1. The equipment used in the correction of scoliosis by the anterior route is described. 2. The important points in surgical technique are emphasised. 3. The results of operation on fifty-one patients are analysed. 4. Attention is drawn to the high rate of fusion, the stability of correction, and the brevity of the period of convalescence

1. Resistant cases of tennis elbow are explained on the basis of an entrapment neuropathy of the radial nerve and its branches. 2. An operation is described to explore these nerves through an anterior muscle-splitting incision. 3. Thirty-eight elbows in thirty-six patients have been operated on with improvement in all

1. A case of hernia of the anterior tibial muscles is described in which repair of the hernia under tension was followed by local muscle necrosis and contracture. 2. This case supports the theory of pathogenesis of the anterior tibial syndrome that increased tension in the compartment embarrasses the blood supply of the contained muscles

There is some evidence that the anterior tibial vascular tree is poorly developed in children with club foot. We have found a significantly greater prevalence of absence of the dorsalis pedis pulse in the parents of such children. We also found significantly more tobacco smokers among the club-foot parents than in the control group

1. A patient with complete ischaemia of the muscles of the calf and anterior compartment of the leg is described. 2. In diagnosis, tenseness of the calf, equinus and pain on attempted dorsiflexion of the ankle are most important. 3. Peripheral pulses may be present and do not contra-indicate decompression by operation to prevent ischaemia

1. Four out of five patients with spondylolisthesis, four-fifths of whom were seen at least five years after operation, had their symptoms relieved after posterior spinal fusion. 2. In a small series of patients treated by anterior spinal fusion, the results were less successful

We used hydroxyapatite blocks to keep open Salter innominate osteotomies in 19 children (21 hips), avoiding the need for an autograft taken from the anterior superior iliac spine. Our results were satisfactory, with less deformation of the iliac bone, and a reduction of both blood loss and operating time

Objectives

The incidence of acute Achilles tendon rupture appears to be increasing. The aim of this study was to summarize various therapies for acute Achilles tendon rupture and discuss their relative merits.

1. The clinical and post-mortem findings are described of a patient who sustained a hyperextension injury of the neck with paraplegia. 2. There was no radiological evidence of fracture: osteoarthritis of the spine was present. 3. Evidence is presented that the cord was damaged from behind by the lamina of the vertebra below a tear in the anterior longitudinal ligament

Aims

Asphericity of the femoral head-neck junction is common in cam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and usually quantified using the alpha angle on radiographs or MRI. The aim of this study was to determine the natural alpha angle in a large cohort of patients by continuous circumferential analysis with CT.

1. The case is described of a twenty-nine-year-old man with back pain due to an extensive vascular malformation replacing the major part of a vertebral body. 2. Treatment was by transthoracic ligation of the segmental vessels, with irradiation and spinal fusion later. 3. The importance of demonstrating the origin of the thoraco-lumbar supply to the anterior spinal artery is emphasised

Aims

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of repeat epidural steroid injections as a form of treatment for patients with insufficiently controlled or recurrent radicular pain due to a lumbar or cervical disc herniation.

We present the results of the management of 17 relapsed club feet in 12 children using the Ilizarov method with gradual distraction and realignment of the joint. Review at a mean of three years after surgery showed maintenance of correction with excellent or good results in 13 feet. Five mobile feet which had been treated by a split transfer of the tibialis anterior tendon two weeks after removal of the frame had an excellent result

We report three patients having transoral fusion at C2/3 or C3/4 after fractures, with no infections or surgical complications and sound union. The operative technique and the relative merits of different approaches to the upper cervical spine are discussed and the transoral approach to the anterior aspect of the upper three cervical vertebrae is commended to the specialist surgeon

We report a case of post-traumatic compartment syndrome of the biceps-brachialis compartment after a minor injury. The condition is well recognised after a drug overdose, but surgeons should be aware that a compartment syndrome may also be caused by apparently trivial trauma, and that it may develop in regions other than the anterior compartments of the leg and forearm

The anterior exposure of the upper thoracic spine using standard methods is often difficult and limited. We report our experience using a technique described by Sundaresan et al. (1984) in which the medial portion of one clavicle and part of the manubrium sterni are excised. In 10 cases we found this to be a useful and safe procedure

Three cases of a rare complication of Salter Type II fracture-separations of the distal tibial epiphysis are described. Interposition of the anterior tibial neurovascular bundle between the displaced epiphysis and the lower tibia prevented reduction and, in two patients, the blood supply to the foot was compromised. Open reduction and internal fixation resulted in a satisfactory outcome in each case

In our practice sequestration of the shafts of long bones in children because of acute osteomyelitis continues to be a problem. Conventional procedures for bone grafting are likely to fail. Vascularised grafts with microvascular anastomosis are technically demanding with a high rate of failure. Transfer of the rib on its vascular pedicle to achieve anterior fusion in the thoracic spine is now well established and the length of the pedicle available is adequate to allow grafting of a diaphyseal defect in the humerus. We describe the successful use of this procedure in two patients

Eight patients had symptoms from ganglia arising from the superior tibio-fibular joint with physical signs that resembled the anterior tibial and peroneal compartment syndromes. Five ganglia were in the peroneus longus muscle in which they produced only an ill-defined firmness. Histologically the ganglia showed much cellular activity which must not be mistaken for malignant change