Salih Marangoz

Correction of Arthrogrypotic Clubfoot With a Modified Ponseti Technique

Surgical releases for arthrogrypotic clubfeet have high recurrence rates, require further surgery, and result in short, painful feet. We asked whether a modified Ponseti technique could achieve plantigrade, braceable feet. Ten patients (mean age, 16.2 months; range, 3–40 months), with 19 arthrogrypotic clubfeet, underwent an initial percutaneous Achilles tenotomy to unlock the calcaneus from the posterior tibia followed by weekly Ponseti-style casts. A second percutaneous Achilles tenotomy was performed in 53%. Mean number of casts was 7.7 (range, 4–12). From pretreatment to completion of initial series of casts, mean scores of Dimeglio et al. improved from 16 to 5 (ranges, 12–18 and 2–9, respectively), Catterall scores (as modified by Pirani and colleagues) from 4.8 to 0.9 (ranges, 1.5–6.0 and 0.0–2.0), and maximum passive dorsiflexion from −45° (range, −75° to −20°) to 10° (range, 0° to 40°). Ankle-foot orthoses maintained correction. At the minimum followup of 13 months (mean, 38.5 months; range, 13–70 months), the mean maximum dorsiflexion was 5° (range, –20° to 20°), two patients had posterior releases and no patient’s ambulatory ability was compromised by foot shape. Arthrogrypotic clubfeet can be corrected without extensive surgery during infancy or early childhood. Limited surgery may be required as the children age.

Articulated hip distraction: A treatment option for femoral head avascular necrosis in adolescence

Purpose: To describe the clinical outcomes of adolescent patients treated with articulated hip distraction (AHD) for avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head. Outcomes were examined in order to better understand the usefulness of and indications for performing hip arthrodiastasis in this patient population. Methods: Retrospective review was performed on 31 hips with femoral head AVN treated with AHD. Mean age at treatment was 14.7 years. Preoperative and follow-up pain and physical limitations, as well as follow-up range of motion, were assessed. Results: Follow-up assessment was obtained at 18.7 years. Time of follow-up was 57.4 months after distraction. The etiologies of AVN were the following: 10 slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), 5 idiopathic AVN, 3 with hip dysplasia, and 12 others. There was a significant difference in pain preoperatively and postoperatively (P < 0.001), most patients (78.6%, n = 22) had less pain after the treatment. Multivariate regression model demonstrated that patients with SCFE were likely to have less improvement in pain than patients with other etiologies (odds ratio, 22.7; P = 0.035). All patients had activity limitations before the treatment; at the postoperative assessment, half of our patients (n = 14) reported no limitations in their regular daily activities. Eight patients had minor complications with the fixator. At follow-up, 5 patients (17.2%) converted to total hip replacement or arthrodesis. Survival rates were 90.6% at 5 years, 77.7% at 10 years, and 38.8% at 15 years. Conclusions: Hip distraction arthroplasty in adolescent patients with symptomatic AVN reduces the amount of pain and limitation in daily activities at a follow-up of 4.7 years. Arthrodiastasis is not the final solution to AVN. With longer follow-up, patients symptoms increases. Patients with AVN secondary to SCFE do not seem to benefit from this procedure as much as other patients do. Articulated hip distraction is a safe and appropriate procedure to perform in these patients. The procedure might be able to delay definitive surgical procedures at an early age, restoring function and improving the patients quality of life.

Implantation of vancomycin microspheres in blend with human/rabbit bone grafts to infected bone defects

In orthopaedic applications, allografts are used for restoration of bone defects. In order to combine the effects of bone repair and to prevent the infection, antibiotic-impregnated bone grafts are under current investigation with promising early results. In this study, to preserve the stability of antibiotics and to provide appropriate release profiles for 4–6 weeks, antibiotic-loaded microspheres were administered in combination with allografts and vancomycin was the antibiotic loaded to microspheres. Particle size, surface characteristics, loading capacity and in vitro release characteristics of the microspheres with and without allografts were determined. In vivo studies were performed on rabbits and antibiotic amount was determined by a fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) method from synovial fluid sample aspirated. According to the results, although the in vitro study demonstrated effective antibiotic release of vancomycin from antibiotic-impregnated allografts for 5 weeks, in vivo conditions led to an early instability of the antibiotic (in powder form) and contrary to the high initial loading dose an effective release could not be obtained from the allografts after the first week. Following these studies, it was determined that antibiotic release over a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for 6 weeks was realized from vancomycin-loaded microspheres which were implanted in a blend with allografts in bone defects. In conclusion, preservation of the antibiotic in microspheres maintained the bioactivity and provided the controlled antibiotic release, thus implantation of microspheres in a blend with allografts seemed to be a promising carrier system for the orthopaedic applications.

Intramedullary nailing supplemented with Poller screws for proximal tibial fractures.

To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Kulkarni et al.1 The authors used poller screws to facilitate the reduction of the proximal tibial fractures during intramedullary nailing. Poller screws helped avoid malreduction owing to increased diameter of the medullary cavity in the metaphyseal regions. Postoperatively, 65 of the 75 fractures exhibited no deformity. It is obvious that the authors meant no sagittal plane deformity. It would have been better if the authors could clarify this. In the results section, the authors stated that “Preoperatively, of the 75 cases, 40 cases had procurvatum, 28 had recurvatum, and 17 had no deformity”. The sum of these numbers is 85. Would the authors please clarify this?