Arthroscopic débridement of the knee for osteoarthrosis.

To evaluate outcome after arthroscopic débridement, the records of 171 patients with osteoarthrosis of the knee were reviewed. All patients were unresponsive to conservative management and were treated arthroscopically. Procedures included lavage, meniscectomy, chondrectomy, removal of free bodies and removal of limited osteophytes. Outcome assessment was retrospective, evaluating the need for further surgery, control of pain, improved function and patient satisfaction. Sixty-five percent of patients felt their symptoms were improved. There was excellent control of pain in 38% and improved function in 22%. Subsequent surgical procedures were required in 12% at an average follow-up of 25 months. No factors were identified that correlated with the outcome, including the extent of degenerative changes and of débridement and patient profile. Arthroscopic débridement is a temporizing procedure with good patient satisfaction. Marked, but unpredictable, improvement in symptoms is seen in one patient out of three.

Temperature-independent pectin gel method for coliform determination in dairy products: collaborative study.

Ten laboratories participated in a collaborative study to compare a pectin-based violet red bile (VRB) method with the VRB agar-based standard method for estimation of coliform bacterial counts in 7 different dairy food groups: cream, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, homogenized milk, raw milk, sour cream, and yogurt. Each laboratory analyzed 8 samples of each food group as sample pairs prepared at high, medium, and low inoculum levels, and an uninoculated control pair. Overall mean log counts were higher for the pectin gel method in 18 of 21 cases (7 samples at 3 inoculum levels); 12 results were significantly higher (P less than 0.01) than those for the VRB agar method. Of the 3 higher VRB agar method means, 2 were not significant at P less than 0.10, and one was of borderline significance (0.05 less than P less than 0.06). Repeatability variation (sr) favored the pectin gel method in 14 of 21 cases; 7 were highly significant differences (P less than 0.01). None of the 7 results favoring the VRB agar method was statistically significant. Reproducibility variation (sR) favored the pectin gel method in 14 of 21 results. These data indicate that the pectin gel method gives higher recovery of coliforms with better precision than does the VRB agar method, and strongly support the suitability of the pectin gel method as an alternative to the agar-based VRB method for coliform counts in dairy products. The pectin gel method has been adopted official first action.

Temperature-independent pectin gel method for aerobic plate count in dairy and nondairy food products: collaborative study.

Ten laboratories participated in a collaborative study to compare the pectin-based plate count (PC) Redigel method with the aerobic plate count and standard plate count agar-based standard methods for the estimation of total bacterial counts in 9 different nondairy food and dairy food products. The foods were cream, homogenized milk, raw milk, cheese, raw chicken, raw oysters, frozen broccoli, flour, and spices. Each laboratory analyzed 6 samples (3 sample pairs) of each food group. Counts obtained by the pectin-based plate count and agar-based plate count methods differed significantly (P less than 0.05) only for homogenized milk, where the pectin gel method resulted in higher counts. The actual counts were higher in the pectin gel method in 8 of the 9 food groups. The log means for pectin gel and agar-based media, respectively, for the 9 food groups were: cream 8.106 and 7.844; homogenized milk 8.642 and 8.231; raw milk 8.711 and 8.423; chicken 7.654 and 7.645; oysters 7.201 and 7.180; broccoli 7.102 and 6.798; cheese 8.045 and 8.055; flour 4.112 and 3.988; spice 5.379 and 5.314. The repeatability standard deviations favored the pectin gel method in 6 of the 9 foods tested. The reproducibility standard deviations favored the pectin gel method in 7 of the 9 foods tested. These results strongly support the suitability of the pectin gel method as an alternative to agar-based plate count and other methods for total bacterial counts in nondairy and dairy food products. The pectin gel method has been adopted official first action.