Analysis of Clinical Outcomes in Pediatric Distal Tibia Triplanar Fractures Treated Surgically and Conservatively

Purpose

We aimed to analyze the clinical and functional outcomes of patients who underwent surgery or received conservative treatment to look into the impact of treatment methods on clinical outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective study was performed on 25 patients with a minimum one-year follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups based on joint and physis displacement measured on preop CT images. Patients with a displacement of > 2 mm underwent surgery, while those with a displacement of < 2 mm received conservative treatment. The clinical results were assessed using the Ankle-Hindfoot Scale developed by the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and the Modified Weber Protocol (MWP).

Results

The sample consisted of 14 patients who underwent surgery and 11 patients who received conservative treatment. The surgical group had a mean follow-up of 36.79±14.43 months, while the conservative group had a mean follow-up of 31.82±13.55 months. The surgical and conservative groups had a postop 1st-year AOFAS score of 96.64±3.54 and 93.64 ± 4.69, respectively. The difference was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05), but the surgical group had higher scores numerically. The surgical and conservative groups had a postop 6th-month AOFAS score of 84.64±1.64 and 80.82±2.85, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The results of both surgical treatment and conservative treatment are satisfactory. Especially, surgical treatment should not be avoided in patients requiring surgery with a displacement of more than 2 mm and surgeons may consider surgery for better clinical outcomes and earlier rehabilitation in the treatment of triplane fractures.

Treatment of knee osteochondritis dissecans with autologous tendon transplantation: Clinical and radiological results

BACKGROUND

Defect treatment with tendon autograft in osteochondral lesions has been published in the literature with an experimental study in dogs. To demonstrate that it is possible to treat knee osteochondral lesions with the technique of autologous tendon transplantation.

AIM

To evaluate the clinical and radiological results of patients with knee osteochondral lesions who were treated with autologous tendon transplantation.

METHODS

Twenty patients (22 knees) with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) lesions involving the knee were treated with autologous tendon transplantation between 2005-2018. All lesions were International Cartilage Repair Society grade IV. All patients were evaluated clinically at final follow-up with knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS); and radiologically with magnetic resonance observation and cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) classification.

RESULTS

A total of 20 patients (22 knees) with a mean age of 25.5± 6.8 years were included. The average defect size was 4.2 ± 2.1 cm², and the average defect depth was 0.9 ± 0.4 cm. Total KOOS score was preoperatively 29.4 ± 5.5 and was later found to be 81.5 ± 5.9 after an average of 68.7 ± 37.7 mo follow-up. The mean MOCART score was 56.2 ± 10.7. Preoperatively, all of the patients had KL grades of 0–1; during the follow-up period, 80% of the patients showed no radiological progress of osteoarthritis. Patients with less than 4 cm² lesion had statistically significantly better overall KOOS than patients whose more than 4 cm² lesion, particularly in sport and quality of life subscales.

CONCLUSION

The autologous tendon transplantation is a single-step, safe, simple, cost-effective method for the treatment of knee OCD with satisfactory clinical and radiological outcomes, particularly in patients with less than 4 cm² lesion.

Metatarsal Head Restoration With Tendon Autograft in Freiberg's Disease: A Case Report

Freiberg's disease is a form of osteochondrosis of a metatarsal head that often affects the second metatarsophalangeal joint, and that affects females more often than males. Repetitive microtrauma, osteonecrosis, and stress overload are the main factors in its pathophysiology. Surgical intervention is indicated in advanced cases wherein nonoperative treatment has failed. In this report, we describe the case of a young female who had Freiberg's disease localized to the third metatarsal head bilaterally and who was successfully treated with peroneus longus tendon transplantation.

Is the fracture morphology in the sagittal plane important in determining the ideal placement of the lag screw in intertrochanteric femoral fractures?: Ideal lag screw placement in intertrochanteric fractures in the sagittal plane

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the ideal placement of the lag screw taking into account the fracture morphology in the sagittal plane.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Three different morphology of fractures were created on the sagittal plane in femur models obtained in 3D CT scanning: posteriorly angled (Type A), transverse (Type B) and anteriorly angled (Type C). The lag screw was applied in each of the three fracture morphology as neutral, anteverted and retroverted in the sagittal plane. The nine models created were transferred to the Ansys Workbench program and analyzes were performed.

RESULTS

In Type A fracture, the stress value at the lag screw apex increase as the lag screw placement changes from the anteverted position to the retroverted position. It decreases in the Type B and Type C fractures. As the lag screw placement is changed towards the anteverted position, the stress at the lag screw-nail junction decreases in the Type A fracture and increases in the Type C fracture . There is no significant change in the Type B fracture. As the lag screw placement is changed towards the anteverted position, the stress in the calcar region increases in Type A fractures and decreases in Type C fractures. There is no significant change in type B fractures.

CONCLUSION

While the ideal lag screw placement in a type A fracture in the sagittal plane is the retroverted placement, the anteverted placement is ideal placement in type C fractures. Fracture morphology in the sagittal plane should be taken into account in the lag screw placement.

Predicting postoperative pain with neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Background

Postoperative pain is well known and usually disturbing complication of arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Inflammation plays an important role in the development and progression of postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictability of postoperative pain through the correlation of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with inflammation. In addition, the correlation of parameters such as operative time, tear size, age and gender with postoperative pain was evaluated.

Methods

Sixty three patients, who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, were evaluated in this single-center-based retrospective study. The American Society of Anaesthesiologists I and II risk groups were determined as the inclusion criteria. NLR was calculated using preoperative one day hemogram values in all patients. The amounts of analgesic use and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) scores at the 12th, 24th and 48th hours and on the 3rd and 7th days were recorded. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to correlate postoperative NRS scores with multiple independent factors, including preoperative NLR, sex, age, tear size, repair type, operative time, block time, postoperative analgesic intake and length of hospital stay.

Results

Sixty three patients with a mean age of 59.4 years (range, 40-72 years) were evaluated. The mean tear size was 2.8 cm (range, 1-5 cm), the mean operative time was 84.1 min (range, 35-135 min), the mean duration of block was 7.6 hours (range, 4-12 hours) and the mean length of hospital stay was 1.7 days (range, 1-3 days). There was no significant correlation between age, sex, tear size, repair type, operative time and postoperative NRS (p > 0.2). The preoperative NLR was found to be a strong predictor of postoperative NRS (p < 0.001, rho = 0,864). There was a correlation between the NLR and mean analgesic intake (p = 0,03). The duration of block was decreased in patients with a NLR above 2, while it was prolonged in patients with a NLR below 2 (p = 0.04, rho = -0,725).

Conclusion

The preoperative NLR was found to be a strongest factor predicting high acute pain levels after arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery. Likewise, NLR was also predictive of postoperative block time and analgesic consumption.