No abstract

The purpose of this prospective randomized clinical study was to compare the outcomes of mosaic type autologous osteochondral transplantation (OAT) and microfracture (MF) procedures for the treatment of the articular cartilage defects of the knee joint in athletes. Between 1998 and 2002, a total of 57 athletes with a mean age of 24.3 years and with a symptomatic lesion of the articular cartilage in the knee were randomized to undergo either OAT or MF procedure. There were 28 athletes in OAT group and 29 in MF group. Patients were evaluated using a modified Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) scores, MRI and clinical assessment after 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after the surgery. According to the modified HSS and ICRS scores, functional and objective assessment showed that 96% had excellent or good results after OAT compared with 52% after MF procedure (P<0.001). In 12, 24 and 36 months after the operations, the HSS and ICRS showed statistically significantly better results in the OAT group (P=0.03; P=0.006; P=0.006). Twenty-six (93%) athletes following OAT and fifteen (52%) athletes following MF returned to sports activities at the preinjury level at an average of 6.5 months (range, 4-8 months) after the operations. At an average of 37.1 months follow-up, our prospective, randomized, clinical study in athletes has shown significant superiority of the OAT over MF for the repair of articular cartilage defects in the knee.

The results of minimally invasive techniques used for total knee replacement are controversial. Despite reported advantages such as faster recovery, there are some concerns regarding component positioning. We compared mini-midvastus versus medial parapatellar arthrotomy with respect to component position and functional results. We included 70 osteoarthritis total knee replacement patients in our study. Patients were randomised for the approach. We recorded Knee Society scores before and after the surgery and radiological component position. Patients were followed up to 12 weeks after the surgery. We found that the mini-midvastus approach was associated with better Knee Society scores six weeks after surgery; after 12 weeks the difference was not statistically significant. We found no difference related to the approach in radiological component position. The mini-midvastus approach is associated with faster recovery and reproduces the same accuracy in component positioning as the medial parapatellar approach.

Isolated not displaced or combined with not displaced axis fractures atlas fractures can be treated effectively with a rigid cervical collar alone. Isolated displaced fractures or not displaced but with concurrent displaced axis fractures require immobilization by the halo vest.

Wear was greater for the larger femoral head and was correlated to capsular distension.