Twenty-two knees with osteochondritis dissecans diagnosed before skeletal maturity were followed prospectively into middle age: 32% had radiographic evidence of moderate or severe osteoarthritis at an average follow-up of 33.6 years; only half had a good or excellent functional result. We found that osteoarthritis was more likely to occur if the defect was large or affected the lateral femoral condyle.

We measured the blood loss during and after hip replacement in two groups of women, each consisting of 10 patients. In one group the lumbar plexus was infiltrated with bupivacaine, in the other it was not. The group in whom the plexus was blocked had significantly less blood loss.