively. Postoperative high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) scans were obtained. Comparison of the postoperative cadaver and mummy CT scans demonstrate remarkable similarity between the resections. Results of this study demonstrate that the ancient skeletal mutilations could have been performed transorally during the mummification process and would have enhanced jaw opening.

Harvey Cushing's experience with cranial deformity.

Surgery for cranial deformity was associated with significant surgical morbidity during the early part of the 20th century. For this reason, Harvey Cushing was initially not in favor of surgical treatment of craniosynostosis. Later in his career, Cushing began to operate on these children, although it never became a major focus of his practice. Several examples of his patients with cranial deformity are presented, and his limited role in the development of this field is discussed.

The classic: Chapter XVIII. Operative treatment in chronic articular ostitis. 1884.

This Classic article is a reprint of the original work by Virgil P. Gibney, Chapter XVIII. Operative Treatment in Chronic Articular Ostitis. An accompanying biographical sketch of Virgil P. Gibney, MD, is available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-009-1166-2 . The Classic Article is (c)1884 and is abridged from Gibney VP. Operative treatment in chronic articular ostitis. In: The Hip and Its Diseases. New York, NY, London, UK: Bermingham & Co; 1884:388-402.