Introduction: The severity of symptoms, rate and completeness of recovery after closed treatment of the fractured clavicle has not been fully explored.

Materials and Methods: The severity and duration of pain, analgesic requirements, ability to perform acts of daily living, return to work, driving and sport were recorded along with appearance of the shoulder in 58 patients between one to two years after fracture was recorded. Radiographs were assessed by Robinson’s classification8 supplemented by fracture displacement.

Results: The majority of patients experienced severe pain that required codeine, paracetamol and ibuprofen. 13/58 patients (22%) ceased to experience pain by one month, 35/58 (60%) by three and 48/58 (83%) by six. There was no improvement in the remaining ten patients after six months.

21 patients described difficulty reaching and lifting (36%), 11/36 (31%) digging the garden, 13/58 (22%) were unable to reach between their shoulder blades. Over 90% had no difficulty with feeding (55/58), dressing (50/58), personal toilet (56/58), brushing hair (41/46), hanging up clothes (52/56) or ironing (37/41) but overall 23/58 patients (40%) had some functional restriction 1–2 years after injury. 18/48 patients (38%) returned to work within one month, 39 (81%) by three, and all by six. 28/30 (93%) clerical workers had returned within three months compared with 11/18 (61%) of manual (p < 0.05) 36/42 (86%) sportsmen returned. High impact sportsmen were less likely to resume than low impact or overhead. 38/46 (83%) of drivers returned by three months and all by six.

40/58 (69%) patients noted cosmetic deformity the severity of which was associated with worse functional outcome (p = 0.002). The degree of displacement of the fracture was associated with cosmetic deformity (p = 0.015) and functional outcome (p = 0.025), but the Robinson classification8 alone was not.

Conclusion: The majority of patients with a fractured clavicle perceive a cosmetic deformity and a substantial minority impaired function. There is potential to improve outcome and deformity by reduction and fixation in those with displacement of two or more cortical diameters.

We report four patients who showed hundreds of brilliant white loose bodies at arthroscopy of the knee after a short history of pain and crepitus. Histological, historical and clinical evidence is presented which indicates that the aetiology of this condition is the culture of chondrocytes in synovial fluid. It is suggested that reversal of the usually accepted order of events in synovial osteochondromatosis could provide a better and unified explanation for both that condition and multiple loose bodies. The term 'snow storm knee' is proposed to describe the dramatic picture seen at arthroscopy.

Between December 1982 and June 1986, 98 displaced subcapital femoral neck fractures were treated using the Charnley-Hastings bipolar hemiarthroplasty. Although the patients were elderly, often with associated medical problems, the operation was well tolerated and the mortality at one and six months was 14.4% and 24.5% respectively. Fifty-four hips were reviewed after an average follow-up of 33 months; 64.8% of patients had a good or excellent result. The fair or poor results were seen mainly in patients with poor pre-operative mobility and multiple medical problems. A significant cause of morbidity was dislocation (two interprosthetic) which occurred in six hips. There were two cases of deep sepsis but neither patient was fit for further surgery. There were no cases of acetabular erosion requiring revision surgery.

All tibial shaft fractures treated at one hospital during a five-year period were studied in a prospective trial. Ninety-one displaced fractures in adults were treated using a conservative policy that included early bone grafting when indicated. Sound bony union was obtained in all cases. Those that healed primarily took on average 16.3 weeks whereas the 24 per cent that required bone grafts took 35.1 weeks. The number of complications, most of which were minor, was considered acceptable. It is concluded that provided early bone grafting is performed when necessary, a basically conservative policy of treatment is satisfactory; bony union of all displaced tibial fractures is achieved in a reasonable period of time.

The results of thirty-one Manchester knee arthroplasties performed on twenty-eight patients are reviewed. There were sixteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis all of whom were satisfactory at the time of follow-up. Of the fifteen patients with osteoarthritis over half the arthroplasties failed after between twelve and thirty-six months. We suggest that resurfacing arthroplasty of the knee using the Manchester prosthesis should be used only for rheumatoid patients.