Sporting and physical activity following Oxford medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and assess the sporting and physical activities of patients who had undergone an Oxford medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). Seventy-six patients who underwent a UKA between 2000 and 2003 were reviewed. Demographic data such as age, sex and comorbidities were recorded. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity level ratings and Oxford knee scores were determined for each patient. The sporting and physical activities of all patients' pre- and post-operatively were recorded. The mean age of patients was 64 years (range 49-81) at surgery and 66 years (range 53-82) at review. The mean follow up time was 18 months (range 4-46). Following surgery there was a significant improvement in UCLA activity level scores from 4.2 to 6.5 (Wilcoxon Matched-pairs Signed-rank Test, p<0.01). Forty-two patients (64%) regularly participated in sport before they became symptomatic with significant knee pain, and thirty-nine patients (59%) regularly participated in sports after surgery. In total 93% of patients successfully returned to their regular sporting and physical activities following surgery. The published long-term survivorship of the Oxford UKA has given surgeons increasing confidence to use the prosthesis on a younger generation of patients. Our study has demonstrated that this population of patients is extremely active. A more detailed study is required to evaluate the long-term effects of sporting activity on the Oxford UKA.

Who decides on the need for antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with major arthroplasties requiring dental treatment: is it a joint responsibility?

The role of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with prosthetic joints who require dental treatment is controversial. A Working Party of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) recently suggested that there was no evidence to support the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in these patients. The purpose of this study was to determine how closely these recommendations were being followed by maxillofacial surgeons (MFS), and to see if there was any consensus on the management of these patients between MFS and orthopaedic surgeons (OPS). With the aid of a postal questionnaire, the opinions of 250 consultant MFS and OPS were sought, response rates were 148 (59.2%) and 113 (41.2%), respectively. Of the OPS, 77.7% always recommended the use of antibiotic prophylaxis as opposed to only 29% of MFS. There were also wide differences in opinion with regard to the antibiotic that should be used in these patients, with the majority of OPS suggesting a cephalosporin, although this may not be the most efficacious antibiotic for oral streptococci. We conclude that this important matter seems to be far from satisfactorily resolved and that further cooperation between the specialties is required to produce guidelines for the safe and effective management of this increasing group of patients.