Girish Swamy

Arachnoiditis Following Caudal Epidural Injections for the Lumbo-Sacral Radicular Pain

Caudal epidural steroid injection is a very common intervention in treatment of low back pain and sciatica symptoms. Although extensively used, it is not devoid of complications. A few reports of chemical and infective arachnoiditis exist following lumbar epidural anaesthesia, but none following a caudal epidural steroid injection.We report a case of arachnoiditis following caudal epidural steroid injections for lumbar radiculopathy. The patient presented with contralateral sciatica, worsening low back pain and urinary retention few days following the injection, followed by worsening motor functions in L4/L5/S1 myotomes with resultant dense foot drop. Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging suggested infective arachnoiditis with diffuse enhancement and clumping of the nerve roots within the lumbar and sacral thecal sac. As the number of injections in the management of back pain and lumbo-sacral radicular pain is increasing annually, it is imperative to have a thorough understanding of this potentially dangerous complication and educate the patients appropriately.

Incidence of vascular complications arising from anterior spinal surgery in the thoraco-lumbar spine.

Study Design Modern biomaterials and instrumentation have popularised surgery of the thoraco-lumbar spine through an anterior route. The advantage of anterior surgery is that it allows for a direct decompression of the compromised spinal canal. However, the potential for devastating long-term sequelae as a result of complications is high. Purpose The aim of this study was to give a general overview and identify the incidence of vascular complications. Overview of Literature There is limited literature describing the overall incidence and complications of anterior spinal surgery. Methods A retrospective review of a prospective database of 1,262 consecutive patients with anterior surgery over a twelve-year period. Results In our study, 1.58% (n=20) of patients suffered complications. Injury to a major vessel was encountered in 14 (1.11%) cases, of which nine involved an injury to the common iliac vein. In six cases, the original procedure was abandoned due to a life-threatening vascular injury (n=3) and unfavourable anatomy (n=3). Conclusions The incidence of vascular and other complications in our study was relatively low. Nevertheless, the potential for devastating long-term sequelae as a result of complications remains high. A thorough knowledge and awareness of normal and abnormal anatomy should be gained before attempting such a procedure, and a vascular surgical assistance especially should be readily accessible. We believe use of access surgeons is mandatory in cases with difficult or aberrant anatomy.

Nontraumatic Fracture of the Femoral Condylar Prosthesis in a Total Knee Arthroplasty Leading to Mechanical Failure

This paper reports a case of fatigue fracture of the femoral component in a cruciate-retaining cemented total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A 64-year-old man had undergone a primary TKA for osteoarthritis 10 years previously at another institution using the PFC-Sigma prosthesis. The patient recovered fully and was back to his regular activities. He presented with a history of sudden onset pain and locking of the left knee since the preceding three months. There was no history of trauma, and the patient was mobilizing with difficulty using crutches. Radiographs revealed fracture of the posterior condyle of the femoral prosthesis. Revision surgery was performed as an elective procedure revealing the broken prosthesis. The TC3RP-PFC revision prosthesis was used with a medial parapatellar approach. The patient recovered fully without any squeal. Mechanical failure of the knee arthroplasty prosthesis is rare, and nontraumatic fracture of the femoral metallic component has not been reported before.

Chronic adhesive capsulitis (Frozen shoulder): Comparative outcomes of treatment in patients with diabetes and obesity

Despite an abundance of information about frozen shoulders, larger prospective studies on the outcomes of intervention are limited. The purpose of our study was to assess the functional and clinical outcomes with a further aim to analyse the independent effects of diabetes and BMI. A prospective cohort study of all 210 primary frozen shoulders over a 12 - month period was analysed. The Oxford Shoulder score was used to assess functional outcomes before and after interventions. Further demographic data was collected. The effect of interventions including steroid injections, arthroscopic release and manipulation was analysed. 54% patients responded to intra-articular steroid injections. Patients with recalcitrant symptoms (46%) had an arthroscopic release. Failure of initial injection therapy was higher in diabetes [70%] than non-diabetes [44%] patients. After surgery, the Oxford shoulder score improved from a mean of 41.6 to 27.2 at 3 months [p < 0.05]. 85% of patients had satisfactory resolution of symptoms with external rotation improving from a mean of 10.5 ° to 61.3 ° [p < 0.05]. There was no statistical significance in outcomes of patients with BMI of >_30 and <30. Understanding the outcomes of surgical intervention is important in counselling patients with frozen shoulder. We found that patients with diabetes had higher failure rates of conservative management and increasing needs for multiple surgery but complete resolution of symptoms can still be achieved and that BMI status in isolation was not a predictor of poorer outcome.

The Rheumatoid Cervical Spine

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive, debilitating disease with serious physical, psychological and economic consequences [24, 36]. RA afflicts about 1% of world population, more than 2.9 million Europeans and over two million patients in the United States. The clinical course of RA fluctuates and prognosis is unpredictable [13, 14]. Seventy percent of patients with recent onset of RA show evidence of radiographic changes within 3 years [35]. Fifty percent of RA patients are work-disabled within 10 years of disease onset [1, 30, 37].