Level IV.

Purpose Changes to routine clinical approaches during the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are necessary to decrease the risk of infection in patients and healthcare providers. Because the treatment of many conditions is time sensitive, it is crucial to modify the management of paediatric orthopaedic cases by minimizing any subsequent morbidity. Our purpose was to describe the different measures and management strategies that have been applied by paediatric orthopaedic surgeons and to show how paediatric orthopaedic practice is affected in Turkey. Methods All active practicing members of the Turkish Society of Children’s Orthopedic Surgery (TSCOS) were contacted via telephone and asked to fill out a survey (24 questions). For participants, either an email or web link was sent to their mobile phones. An online survey generator was used. Results A total of 54 survey responses were collected, for a response rate of 55%. In all, 62% reported a 75% decrease in their outpatient frequency, whilst 75% reported a 75% decrease in their surgery frequency. A total of 86% of the performed surgeries were emergency cases. None of the participants performed elective surgeries, and 61% did not have the consent form specific to COVID. Choice of protective measures have changed considerably; 96% stated that they needed an algorithm to follow for situations such as pandemic. Conclusion This national survey revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on paediatric orthopaedic practice and practitioner response varies in terms of reactions and precautions. The necessity of creating a protocol based on what we have learned must be taken into consideration. Level of evidence V

Relationship between the tilt angle of bipolar radial head prostheses and radiological radiocapitellar instability

ObjectiveThis study aimed to present a treatment algorithm for the correction of the hallux valgus deformity in Cerebral Palsy (CP) patients and to discuss the outcomes based on our clinical and radiological results.Methods29 patients (45 feet) were included in the study. The mean age of the patients at the time of the surgery was 14 (range 6–22) years. The mean follow-up was 33 (range 22–59) months. A reconstructive procedure was performed on 19 patients (27 feet); a soft tissue surgery and exostectomy of the bunion in six patients (11 feet); and MTP joint arthrodesis in four patients (7 feet). The hallux valgus angle (HVA) and the anteroposterior intermetatarsal angle (IMA) were used for radiologic evaluation and the DuPont Bunion Rating Score was used for clinical evaluation.ResultsThe follow-up period was 36 (range 22–59) months in reconstructive group, 27 (range 24–29) months in soft tissue group, and 29 (range 23–41) months in MTP arthrodesis group. Significant improvements were detected in hallux valgus angle in three groups postoperatively but in soft tissue group correction loss was observed during follow up. Best results were achieved in arthrodesis group and worse in soft tissue group in terms of clinical evaluation.ConclusionAccording to our results isolated soft tissue procedures are ineffective in CP patients. Soft tissue procedure combined with metatarsal osteotomy has satisfactory results.Level of evidenceLevel IV, therapeutic study.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a surgical procedure which is widely used in the treatment of gonarthrosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The incidence of stress fractures in tibia in the patients with RA is higher compared to normal patients. In this study, we report two cases of TKA and intramedullary nailing in RA patients with severe knee arthritis and tibial nonunion. Both patients had a satisfactory clinical outcome with radiological healing of the tibial fracture.

No abstract

ObjectiveTibial derotation osteotomy can be used in the treatment of rotational deformities in case of ineffective conservative management. Our aim was to evaluate the results of the patients who underwent minimal invasive plate osteosynthesis for tibial derotation osteotomies.MethodsTotal of 16 patients (17 procedures) were included in this study. Mean age was 11.5 (3–25) years. We clinically assessed the tibial torsion by measuring the thigh-foot angle (TFA). No immobilization was used postoperatively and range of motion exercises were begun immediately. The patient was allowed weight-bearing activity, as tolerated, when callus formation was seen on the radiographs, at approximately three to four weeks after surgery.ResultsThe mean follow-up time was 27.5 months. Mean preoperative and follow up TFA were 27° of internal rotation and 3.74° of external rotation, respectively. A mean of 22.3° improvement was achieved postoperatively. There was only one wound detachment, which was accepted as a complication and healed with local wound care.ConclusionsThe recurrence risk and correction loss can be decreased with plate-screw fixation. Minimal invasive surgery would also decrease the risk of wound complications.Level of evidenceLevel IV, Therapeutic study.

The most common treatment method for a fixed knee flexion contracture more than 10 degrees in cerebral palsy (CP) is distal femoral extension osteotomy (DFEO). However, a serious complication after a DFEO is neurological impairment. Its rates were reported as 5-40%. Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM), widely used in spinal surgery and in other fields, is a valuable tool to define any neurological injury during operation. The aim of our study was to determine surgical steps with risk of neurological injury and to report if precautions would be effective in recovering signal loss. We performed IONM during DFEO of 23 knees of 12 children with CP. IONM was performed by recording somatosensory evoked potentials, transcranial motor evoked potentials and freerun electromyography during defined steps throughout the surgery. Preoperative and postoperative popliteal angles, flexion contractures and physeal posterior distal femoral angles were evaluated. We detected alert signals at osteotomy or manipulation steps of surgeries of all patients. We observed persistent alert signals in two cases (2 out of 23 knees; Group 2). In this group, the action potentials recovered only after 5 and 10 degrees of undercorrection at the osteotomy sites. Alert signals disappeared after a brief period of waiting in other cases. Throughout mean 37 months of follow-up, none of our patients experienced any neurological complication. The study concludes that the surgical steps in DFEO with a higher risk for a neurological complication were the osteotomy and manipulation steps. Alert signals were detected with the help of IONM, and preventive measures were effective in recovering neuromonitoring recordings.