Fractures of the distal femur in the elderly treated with a carbon fibre supracondylar plate.

The use of a contoured supracondylar carbon fibre plate in 22 patients with a fracture of the lower femur is reported. The patients were all elderly (mean age 80.6 years) and three patients in the study died of unrelated medical causes. Of the 19 surviving patients, in 17 the fracture united (89 per cent). The supracondylar plate was technically simple to use and the authors feel that it represents a significant advantage over existing implants for this difficult fracture.

Recurrent dislocation of the hip in adult paraplegics.

Recurrent dislocation of the hip is rare and has not previously been reported in adult paraplegics. This paper describes 3 cases. In one patient it was spontaneous, occurring 16 years after the original injury and was associated with a flexion-adduction contracture of the hip and a shallow acetabulum. One case occurred after minor trauma in a patient who experienced flexion-adduction spasms of the hip. In the third patient the condition was secondary to posterior acetabular deficiency following a conservatively treated fracture dislocation. All 3 patients experienced symptoms of disabling autonomic dysreflexia during the episodes of dislocation. The importance of recognising and adequately treating hip injuries in patients presenting with paraplegia secondary to spinal cord injury is stressed. In patients with spastic paraplegia presenting with recurrent dislocation of the hip, operative treatment combining a soft tissue repair and a bone block to augment the acetabulum is recommended.

Carbon-fibre reinforced plates for problem fractures.

We report our experience with carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates in the management of 19 problem fractures complicated by either infection, nonunion, comminution or contamination. The combination offers secure fixation without inhibition of callus formation.

Biological considerations in osteosynthesis.

The normal process of fracture healing was described in which the dual role of external callus was stressed, firstly in providing immobilisation of the fragments and secondly in providing the first bony bridge between the fragments. The influence on this process of stable internal fixation was discussed. External callus is suppressed so that during the remodelling process the patient is dependent upon the implant for its support for up to 1 or 2 years. The clinical implications for this are considerable making it difficult to know at what point the implant should be removed so that there is a significant incidence of re-fracture. The advantages of elastic plate fixation were described. With these it is possible to produce secure fixation without sacrificing external callus avoiding the above disadvantages. Clinical experiences with a composite plate of epoxy resin reinforced with carbon fibre in fractures of the femur and forearm bones produced rapid and reliable union with external callus was achieved whilst still allowing the patient unrestricted use of the limb. This rapid union was particularly useful in osteoporotic bone. The disadvantages are that the plate is expensive and cannot be contoured to bone. The ways in which these problems might be dealt with in the future were discussed.

The management of congenital dislocation of the hip in the newborn.

We describe the results of a policy of highly selective splintage for CDH, using knee plasters. No child suffered because splintage was withheld. In those who were treated the results were satisfactory and the proportion who required a subsequent operation was extremely low. Avascular necrosis was not a significant problem. The method, although a little more time consuming, appears to offer significant advantages over current alternatives.

Unstable cervical spine injuries in rugby--a 20-year review.

A study of a well-defined group of rugby players was undertaken in Wales to determine whether there has been an increase in the number of serious neck injuries during the past 20 years. None such occurred until a single incident in 1964 and not again until 1974. Since then the injuries have continued at a steady rate of about two per year. The mechanism of the injuries was analysed but no single factor could be identified as being responsible for this sudden increase although tactics in the scrummage played an important part. The importance of flexion injuries is emphasized but it is likely that not all the responsible factors have yet been identified.

Spontaneous regression of a desmoid tumour.

A 15-year-old girl presented with a very large desmoid tumour in her buttock; it extended into the pelvis and thigh and would have required hindquarter amputation for its removal. This was not performed and the tumour underwent spontaneous regression. Fourteen years later the patient is alive and well. The suggestion is made that in some cases a more expectant approach to treatment might be justified for what is essentially a non-malignant condition.

Factors affecting the incidence of hip dislocation in cerebral palsy.

We have studied the natural history of spontaneous dislocation of the hip in cerebral palsy, with particular reference to the pattern of neurological involvement. In patients with bilateral hemiplegia and severe involvement of the upper limbs the incidence of dislocation was very high (59%), while in those with diplegia and little involvement of the upper limbs, only 6.5% were affected. There was no evidence of dysplasia or instability of the hip in any of the patients with unilateral hemiplegia. A strong correlation was found between the stability of the hip and the patients' ability to walk. These findings have a bearing on clinical surveillance and also on the indications for prophylactic surgery.

The use of Dexon as a replacement for the calcaneal tendon in sheep.

We have studied the use of filamentous polyglycolic acid (Dexon) for the induction of neotendon in the calcaneal tendon of sheep. Uniformly good results were obtained, with the formation of a thick neotendon. However, in a control group the power of spontaneous regeneration of the tendon was studied; it was found that, provided overlengthening of the gap was prevented, an equally good tendon resulted. It is concluded that this particular model is not an appropriate one for testing neotendon induction, despite its use for this purpose in the past. The favourable results of using filamentous polyglycolic acid as a tendon replacement suggest that it should be further investigated (in a more suitable model) since it may well have useful clinical applications.

Shortening waiting lists in orthopaedic surgery outpatient clinics.

There is a long waiting list for orthopaedic outpatient appointments in South Glamorgan Area Health Authority as elsewhere. A detailed study of that waiting list was undertaken to identify factors that might lead to its better management and reduction. One-third of patients on the list failed to attend when appointments were offered. A postal-questionnaire to all those listed as waiting confirmed that many no longer sought specialist orthopaedic consultation. Another third of the patients reported that they had been treated previously for the same orthopaedic problem. It is concluded that improved management of long outpatient waiting lists could be achieved by correspondence with referring general practitioners to weed out those patients who no longer wish to attend, to reduce the burden of reviews and re-referrals of patients with "chronic" conditions, and to request priorities fairly so that earlier appointments may be offered to truly "new" patients with treatable or with potentially serious conditions.

A review of the morphology of Perthes' disease.

There are differences of opinion about the pathogenesis of Perthes' disease. All are agreed that it is due to ischaemia, but the cause of this and the size and number of infarctions are in dispute. Through the generosity of the contributors six whole femoral heads and core biopsies of five other cases have been studied radiographically and histologically. The findings ranged from an ischaemic arrest of ossification in the capital articular cartilage without infarction to multiple complete infarctions of the epiphysial bone. The ensuing reparative process contributes to the pathology, which is of a range to warrant grading or grouping.

The role of flexible carbon-fibre implants as tendon and ligament substitutes in clinical practice. A preliminary report.

The role of flexible carbon-fibre implants as substitutes for injured tendons and ligaments was investigated. These implants were simple to perform and were well tolerated by the patient. Repairs using carbon-fibres in 60 patients were successful, particularly in the almost insoluble problem of posterior cruciate laxity. The results in this report show that carbon-fibre implants have few disadvantages and have a future use in reconstructive procedures.

The site dependence of the articular cartilage transplant reaction.

Allografts of immature joint cartilage from the knees of lambs were transferred heterotopically into an intramuscular site in animals which had been presensitised by two sets of skin grafts from the same donors. All of these grafts were found to be largely destroyed by the immune response as early as four weeks after transfer. Similar grafts transferred orthotopically into the knees of the recipients, on the other hand, were found to be thriving even after twelve weeks and evoked a minimal response. Heterotopic autografts also provoked a mild though non-specific inflammatory reaction which the orthotopic grafts did not. It is concluded that cartilage matrix is capable of protecting grafts to a remarkable degree even from a severe immunological assault but only when the nutrition is adequate. It is suggested that the conflicting results of similar previous experiments may be explained by variations in the nutritional state of the graft which may be affected by the technique of transplantation used.

Biological reaction to carbon fiber implants: the formation and structure of a carbon-induced "neotendon".

In 43 young rabbits, the tendo Achilles and flexor digitorum longus tendon were excised and replaced by filamentous carbon fiber. Tendo-Achilles in controls was repaired by silk or nylon sutures or left without replacement. Concurrent excision of the posterior tibial nerve was performed in one group of the carbon-replacing tendo-Achilles operations. When fully functioning, carbon-induced "neotendon" rapidly developed from young fibroblastic tissue outgrowths of the loose mesenchymal tissue of the perineurium and adventitia of the blood vessels in the adjacent neurovascular bundle. Silk or nylon replacement of the excised Achilles tendon did not lead to successful production of a new substitute. Carbon fibers were unsatisfactory for replacement implants for the flexor digitorum longus tendons.

Induction of tendon and ligament formation by carbon implants.

Experiments have been performed on rabbits and sheep which demonstrate that pure carbon, in a flexible and filamentous form of great strength, can be used successfully to induce the formation of new tendons. A concept fundamentally different from that underlying the use of other artificial tendon replacements is involved, in which rapidly developing tendon-like tissue is induced to form around the implant. This gradually takes over the function of the implant. The early results in rabbits and the late results in sheep suggest that filamentous carbon may have a place in the replacement of the calcaneal tendon and the collateral ligaments of the knee.