Aims

This study aims to evaluate a new home medical stretching device called the Self Treatment Assisted Knee (STAK) tool to treat knee arthrofibrosis.

Aim: To analyze early clinical outcome and patients satisfaction following Oxford phase 3 Unicompartmental Knee arthroplasty at a mean follow up of 30 months from a single centre in the Trent arthroplasty register.

Methods: Between 1999 and 2002, 180 Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knees were implanted in 173 patients. Average age at operation was 66 years. All patients were assessed pre and post-operatively using Oxford Knee questionnaire. At a mean follow up of 30 months (range 12–48 months); ninety knees in 83 patients were assessed using Oxford and EuroQol health questionnaire. Subjective patient’s satisfaction was also assessed.

Results: Seven knees out of 180 were revised early in the series giving a failure rate of 4%. Three patients had died due to unrelated causes. 90 knees were assessed at recent follow-up. The mean Oxford knee score improved from 48 preoperatively to 28 post-operatively. Subjectively 76% of the patients felt that the operation was successful and 74% were able to resume their leisure activities with out any pain.

Conclusion: This study shows that the short-term results following minimally invasive Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knee implantation technique can yield satisfactory clinical and functional results. Using stringent selection criteria, Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knee offers a good alternative to total knee arthroplasty.

We describe a previously unpublished and possibly unrecognised association between injuries to the posterior cruciate ligament and Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Over a two-year period the authors have treated thirty patients with isolated or combined injuries to the posterior cruciate ligament, confirmed with MR1 or examination under anaesthetic/arthroscopy. Five of these had previously suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease as adolescents, leaving them with prominent tibial tuberosities.

We feel there may be a significant association between these two conditions and the importance of this association is twofold: – firstly, at the time of injury the prominent tibial tuberosity impacts first and results in increased posterior translation of the tibia rendering the posterior cruciate ligament more prone to injury – secondly, during examination of the injured knee, the prominence of the tibial tubercle may make a posterior sag sign less obvious thus obscuring the diagnosis unless one is diligent.

We believe that patients who have previously suffered with Osgood-Schlatter disease are vulnerable to posterior cruciate ligament injury and this should be borne in mind whilst examining them following knee injuries.