Aims

To systematically review the efficacy of split tendon transfer surgery on gait-related outcomes for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and spastic equinovarus foot deformity.

Unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) is an established treatment for single compartment end-stage knee arthrosis with good recorded survivorship. Although often used in more active, younger patients, patient selection remains controversial. To identify risk factors for early failure we compared patients with UKR failure requiring revision to total knee replacement (TKR) with a control group.

Between September 2002 and 2008, 812 Oxford Mobile Bearing Medial UKRs were implanted. 21 implants (20 patients) required revision to TKR within 5 years. The leading cause for revision was lateral compartment disease progression (11 patients). In the revision group, 17 patients were female (81%), average age at index surgery was 64.1 (range 48–81) and average BMI 31.8 (range 24.4–41.5).

Our UKR patients with early failure requiring revision were more likely to be female (p=0.0012) whilst age and BMI were similar between groups. Although the change in tibio-femoral valgus angle was similar, control group patients started in varus becoming valgus post-operatively, whereas revision group patients started in valgus and became more valgus post-operatively. This might explain lateral compartment disease progression as our leading cause of early failure. We believe females with medial compartment disease but valgus alignment are at greater risk of early failure and it is particularly important not to overstuff the medial compartment.

Manipulation under anaesthetic (MUA) is an established treatment for frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder may coexist with other shoulder conditions, whose treatment may differ from MUA. One such condition is calcific tendonitis. Only one study to date documents treatment of patients with frozen shoulder and concurrent calcific tendinitis.

The objective was to demonstrate that MUA and injection is a satisfactory treatment for concurrent diagnosis of frozen shoulder and calcific tendinitis.

Patients with a clinical diagnosis of frozen shoulder and radiological evidence of calcific tendinitis were prospectively recruited from Jan 1999 – Jan 2009. Treatment by MUA and injection was performed. Clinical examination, Oxford Shoulder Scores and need for further treatment were used as outcome measures.

Fourteen patients (median age 53.5 years) were identified with frozen shoulder and concurrent calcific tendinitis. Significant improvement in both Oxford Shoulder Score and range of movement was achieved following MUA (P values < 0.001). Two patients required further treatment (not for calcific tendinitis). This improvement was maintained in the long term (median 107 wks).

It is our belief that MUA and injection is a safe and effective treatment, addressing the frozen shoulder with MUA takes priority, and as such frozen shoulder “trumps” other pathologies occurring simultaneously.

Unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) is an established treatment for single compartment end-stage arthrosis with good recorded survivorship. UKRs are often implanted into more active younger patients, but patient selection remains controversial. A recent study, led by the Royal College of Surgeons Clinical Effectiveness Unit, demonstrated that prosthesis revision rates decrease strongly with age (Van Der Meulen et al 2008). It has therefore been suggested that UKR should only be considered in elderly patients. This contrasts our observed experience of early revision cases leading us to compare these patients with a control group.

Between September 2002 and 2008, 812 Oxford Mobile Bearing Medial UKRs were implanted. We compared all patients who underwent UKR revision to Total Knee Replacement (TKR) against a control group of 50 consecutive UKR patients.

20 implants have required revision to TKR in 19 patients since 2002. Median age at index surgery was 68 (range 48-81), median BMI was 31 (range 25-41.5), 17 patients were female (85%), and median implant survival was 25 months (range 6-57). Control group median age at index surgery was 66 (range 46-81), median BMI was 30 (range 22-51), and 27 patients were female (54%). Median Oxford Knee Score recorded in September 2009 was 36 (range 14-54) for revision patients and 21 (range 14-39) for the control group (p=0.021).

Our UKR patients with early failure requiring revision are far more likely to be female (p=0.015), as well as older and with a higher BMI than the control group. We feel this is a subset of patients at high risk of failure, despite meeting all criteria for UKR. The underlying causes are likely to be multifactorial, but a key factor may be that this group has varus tricompartment osteoarthritis rather than classical anteromedial osteoarthritis. Our data counters recent advice based on National Joint Registry data.

This study reports our long-term results of arthroscopically assisted meniscal suture using an inside-out technique.

Between January 1990 and July 1997, 112 patients underwent 121 meniscal repairs in 112 knees. The average follow-up is 8.7 years (range 5.4 to 12.9 years). Repairs consisted of interrupted sutures using 2.0 PDS. Sutures were placed arthroscopically using a suture shuttle system and tied behind the capsule after making a small postero-medial or posterolateral incision. The meniscus and bed was prepared using a Rasp or hand-held instruments. Fibrin clot techniques were not used. 79% of patients had associated ACL reconstruction in addition to meniscal suture. All surgery was carried out by our senior author (PTM). Rehabilitation involved non-weight-bearing in an extension splint for 3 weeks and partial weight-bearing for a further 3 weeks followed by a progressive rehabilitation programme.

The average age at surgery was 23.9 years (range 12.2 to 57.7 years). The average time from injury to surgery was 13.5 months (range 0 to 60 months). There were 74 males and 38 females. 51% of patients were professional or semi-professional athletes. Repair involved 79 medial menisci, 42 lateral menisci. The average number of sutures used was 3.8 (range 1 to 12). Operative findings and procedure were entered prospectively into a database. Patients were assessed clinically until recovery and long-term follow-up consisted of a detailed postal questionnaire.

The average Lysholm scores were 86.4, with 59% excellent, 16% good, 17% fair and 8% poor. IKDC subjective scores averaged 82.0, with 40% excellent, 21% good, 27% fair and 12% poor. Confirmed failure of meniscal repair (as indicated by MRI or re-arthros-copy) has been identified in 11.8% of patients. A further 10.8% have a probable failure based on a recurrence of mechanical symptoms. Of the failures 73% were professional or semi-professional sportsman. Their average return to sport after surgery was 9.5 months (range 3 to 18 months). Failure was reported at an average of 29.3 months after surgery (range 0 to 84 months).

With an aggressive approach towards meniscal preservation we have achieved a success rate of 77.4% at an average follow-up of 8.7 years.

The majority of these tears are vertical posterior horn or large bucket handle and associated with an ACL reconstruction. The majority of patients are young and involved in a high level of sporting activity.

Introduction and Aims: Treatment options for medial gonarthrosis include high tibial osteotomy (HTO). There has been a shift towards opening wedge techniques partially due a perceived higher complication rate with closing wedge techniques. This has not been our experience and we describe the outcome of a large series of closing wedge HTOs.

Method: We reviewed the case records of 313 patients who underwent a total of 374 closing wedge high tibial osteotomies by three surgeons for medial compartment gonarthrosis between 1989 and 2003. The mean outpatient follow-up was 16 months and the mean time post-surgery was 66 months. We identified any post-operative complications and the early clinical outcome including those known to have proceeded to joint replacement. The mean age of patient was 52 years (range 19–72). In all patients a laterally based wedge, mean size nine degrees (range 4–18), was excised and the osteotomy stabilised with one or two stepped staples.

Results: Outcome following closing wedge osteotomy was generally good, only six percent of patients complained of continuing knee pain, although not at a level that required further intervention. Symptoms in 3.5% of knees deteriorated and required total knee replacement at a mean of 63 months (range 16–112) following osteotomy. No intra-operative difficulties were encountered with these replacements. The complication rate was acceptable with an overall rate of 7.8%. One patient required revision shortly after surgery due to inadequate initial correction and one developed a transient peroneal nerve neuropraxia. There were no other neurovascular or intra-operative complications recorded. All the osteotomies united, although nine patients had delayed union, taking a mean of five months for their osteotomies to unite. Other complications included: five patients who had staples removed due to irritation, one who developed a stitch abscess and one who developed a deep wound infection. Two knees had a reduced ROM and required an MUA. In addition, six patients developed symptomatic DVTs, three with pulmonary emboli, but there were no deaths.

Conclusion: In our experience, closing wedge osteotomy for medial gonarthrosis is a safe and reliable procedure with a good early outcome and an acceptable complication rate of 7.8% in this series, with a low incidence of serious complications that compares favourably with the quoted complication rates for opening wedge techniques.

This study reports our long-term results of arthroscopically assisted meniscal suture using an inside-out technique.

Between January 1990 and July 1997, 112 patients underwent 121 meniscal repairs in 112 knees. The average follow up is 8.7 years (range 5.4 to 12.9 years). Repairs consisted of interrupted sutures using 2.0 PDS. Sutures were placed arthroscopically using a suture shuttle system and tied behind the capsule after making a small posteromedial or posterolateral incision. The meniscus and bed was prepared using a Rasp or hand-held instruments. Fibrin clot techniques were not used. 79% of patients had associated ACL reconstruction in addition to meniscal suture. All surgery was carried out by our senior author (PTM). Rehabilitation involved non-weight bearing in an extension splint for 3 weeks and partial weight bearing for a further 3 weeks followed by a progressive rehabilitation program.

The average age at surgery was 23.9 years (range 12.2 to 57.7 years). The average time from injury to surgery was 13.5 months (range 0 to 60 months). There were 74 males and 38 females. 51% of patients were professional or semi-professional athletes. Repair involved 79 medial menisci, 42 lateral menisci. The average number of sutures used was 3.8 (range 1 to 12). Operative findings and procedure were entered prospectively into a database. Patients were assessed clinically until recovery and long-term follow up consisted of a detailed postal questionnaire.

The average Lysholm scores were 86.4, with 59% excellent, 16% good, 17% fair and 8% poor. IKDC subjective scores averaged 82.0, with 40% excellent, 21% good, 27% fair and 12% poor. Confirmed failure of meniscal repair (as indicated by MRI or re-arthroscopy) has been identified in 11.8% of patients. A further 10.8% have a probable failure based on a recurrence of mechanical symptoms. Of the failures 73 % were professional or semi-professional sportsman. There average return to sport after surgery was 9.5 months (range 3 to 18 months). Failure was reported at an average of 29.3 months after surgery (range 0 to 84 months).

With an aggressive approach towards meniscal preservation we have achieved a success rate of 77.4% at an average follow-up of 8.7 years. The majority of these tears are vertical posterior horn or large bucket handle and associated with an ACL reconstruction. The majority of patients are young and involved in a high level of sporting activity.

Introduction The standard surgical practice for athletes with recurrent anterior shoulder instability who play contact or collision sports is to perform either the Bankart repair or Bristow procedure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcome of a combined Bankart and Bristow procedure for recurrent anterior shoulder instability in high contact and collision athletes.

Methods Ninety-one patients underwent 100 combined Bankart and Bristow procedures for anterior shoulder instability (nine bilateral cases). Combined procedures were indicated in athletes participating in contact and collision sports. We were able to follow-up 71% of cases (71 shoulders in 65 patients) at an average of 6.5 years after surgery (range 2.1 to 12.3 years). The average age at the time of surgery was 23 years (range 15 to 47 years). There were 63 males and only two females. All patients were participating in competitive level sport at the time of injury of which 76.1% was rugby. A Rowe rating was calculated for each patient.

Results Forty-four percent were graded excellent, 18% good, 27% fair and 11% poor. Overall 66% of athletes returned to their pre-injury level of sport or better, whilst 25% return to a lower level of their sport. Nine percent did not return to sport after surgery. This cohort included 37 professional or semi-professional players of whom 73% were able to return to their pre-morbid or a higher level of sport. Only six percent have experienced further dislocations since surgery. A further 12% have experienced shoulder subluxation and another 19% report feelings of insecurity. Four percent have required an additional procedure. Eighty-nine reported no or only mild limitation of function or discomfort and 87% were either very satisfied or satisfied with their outcome.

Conclusions The combined open Bankart repair and Bristow procedures gives good results in athletes who participate in contact and collision sports. It has proved to be a robust procedure in the long term, allowing almost 75% of professional and semi-professional athletes to return to the same level or higher of sporting participation.

Introduction The gold standard technique for meniscal repair has been an inside-out technique. Current practice suggests that certain tears are incapable of healing although anecdotally this has not been our experience. This study reports our long-term results of an aggressive approach to meniscal preservation using an inside out technique.

Methods Between January 1990 and July 1997, 116 patients underwent 125 meniscal repairs in 116 knees. The average follow-up is 8.8 years (range 5.4 to 12.9). Repairs consisted of interrupted sutures using 2.0 PDS. Sutures were placed arthroscopically using a suture shuttle system and tied behind the capsule after making a small postero-medial or postero-lateral incision. The meniscus and bed was prepared using a Rasp or hand-held instruments. There were 49 left knees and 67 right knees in 77 males and 39 females. Repair involved 80 medial menisci and 45 lateral menisci. The average number of sutures used was 3.8 (range 1 to 12).

Results The average Lysholm scores were 86.0, with 54% excellent, 21% good, 17% fair and 8% poor. IKDC subjective scores averaged 81.5, with 39% excellent, 23% good, 25% fair and 13% poor. Failure of meniscal repair has been identified in 30% of patients. Of these two thirds were associated with a further significant injury. Of the failures 73% were professional or semi-professional athletes. The average time for return to sport after surgery was 9.5 months (range 3 to 18 months). Failure was reported at an average of 29.3 months after surgery (range 0 to 84 months).

Conclusions The long-term results of the meniscal suture using this arthroscopically assisted inside out technique in our unit are acceptable. In addition the majority of the failures have occurred in professional athletes. We would therefore expect our long term failure rate to be at the high end of the spectrum. These results are comparable to those using standard suturing techniques.