Adhesive capsulitis of the glenohumeral joint is said to be a self-limiting process. However, in some patients the disease can last much longer than 1 year, which may lead patients to more invasive treatment than merely undergoing physiotherapy. Other patients do not accept this severe limitation and choose treatment options that restore the range of motion (ROM) more rapidly. Conventional open release techniques generally improve motion but involve extensive dissection. The purpose of this study was to develop a safe and reproducible technique of arthroscopic capsular release (ACR) and to present the results of this technique in the clinical situation. The technique for ACR was first defined in a cadaver study and then applied in 28 patients with primary adhesive capsulitis of the glenohumeral joint. The patients were selected for the arthroscopic release when conservative therapy had failed for at least 6 months. All of the patients had a global loss of shoulder motion and had motion restored with a combined anterior, posterior, superior, and inferior release of the of the capsule (360 degrees release). Additionally, in all patients synovectomy with electrocautery was performed. We documented the ROM in the different planes as well as the Constant score. The Constant score improved a mean of 41 points. Range of motion for all planes significantly improved (P < 0.01). Abduction improved from 75 degrees preoperatively to 165 degrees intraoperatively; 6 weeks after surgery, mean abduction was 168 degrees and at the time of follow-up it was 167 degrees. Mean external rotation in adduction improved from 3 degrees preoperatively to 75 degrees intraoperatively. After 6 weeks, the mean external rotation in adduction was 72 degrees and at the time of follow-up the external rotation reached 76 degrees. Mean external rotation in abduction improved from 4 degrees preoperatively to 81 degrees intraoperatively, 80 degrees after 6 weeks and 85 degrees at the time of the last follow-up. Internal rotation in abduction was 17 degrees preoperatively. Intraoperatively, mean internal rotation was 59 degrees. An angle of 58 degrees was documented at 6 weeks follow-up, and at the last follow-up an angle of 63 degrees was documented. No postoperative lesion of the axillary nerve was present. We concluded that arthroscopic capsular release is a reliable method for restoring motion with minimum morbidity in carefully selected patients. When performing an ACR the incision of the glenohumeral joint capsule should be undertaken at the glenoidal insertion in the abducted and external rotated shoulder.
The purpose of this study was to document the effect of arthroscopic management in patients with knee stiffness after total knee replacement. We present a case series study, in which 32 patients have been treated for moderate arthrofibrosis of the knee after total knee replacement, with the same regimen. We have excluded all cases of stiffness, because of infection, mechanical mal-alignment, loosening of the implants and other obvious reasons of stiffness of the knee, rather than pure arthrofibrosis. All patients first underwent a trial of conservative treatment before going for arthroscopic management. A pain catheter for femoral nerve block was inserted just before anesthesia for post-operative pain management. Arthroscopic arthrolysis of the intra-articular pathology was performed in a standardized technique with release of all fibrous bands in the suprapatellar pouch, reestablishing the medial and lateral gutter, release of the patella, resection of the remaining meniscal tissue or an anterior cyclops, if needed. Intensive physiotherapy and continuous passive motion were to start immediately post-operatively. All the patients were available for the follow up and they were evaluated using the knee society rating system. A total of 25 of the 32 procedures resulted in an improvement of the patients knee score. All the knees operated upon had intra-articular fibrous bands, hypertrophic synovitis and peri-patellar adhesions. A total of eight patients suffered from an anterior cyclops lesion and six patients showed pseudomenicus. In 19 cases a medial and lateral relapse of the patella was performed; only 5 patients got an isolated lateral release. The mean knee flexion was 119 degrees (100-130) at the end of arthroscopy and was 97 degrees (75-115) at the last follow up. The eight patients with extension lags decreased from 27 degrees (10 degrees-35 degrees) pre-operatively to 4 degrees (0-10) at time of follow up. The average knee society ratings increased from 70 points prior to the arthroscopy to 86 at time of follow up, which was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.01, student's t test). The average function score also showed improvement from 68 points pre-operatively to 85 at the time of final follow up. The average pain scores improved from 30 points pre-operatively to 41 at the time of final follow up. Our results showed that arthroscopic management of knee stiffness following total knee replacement is a safe and efficient method of treatment. Pain and functional knee scores can improve markedly.
Femoral component malalignment is one of the main causes of persisting anterior knee pain after knee replacement. This study examined interindividual reproducibility in perioperative definition of the transepicondylar axis (TEA) as a reference for measuring the rotational alignment of the femoral component. Eight surgeons experienced in knee prosthetic surgery marked on Thiel-embalmed cadaver specimens the reference points that they would normally use to define the TEA during knee replacement. These were digitized by a video system, and all the spots defined by the surgeon were translated into a reference picture, allowing a digital analysis of the distances between all the spots marked. The maximal distance between the spots that the participants had marked as relevant for the TEA was 13.8 mm at the lateral and 22.3 mm at the medial epicondyle. Projecting all spots marked into one picture resulted in an area of 116 mm2 on the lateral and 102 mm2 on the medial epicondyle. The median range of the fault between two different participants was 6.4 mm on the lateral side (range 13.2 mm) and 9.7 mm on the medial (range 21.6 mm). Because the rotational alignment of the femoral component is extremely relevant for successful implantation of total knee prosthesis, the interindividual discrepancy in defining the TEA as reference is rather high. As this reference line is commonly used, the perioperative variance and the resulting rotational discrepancy of the femoral component must be considered.
Posterior calcaneal exostosis treatment modalities showed many controversial opinions. After failure of the conservative treatment, surgical bursectomy and resection of the calcaneal exostosis are indicated by many authors. But clinical studies also show a high rate of unsatisfactory results with a relative high incidence of complications. The minimal surgical invasive technique by an endoscopic calcaneoplasty (ECP) could be an option to overcome some of these problems. We operated on 81 patients with an age range between 25 and 55 years, 40 males and 41 females. The radiologic examination prior to surgery documented in all cases a posterior superior calcaneal exostosis that showed friction to the Achilles tendon. All patients included in the study had neither clinical varus of the hind foot nor cavus deformities. All patients had undergone a trial of conservative treatment for at least 6 months and did not show a positive response. The average follow-up was 35.3 months (12-72). According to the Ogilvie-Harris-Score, 34 patients presented good and 41 patients excellent results, while three patients showed fair results, and three patients only poor results. All the post-operative radiographs showed sufficient resection of the calcaneal spur. Only minor postoperative complications were observed. ECP is an effective and of minimal-invasive procedure for the treatment of patients with calcaneal exostosis. After a short learning curve, the endoscopic exposure is superior to the open technique has less morbidity, less operating time, and nearly no complications; moreover, the pathology can better be differentiated.
The purpose of this study was to describe our technique and results of arthroscopic resection of a symptomatic os trigonum via two posterior portals in 10 cases. Between 1999 and 2005 we treated 10 patients with endoscopic resection of a symptomatic os trigonum. The age ranged between 19 and 32 years (average 25.9). The average follow-up was 25 months (6-61 months). Time interval between the onset of pain and endoscopic resection of the os trigonum was 20 months. Of the 10 patients, 9 were symptom free for activities of daily living (ADL) within 4 weeks after surgery. They resumed their professional sport activities in a period of 8 weeks. The average AOFAS ankle/hindfoot scale increased from 43 preoperative to 87 postoperatively. We observed no complication in these 10 patients. Endoscopic resection of the symptomatic os trigonum yields good results with minimal surgical morbidity and short recovery time.
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