Increased age, extracapsular fractures and delayed surgery have worse outcomes. Regarding gender, even if not significant at the 0.05 level, probability of survival for females is higher for all time intervals. Updated, regional studies could be used in patient management to improve outcomes whilst decreasing costs.

BackgroundDeep vein thrombosis is a well-known complication of fracture occurrence, lower limb surgery and periods of prolonged immobilisation. Its incidence can be increased even more in specific cases with metastatic bone disease and adjuvant treatment. There is a small amount of literature that addresses the incidence of DVT by comparing osteosynthesis and arthroplasty as surgical treatments. Current recommended anticoagulation protocols might be inadequate for specific groups of cancer patients undergoing osteosynthesis or arthroplasty.MethodsThe study was designed and performed in a retrospective manner and carried out on patients that presented at our Emergency Clinical County Hospital between 01.01.2008–31.12.2016. The patients’ evolution was followed for a standard of 2 months. All our deep vein thrombosis events were diagnosed via venous duplex imaging. The studied lot (n = 85) was paired with a control group (n = 170) with similar baseline characteristics.ResultsOur lot was comprised of 85 patients that underwent 85 surgeries, on both of our hospital’s Orthopaedic and Traumatology wards. When performing the student t-test and calculating OR (odds ratio) and RR (risk ratio) we encountered 11 cases of DVT in our studied group and 12 cases of DVT in our control group (p < 0.04). We found statistical significance when correlating DVT with type of implant (prosthesis), the presence of metastases over primary tumour and the choice of implant (prosthesis over intramedullary nail). There was no statistical significance found when correlating DVT events with the type of anticoagulation and the amount of blood transfusion units required.ConclusionPatients who undergo surgical treatment for lower limb pathological fracture due to malignancy are at increased risk of DVT or death due to PE under current general thromboprophylaxis regimens. The risk is higher for the immediate postoperative period (10 days). The risk is increased by metastasis, arthroplasty and adjuvant therapy (radiotherapy, chemotherapy), and we think that a more aggressive prophylactic protocol should be used.

BackgroundThere is no consensus regarding the use of retaining or replacing cruciate implants for patients with limited deformity who undergo a total knee replacement. Scope of this paper is to evaluate whether a cruciate sparing total knee replacement could have a reduced operating time compared to a posterior stabilized implant.MethodsFor this purpose, we performed a randomized study on 50 subjects. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon in the same conditions to minimize bias and only knees with a less than 20 varus deviation and/or maximum 15° fixed flexion contracture were included.ResultsSurgery time was significantly shorter with the cruciate retaining implant (P = 0.0037). The mean duration for the Vanguard implant was 68.9 (14.7) and for the NexGen II Legacy was 80.2 (11.3). A higher range of motion, but no significant Knee Society Scores at 6 months follow-up, was used as controls.ConclusionsIn conclusion, both implants had the potential to assure great outcomes. However, if a decision has to be made, choosing a cruciate retaining procedure could significantly reduce the surgical time. When performed under tourniquet, this gain does not lead to reduced blood loss.

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Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a common cause of nosocomial diarrhea. The multi-modal infection control strategies designed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have had an unintended positive effect on other hospital-acquired infections. The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 prevention measures on healthcare-associated C. difficile infections in a large regional acute care center. Electronic databases were reviewed from the start of the pandemic (March) up to November 2020. Average values from the same months from 2019 and 2018 were used as controls. Using the ICD-10 discharge coding, 65 C. difficile cases per 25,124 patients were identified in 2020 compared to 151/43,126 from the 2018 and 2019 averages (P=0.0484). The C. difficile cases were found to be decreased after the implementation of COVID-19 infection control strategies compared to previous years, despite an increase in antibiotic use. Subset analysis during lockdown showed a clear decrease but the difference was not statistically significant. For the months of recovery after lockdown, the number of cases was comparable to previous years.

Our study showed that the translation of the OHS is a reliable, reproducible and valid measure of function in patients who undergo treatment for hip pathology.

Distal tibia fractures are reported to have a high complication rate pre-operatively as well as post-operatively, which can include open fractures, soft tissue damage, infection, malalignment, pseudarthrosis and ankle arthrosis. The operative treatment for the extra-articular distal tibia fractures is a controversial topic in the orthopaedic literature. Some of these fractures are proximal enough to be treated with an intramedullary nail while others are too distal for that. The aim of our study was to compare the results we have had with intramedullary nail (IMN) and minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) in distal metaphyseal (extra-articular) tibia fractures. The study was designed prospectively between January 2013 and March 2016 and took place on the Orthopaedics and Traumatology ward of a Clinical Emergency County Hospital in western Romania. The follow-up visits were scheduled one month, three months and six months post-operatively. For evaluating the ankle function, we used the Olerud-Molander ankle score (OMAS) and union was evaluated at six months on ankle X-rays. At the six-month follow-up visit the average scores were 75.55 (20-100) for the IMN lot and 74.23 (20-90) for the MIPO lot, without finding any statistical difference between the two groups (p >0.1). At the six-month follow-up, X-ray union was objected in 48 (90.5%) of our patients, the IMN lot having worse results (85.18%) than the MIPO lot (96.15%). The results we encountered showed little to no statistical difference when it comes to the functional score we used (OMAS score), leading us to believe that you can achieve comparable results with both implants.

Introduction: Bone marrow lesions (BMLs) are commonly described as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings associated with stress injuries or trauma. The presence of BMLs closely correlates with pain and rapid joint deterioration. Case presentation: A 51-year-old healthy man presented to our clinic with severe knee pain due to BMLs. After 3 months of conservative treatment, arthroscopy and subchondroplasty (SCP) of the medial femoral condyle was performed. The IKDC (International Knee Documentation Committee) score improved from 39.9 to 66.7 at 6 months, and to 87.4 at 1 year after surgery. The KOOS (Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome) score improved from 38.5 to 77.7 at 6 months, and to 92.6 at 1 year after surgery. The Tegner Lysholm score improved from 23 to 80 at 6 months, and to 95 at 1 year after surgery. Conclusion: SCP may provide a viable approach to reduce pain associated with BML, with minimal risk of significant complications.