Study to assess the relationship between insertion torque value and implant stability quotient and its influence on timing of functional implant loading.

PURPOSE: One of the crucial requirements for the success of implants is to achieve good stability. Two well-accepted quantitative methods to assess implant stability, the insertion torque value (ITV), and resonance frequency analysis (RFA) can be a valuable adjunct to radiological and clinical examination. This study was conducted to assess the relationship between ITVs and implant stability quotient (ISQ) and its influence on timing of functional implant loading, as well as to determine the effect of some of the factors on the stability of implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty implants were inserted in 37 patients in the posterior mandibular region according to conventional protocol and allowed to heal by placing a healing abutment at the time of placement. For each implant, ITV was measured at the time of the implant placement by manual torque wrench (Nobel Biocare), and the ISQ value was measured by using resonance frequency analyzer (Osstell-ISQ; Integration Diagnostics) at the baseline levels, 3rd week, 7th week, 11th week, and 15th week interval. RESULTS: The correlation between ITV and ISQ was found to be moderately positive and significant (r = 0.399) (P = 0.000). The correlation of ITV value at baseline and ISQ values recorded at the subsequent weeks was also found to be statistically significant at week 3 (r = 0.376) (P = 0.000) and week 7 (r = 0.327) (P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded from this study that there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between the ITV and ISQ values.

Bifurcated intraarticular long head of biceps tendon.

Though rare, many anomalous origins of long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) have been reported in the literature. Anatomic variations commonly explained are a third humeral head, anomalous insertion, congenital absence and adherence to the rotator cuff. We report a rare case who underwent shoulder arthroscopy with impingement symptoms where in LHBT was found to be bifurcated with a part attached to superior labrum and the other part to the posterior capsule of joint. Furthermore, intraarticular portion of LHBT was adherent to the undersurface of the supraspinatus tendon. Awareness of such an anatomical aberration during the shoulder arthroscopy is of great importance as it can potentially avoid unnecessary confusion and surgery.

Foreign body granuloma.

Foreign bodies can penetrate soft tissues through open wounds, lacerations or through accidents iatrogenically. Among the commonly encountered foreign bodies encountered due to trauma are of glass, metal and wood in nature. We report a case of a 32 year old male who reported to our clinic, complaining of a small wound in the right upper cheek region intraorally since 1 month. Patient had a history of road traffic accident (RTA) 6 months back.

Mucoid degeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament: Management and outcome.

BACKGROUND: Mucoid degeneration (MD) is a rare pathological affection of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Mucinous material within the substance of ACL produces pain and limited motion in the knee. This series describes the clinicoradiological presentation of patients with mucoid ACL, partial arthroscopic debridement of ACL and outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a period of 3 years, 11 patients were included based upon the clinical suspicion, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, arthroscopic features and histopathologic confirmation of MD of ACL. RESULT: Six patients were male and five were female with median age of 40 years (range 21-59 years). All patients complained of knee pain with median duration of 5 months (range 1-24 months). All patients had painful deep flexion with 63.6% (N = 7) reporting trivial trauma before the onset of symptoms. MRI revealed MD of ACL in all with associated cyst in three patients. Partial debridement of ACL was done in ten and complete in one patient. None of them required notchplasty. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis in all of them. At the mean followup of 13.81 months (range 6-28 months), all patients regained complete flexion and none complained of instability. CONCLUSION: Prior knowledge of condition with high index of suspicion and careful interpretation of MRI can establish the diagnosis preoperatively. It responds well to partial debridement of ACL and mucinous material without development of instability.

Study on blood glucose concentration in patients with diabetes undergoing dental extraction under local anesthesia with and without adrenaline.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of adrenaline on blood glucose concentration in patients with diabetes undergoing tooth extraction under local anesthesia and also to find out whether blood glucose concentration differs if local anesthetics are injected in clinical doses with and without adrenaline. METHODS: Patients included had a tooth in need of extraction, were in the 25-55 years age group, had a random blood sugar level ≤140 mg/dL and were on oral antidiabetic drugs. The 25 patients in Group A were injected with 2 mL of lignocaine hydrochloride without adrenaline (xylocaine 2%) and the other 25 patients (Group B) were injected with 2 mL lignocaine hydrochloride along with adrenaline 1:80,000. Serial blood glucose estimations were made at regular intervals of 10 min before local anesthesia and subsequently 10 and 20 min after local anesthesia. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference of the mean blood glucose concentration was noticed at three different time intervals between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Dental local anesthetic solutions containing adrenaline may safely be used in patients with diabetes who had taken their hypoglycemic medications preoperatively.

Staged arthroscopic reconstructive surgery for multiple ligament injuries of the knee.

PURPOSE: To review treatment outcome of our staged protocol for multiple ligament injuries of the knee. METHODS: 21 men who were treated for multiple ligament injuries of the knee and had completed at least one year of rehabilitation were evaluated. Patients were examined under anaesthesia and then by diagnostic arthroscopy. Arthroscopic reconstructive procedures for injured cruciate ligaments were performed after a minimum 110º flexion and full extension were regained. Collateral ligaments injuries were treated first, followed by posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and then anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Outcome was evaluated using the Lysholm knee score and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) knee ligament evaluation form. RESULTS: 19 patients aged 24 to 55 (mean, 36) years were followed up for a mean of 22 (range, 14-33) months. The mean Lysholm score was 92. The mean scores for patients treated within and after 3 weeks were 93 and 90, respectively. The overall IKDC grading was B in 15 knees and C and D each in 2 knees. For the 2 patients with grade D, one presented 19 months after the injury and had persistent posterior sag (secondary to capsular contracture). His Lysholm score was 82. The second patient developed a deep infection and endured a flexion loss of 30º but had a satisfactory Lysholm score of 94. There was no significant difference between early and delayed treatments and between low- and high-velocity injuries in terms of the Lysholm score, the IKDC grade, the range of movement, and the functional outcome. CONCLUSION: Staged management of multiple ligament injuries of the knee enabled satisfactory restoration of function, stability, and range of movement in most of our patients. By staging the procedures, the need for subsequent ACL reconstruction can be better evaluated, as ACL reconstruction is not necessary in patients not undertaking strenuous activities.

Femoral tunnel-interference screw divergence in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone graft: A comparison of two techniques.

BACKGROUND: Interference screw is a popular fixation device used to rigidly fix bone-patellar tendon-bone (B-PT-B) graft both in femoral and tibial tunnels in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Parallel placement of screw is difficult in transtibially drilled femoral tunnel but always desired as it affects pullout strength of the graft. Commonly, interference screw into the femoral tunnel is inserted through the anteromedial (AM) or accessory AM portal. These portals are not-in-line with the transtibially drilled femoral tunnel. Furthermore, these portals increase the divergence of the interference screw in the femoral tunnel. We hypothesized that interference screw placement through patellar tendon (PT) portal (through donor defect) in transtibially drilled femoral tunnel can be less divergent. We report the prospective randomized study to investigate the difference of divergence of interference screw placed through PT portal and AM portal and its clinical relevance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one patients underwent femoral tunnel B-PT-B graft fixation through AM portal (group 1) and other 41 (group 2) through PT portal. Femoral tunnel-interference screw divergence was measured on postoperative digital lateral X-rays. Ha's method was used to grade divergence. The clinical outcome was assessed by postoperative intervention knee documentation committee grading (IKDC) and Lysholm score at 2 years followup. RESULTS: Mean tunnel-screw divergence in sagittal plane through AM portal was 13.38° (95% CI: 12.34-14.41) and through PT portal was 7.20° (95% CI: 6.25-8.16) (P<0.0001). In AM portal group, 82.9% patients had divergence in either grade 3 or 4 category, whereas in PT portal group, 82.9% patients were in grade 1 or 2 category (P<0.0001). Mean Lysholm score were 92.8 and 94.5 at two-year follow-up in both groups which were statistically not significant. The International knee documentation committee grades of patients in both groups were similar and had no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Femoral interference screw placement through the PT portal leads to significantly less screw divergence as compared with screw placement through the AM portal. However, this difference in divergence is not reflected in clinical outcome.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dental surgeons: A pilot study.

AIM: To describe the work-related musculoskeletal disorders among on-job dental surgeons. OBJECTIVES: To identify the musculoskeletal disorders in terms of perception of pain and stiffness experienced by the dental surgeons due to the rigors of dental work, to determine the prevailing working environment with particular reference to dental work station in relation to musculoskeletal disorders, and to find the association between pain and stiffness experienced by the dental surgeons and the selected socio-demographic variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 30 graduated dental surgeons having a work experience of 1 year or more, post graduates and faculty members of various specialties at Yenepoya Dental College Hospital, Mangalore. The subjects were selected randomly from the hospital and they were given closed-ended questionnaire to find out perception of pain and stiffness experienced in the past 6 months. The observation of the working environment was done by walk-through observational survey. RESULTS: The study showed that 6.6% dental surgeons always experienced shoulder pain, while 83.3% dental surgeons sometimes experienced back pain and 70% sometimes experienced neck pain. Majority of the dental surgeons (73.3%) experienced stiffness in the back and 23.3% experienced severe pain in their neck. It was observed that the number of patients attended per day by the dental surgeons had a significant association (P = 0.024) with the pain they experienced in their hip/thigh region. The frequency of pain experienced by the dental surgeons in the hip/thigh and knee joints also showed a significant association (P = 0.037) with the height of the dental surgeons. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that various socio-demographic variables contributed to the musculoskeletal disorders experienced by the dental surgeons. However, the number of patients attended per day by the dental surgeons vis-à-vis pain experienced in the back, wrist, and hip/thigh was significant.

Burkholderia pseudomallei musculoskeletal infections (melioidosis) in India.

Melioidosis, an infection due to gram negative Burkholderia pseudomallei, is an important cause of sepsis in east Asia especially Thailand and northern Australia. It usually causes abscesses in lung, liver, spleen, skeletal muscle and parotids especially in patients with diabetes, chronic renal failure and thalassemia. Musculoskeletal melioidosis is not common in India even though sporadic cases have been reported mostly involving soft tissues. During a two-year-period, we had five patients with musculoskeletal melioidosis. All patients presented with multifocal osteomyelitis, recurrent osteomyelitis or septic arthritis. One patient died early because of septicemia and multi-organ failure. All patients were diagnosed on the basis of positive pus culture. All patients were treated by surgical debridement followed by a combination of antibiotics; (ceftazidime, amoxy-clavulanic acid, co-trimoxazole and doxycycline) for six months except for one who died due to fulminant septicemia. All other patients recovered completely with no recurrences. With increasing awareness and better diagnostic facilities, probably musculoskeletal melioidosis will be increasingly diagnosed in future.

The role of polymerase chain reaction in the management of osteoarticular tuberculosis.

A dependable method for the rapid diagnosis of osteoarticular tuberculosis has become increasingly important, as routine methods are neither very sensitive nor very specific. The objective of this study is to verify the reliability of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis and management of osteoarticular tuberculosis. This investigation was a prospective study conducted at the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. Tissue samples of 74 patients suspected of osteoarticular tuberculosis were sent for PCR and histopathologic examination. Taking histopathology as the gold standard, PCR has a sensitivity of 73.07% and a specificity of 93.75% (with 95% confidence interval [CI] 62.97; 83.17).The positive agreement between histology and PCR was 0.693, indicating good agreement. PCR showed a sensitivity of 90% with spinal samples. It has a low false positivity of 13.63%. We conclude that conventional methods are neither sensitive nor specific enough and are also time consuming. PCR is an effective method for diagnosing tuberculosis and antitubercular treatment can be started if PCR is positive, since false-positive rates are very low.

A descriptive clinical evaluation of arthroscopic synovectomy in rheumatoid knees: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical outcome of arthroscopic synovectomy for persistent rheumatoid synovitis of the knee joints. DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SETTING: Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal. PATIENTS: Fifty two knee joints in 46 patients. MEASUREMENTS: The effect of the procedure and its influence in the progression of the disease process on knee joints were assessed in terms of reduction of pain, improvement in range of motion, improvement in functional activity and recurrence of synovitis with effusion. RESULTS: During the average follow up period of 5 years, the patients showed appreciable improvement (90% of knee joints) until 3 years of follow up. At the end of 5 years of follow up, it reduced to about 75%. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic synovectomy along with medical treatment can control the disease process and preserve the knee joint function for up to 3 years.

Discoid medial meniscus. Varied presentation of 3 knees.

Discoid medial meniscus is a rarity. We present 2 cases, one with bilateral discoid medial menisci, and the other with both medial and lateral discoid menisci in the same knee. The radiological, MRI and arthroscopic findings in these knees and their association with various synovial plicae have been described. Both patients had good results after arthroscopic subtotal meniscectomy.