We treated 14 patients having knee instability and varus alignment with tibial osteotomy with or without ligament reconstruction. Five patients with varus angulated anterior cruciate deficiency (double varus) were treated with single-stage closed-wedge tibial osteotomy and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The remaining nine patients had varying amount of posterior cruciate and postero-lateral corner ligament injuries with varus angulation (triple varus); six of these patients had a ligament reconstruction using the Ligament Advanced Reconstruction System ligament with tibial osteotomy (intra-articular--posterior cruciate ligament/extra-articular--postero-lateral corner reconstruction), while the remaining three had a tibial osteotomy without a ligament reconstruction. Four of the nine patients with triple varus had open-wedge tibial osteotomy, and the remaining five had closed-wedge tibial osteotomy. The mean time interval between injury and index surgery of an osteotomy and ligament surgery was 8.3 years (range 1-20 years). At a mean follow-up of 2.8 years after tibial osteotomy, 12 knees (86%) were stable and eliminated of giving way while the remaining 2 were unstable. In one of these patients the result was compromised with severe infection, while in another there was combined cruciate ligament deficiency with postero-lateral corner ligament deficiency. Thirteen (93%) of the patients were able to participate in light recreational activities. None of these patients could return to competitive sports. Five (35%) continued to have pain of varying degree. The mean Cincinnati Knee Score improved from a mean preoperative of 53 (range 40-58) to a mean postoperative of 74 (range 58-82). Accordingly, there were two poor, four fair and eight good results. In-patients with triple-varus, open-wedge tibial osteotomy had better scores than those with closed-wedge procedure. The results of this series are encouraging, and we recommend a high tibial osteotomy along with ligament reconstruction in these complex injuries with varus alignment.
We set up a trial to test whether the KT1000 arthrometer would give consistent measurements of anteroposterior laxity when used by the same and different examiners on the knees of the same subjects on the same day. The results showed substantial inter- and intra-examiner variation in the measurements both of absolute displacement in single knees and of side-to-side differences between pairs of knees. This casts doubt on the reliability of the instrument when used to compare the results of different techniques for reconstructing injured cruciate ligaments.
One of the objectives of knee replacement is to correct flexion deformity, the frequent consequence of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. A review of 697 primary and revision replacements carried out between 1969 and 1985 and followed up from 1 to 16 years found that such deformity was present in 61% of knees before the primary operation. Replacement reduced this to 17% and the improvement was usually maintained. The deformity was present in only 21% of the replacements which required revision and the second operation reduced this to 8%. Flexion contractures affected rheumatoid knees more often and more seriously than osteoarthritic knees, but arthroplasty was more successful in correcting the deformity in the former. All of the 11 types of prosthesis used achieved some degree of correction, but the Walldius hinge and the variants of the Freeman condylar design were the most successful. Surprisingly, the best outcome, in terms of pain and reduced need for revision, was found in the rheumatoid knees most seriously deformed before operation, but this association was absent in the osteoarthritic knees. Postoperative deformity in knees without pain or extreme weakness did not appear to influence the patients' ability to walk or to use stairs or a chair, as measured by unexacting tests in the clinic.
Experiments have been performed on rabbits and sheep which demonstrate that pure carbon, in a flexible and filamentous form of great strength, can be used successfully to induce the formation of new tendons. A concept fundamentally different from that underlying the use of other artificial tendon replacements is involved, in which rapidly developing tendon-like tissue is induced to form around the implant. This gradually takes over the function of the implant. The early results in rabbits and the late results in sheep suggest that filamentous carbon may have a place in the replacement of the calcaneal tendon and the collateral ligaments of the knee.
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