Cambridge Protocol for Management of Segmental Bone Loss

The advances in nanomedicine for bone and cartilage repair

With the gradual demographic shift toward an aging and obese society, an increasing number of patients are suffering from bone and cartilage injuries. However, conventional therapies are hindered by the defects of materials, failing to adequately stimulate the necessary cellular response to promote sufficient cartilage regeneration, bone remodeling and osseointegration. In recent years, the rapid development of nanomedicine has initiated a revolution in orthopedics, especially in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, due to their capacity to effectively stimulate cellular responses on a nanoscale with enhanced drug loading efficiency, targeted capability, increased mechanical properties and improved uptake rate, resulting in an improved therapeutic effect. Therefore, a comprehensive review of advancements in nanomedicine for bone and cartilage diseases is timely and beneficial. This review firstly summarized the wide range of existing nanotechnology applications in the medical field. The progressive development of nano delivery systems in nanomedicine, including nanoparticles and biomimetic techniques, which are lacking in the current literature, is further described. More importantly, we also highlighted the research advancements of nanomedicine in bone and cartilage repair using the latest preclinical and clinical examples, and further discussed the research directions of nano-therapies in future clinical practice.

Acute-shortening and re-lengthening (ASRL) procedure with monorail fixator to treat femur/tibia nonunion: A retrospective study

Background

The distraction osteogenesis procedure has a high potential to treat bone defect problems. The alternative technique to treat nonunion associated with a bone defect is the acute shortening and re-lengthening (ASRL) procedure. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome of ASRL procedure with a monorail fixator to treat femur/tibia nonunion associated with the bone defect.

Method

Retrospective analysis was performed to patients who received ASRL procedure with monorail fixator for femur or tibia nonunion from October 2018 to October 2020 at Prof. Dr. R. Soeharso Orthopaedic hospital. One case was loss to follow-up and excluded from the study. The rest of 16 cases were included for further analysis. The evaluation was performed to the demographic, intraoperative procedure, problems/complications, additional procedure, and final outcome.

Results

There were 13 male and three female patients with age ranged from 16 to 64 years old. The follow-up period ranges 9-31 months. ASRL procedures performed to 6 femur and 10 tibias. The problems/complications: two cases with problems associated with callus formation, two cases of fracture at corticotomy site, one case of skin necrosis, one case of osteomyelitis, one case of malrotation. Additional surgical procedures were needed 5/16 (31.2%) cases. Evaluation at the final follow-up period showed 14/16 (87.5%) cases had a complete bone union.

Conclusions

Acute shortening and re-lengthening (ASRL) could be reliable as a method of treatment for femur/tibia nonunion associated with the bone defect. Several possible complications need to be considered prior to perform this procedure.