Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a suggested joint-preserving treatment for symptomatic early-stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Limited studies of this treatment have been published. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment in a relatively large patient cohort. The authors reviewed the files of 68 patients with 78 symptomatic joints with Steinberg stage I and II osteonecrosis of the femoral head. All patients were treated with hyperbaric oxygen at the authors' medical health center. Pretreatment and immediate posttreatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were compared. On follow-up, a telephone interview was conducted to determine the survival of the joint. Modified Harris Hip Score and Short Form 12 health survey (SF-12) questionnaires of the start of treatment and at follow-up were obtained and evaluated for statistically significant differences. Half of the joints were stage 1 and half were stage II. Seventy-four joints underwent both pre- and posttreatment MRI. Eighty-eight percent of joints showed improvement posttreatment. On follow-up at a mean of 11.1±5.1 years, 54 patients (58 joints) were located and answered the questionnaires. At the time of follow-up, 93% of the joints survived. Mean Harris Hip Score improved from 21 to 81 (P<.0001), the mean physical component of the SF-12 improved from 24 to 46 (P<.0001), and the mean mental component of the SF-12 improved from 54 to 59 (P<.0001). The authors concluded that hyperbaric oxygen treatment is effective in preserving the hip joint in stage I and II osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

We suggest using this method when the patient is planned to continue with conservative treatment.

Patellar tendon ruptures are the third most common injury to the extensor mechanism. These injuries are debilitating to the patient, and delays in treatment can present a challenge to the treating surgeon. Chronic patellar tendon injuries are rare and are more difficult to manage given proximal patellar retraction, scarring, and atrophy of surrounding tissues. There is no consensus on the optimal approach for treatment, and numerous reconstruction techniques have been described using a variety of graft choices and fixation methods. We describe our surgical technique for a 3-fold reconstruction of a chronic patellar tendon rupture using an Achilles tendon allograft augmented with a vascularized ipsilateral hamstring tendon autograft and additional FiberTape augmentation. The aim of this procedure is to restore patellar height and prevent extensor lag.

Introduction: An accurate selection of tibial nail and screws measurements is paramount in purpose to achieve proper tibial fracture reduction and fixation, avoid irritation of the soft-tissue envelope, and enable extraction of the nail in the future, if needed. To this date, many methods were suggested to determine the length and diameter of an intramedullary tibial nail, preoperatively and intraoperatively. Each method has its disadvantages, and most are lacking in accuracy. Digital aids are currently available for preoperative planning for many types of surgeries. Methods: Retrospectively, 27 patients operated for diaphysial tibial fracture intramedullary nailing were selected. The contralateral leg was imaged using AP and lateral radiograph views. Six orthopaedic trauma surgeons used the TraumaCad program (Voyant Health) to plan the appropriate nail and distal locking screws measurements, while blinded from the actual hardware used in the operation. Later, they also conducted quality review regarding the operation carried out and suggested correction in measurements of the hardware. Intra-observer and inter-observer reliability was calculated. Results: The inter-correlation coefficient for the planned nails was 0.97 and 0.84 ( P < 0.001) in AP view for length and diameter, respectively, and similarly 0.98 and 0.86 ( P < 0.001) in lateral view. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the locking screws length was 0.7 ( P < 0.02) and 0.82 ( P < 0.01) for the proximal and distal medio-lateral screws, respectively, and 0.9 ( P < 0.001). The ICC between AP and lateral views was 0.98 for length and 0.96 for diameter ( P < 0.001). The scores and corrections given by the examiners to the actual selected nail were ICC of 0.98 and 0.96 ( P < 0.001) for length and diameter, respectively. The examiners suggested they would correct, post-factum, the length of the nail in average 28% and the diameter in average 30%. The average observer resulted in ICC of 0.94 and 0.91 ( P < 0.001) in length and only 0.77 and 0.67 ( P < 0.001) in diameter (AP and lateral views, respectively) when comparing the actual nail used and the post-factum plan. Conclusion: Preoperative planning of tibial fractures' nailing using imaging of the contralateral leg and a digital graphic planning program is an accurate and reliable method. It may serve to reduce errors, surgical time, and radiation dose in the operating room. This method could also be applied for surgical debriefing.

Background: Patellar chondral lesions can be particularly challenging to manage in younger and more active populations. Purpose: To synthesize, organize, and summarize the results and complication rates of various patellar cartilage restoration techniques. Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: We performed this systematic review according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using the Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane databases. Studies were included that reported on surgical treatment of patellar chondral defects with ≥5 patients and 12 months of follow-up data. Relevant demographic data from the included studies were extracted, and patient-reported outcome scores, visual analog scale for pain results, return-to-sport rate, complications, and concomitant procedures were documented. Results: There were 24 studies that met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 575 patients (male, n = 239; female, n = 336). In total, 6 surgical techniques were utilized. In 9 studies, the surgical procedure of choice was osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT); 8 studies evaluated autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI); 3 evaluated advanced microfracture/autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis; 1 evaluated osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCA); 1 evaluated particulate juvenile articulated cartilage; and 2 evaluated a synthetic osteochondral graft. No uniform functional outcome score or assessment was utilized across studies. OAT was predominantly used for smaller chondral lesions (<2 cm2) and demonstrated minimal complication rates and satisfactory outcome scores. Advanced microfracture techniques showed promise, with improvement in outcome scores and zero complications. Matrix-induced ACI consistently exhibited higher mean improvement in the measured outcome scores and resulted in fewer complications when compared with previous generations of ACI. Conclusion: OAT and ACI were the most studied procedures for isolated patellar chondral defects. Advanced microfracture techniques showed promise, but indications (ie, size) and variability in techniques need to be elucidated in higher-level studies. Further prospective studies comparing OCA and matrix-induced ACI for larger patellar defects are necessary to determine the superior technique.