After dislocation of the elbow with avulsion of the medial epicondyle, the management of the latter is controversial. Of 28 children followed up after initial closed reduction of the elbow, 19 had a satisfactory closed reduction of the epicondyle and were treated in plaster. At follow-up, 11 children had a normal elbow and eight had lost an average of 15 degrees of flexion. Nine children had had open reduction and internal fixation of the fragment, one for an open injury, three for displacement of the epicondyle and six for intra-articular entrapment of the fragment. Five of these children had ulnar nerve contusion or compression, four requiring anterior transposition of the nerve. At review, only three had normal elbows and six had lost an average of 37 degrees of flexion. We agree with other authors that surgery is indicated only for children in whom the epicondyle is trapped in the joint or is significantly displaced after closed reduction.

We report the management of two children and 1 1 adults with paraplegia secondary to vertebral hydatidosis. Destruction of pedicles, posterior vertebral elements and discs as well as the vertebral bodies was common and all six patients with thoracic disease had involvement of adjacent ribs. The 13 patients had a total of 42 major surgical procedures; two patients died from postoperative complications and four from complications of the disease and paraplegia. All eight patients initially freated by laminectomy or anterior decompression alone relapsed within two years and seven required further surgery. Circumferential decompression and grafting gave the best results, six of nine patients being in remission an average of three years and six months later. The prognosis for such patients is poor; remission is the aim, rather than cure. Anthelminthic drugs may improve the prognosis, but radical surgery is likely to remain the keystone of treatment in the foreseeable future. The incidence of human infestation with Echinococcus granulosus is increasing, and the parasite is appearing in areas of the world previously free of it (Williams, Lopez, Adaros and Trejos 1971 ; Matossian, Rickard and Smyth 1977). We report the treatment and results of 13 patients with paraplegia due to vertebral hydatidosis.

Purpose The pedicle screw is a surgical device that has become widely used in spinal fixation and stabilization. Postsurgical complications such as screw loosening due to fatigue loading and screw breakage still need investigations. Clinical parameters such as the screw insertion type and depth, the bone density, and the patient degree of mobility greatly affect the mechanisms of the implant's failure/success. Methods The current finite element study focused on the prediction of the pedicle screw pullout strength under various conditions such as insertion type, insertion depth, bone quality, and loading mode. Results As depicted in this study, the preservation of the pedicle cortex as in the N1 insertion technique greatly enhances the pullout resistance. In addition, the higher the screw-anchoring depth, permitting to gear a maximum number of threads, the better the protection against premature breakouts of pedicle screws. Conclusions In agreement with experimental data, the type of insertion in which the first screw thread is placed immediately after the preserved pedicle cortex showed the best pullout resistance for both normal and osteoporotic bone.

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