Brucellosis is a common global zoonotic disease, which is responsible for a range of clinical manifestations. Fever, sweating and musculoskeletal pains are observed in most patients. The most frequent complication of brucellosis is osteoarticular involvement, with 10% to 85% of patients affected. The sacroiliac (up to 80%) and spinal joints (up to 54%) are the most common affected sites. Spondylitis and spondylodiscitis are the most frequent complications of brucellar spinal involvement. Peripheral arthritis, osteomyelitis, discitis, bursitis and tenosynovitis are other osteoarticular manifestations, but with a lower prevalence. Spinal brucellosis has two forms: focal and diffuse. Epidural abscess is a rare complication of spinal brucellosis but can lead to permanent neurological deficits or even death if not treated promptly. Spondylodiscitis is the most severe form of osteoarticular involvement by brucellosis, and can have single- or multi-focal involvement. Early and appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the disease is important in order to have a successful management of the patients with osteoarticular brucellosis. Brucellosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis for sciatic and back pain, especially in endemic regions. Patients with septic arthritis living in endemic areas also need to be evaluated in terms of brucellosis. Physical examination, laboratory tests and imaging techniques are needed to diagnose the disease. Radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bone scintigraphy are imaging techniques for the diagnosis of osteoarticular brucellosis. MRI is helpful to differentiate between pyogenic spondylitis and brucellar spondylitis. Drug medications (antibiotics) and surgery are the only two options for the treatment and cure of osteoarticular brucellosis.

BACKGROUNDPlatelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hyaluronic acid have been shown to be useful in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. However, investigations comparing the efficacy of these two drugs together are insufficient.AIMTo compare the outcomes of PRP vs hyaluronic acid injections in three groups of patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis.METHODSThis randomized controlled trial study involved 95 patients. Thirty-one subjects received a single injection of PRP (group PRP-1), 33 subjects received two injections of PRP at an interval of 3 wk (group PRP-2) and 31 subjects received three injections of hyaluronic acid at 1-wk intervals (group hyaluronic acid). The patients were investigated prospectively at the enrollment and at 4-, 8- and 12-wk follow-up with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) and Visual Analogue Scale questionnaires.RESULTSPercentages of patients experiencing at least a 30% decrease in the total score for the WOMAC pain subscale from baseline to wk 12 of the intervention were 86%, 100% and 0% in the groups PRP-1, PRP-2 and hyaluronic acid, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean total WOMAC scores for groups PRP-1, PRP-2 and hyaluronic acid at baseline were 63.71, 61.57 and 63.11, respectively. The WOMAC scores were significantly improved at final follow-up to 42.5, 35.32 and 57.26, respectively. The highest efficacy of PRP was observed in both groups at wk 4 with about 50% decrease in the symptoms compared with about 25% decrease for hyaluronic acid. Group PRP-2 had higher efficacy than group PRP-1. No major adverse effects were found during the study.CONCLUSIONPRP is a safe and efficient therapeutic option for treatment of knee osteoarthritis. It was demonstrated to be significantly better than hyaluronic acid. We also found that the efficacy of PRP increases after multiple injections.

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Background and Purpose. The Salter innominate osteotomy has been an effective method to treat the developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH) over the past decades; however, several postoperative complications and deficiencies were reported. In this study, we evaluated outcome of a newly modified Salter osteotomy in patients presenting with DDH. Methods. We reviewed retrospectively 76 patients (90 hips) with DDH aged ≥ 18 months, who underwent open reduction and a modified osteotomy by a single surgeon. The distal osteotomy segment of pelvis was shifted anterolaterally in the amount of osteotomy cross-section, but not downwards. The mean age at surgery was 2 years and 11 months (1.5 to 16 years). Femoral shortening was conducted when necessary. The duration of operation varied between 60 and 90 minutes. The mean follow-up was 4 years and one month (range 15 months to 7 years and 9 months). All patients were followed up both clinically (based on the modified MacKay criteria) and radiologically (based on the modified Severin criteria). Results. Clinically, 94.5% of hips had excellent and good results at final follow-up, and only 5.5% had a fair condition. Radiographically, at the final follow-up 77.8% of hips were grade IA (excellent), 12.2% were grade IB, 6.7% were grade II, and 3.3% were grade III (fair). The preoperative mean acetabular index was 47.85° (41° to 59), which decreased to 17.16° (13° to 22°) immediately after the surgery (p<0.0001) and progressed to 11.24° (7° to 19°) at the final follow-up (p<0.0001). The mean initial postoperative center-edge angle was 30.3° (25° to 42°) significantly improved to 39.1 (31° to 56°) at the final follow-up (p<0.0001). Avascular necrosis of femoral head occurred in 4.4% of hips (4 patients). Conclusion. The results show that our modified Salter osteotomy is safe and associated with significant benefit for the management of patients suffering from DDH.

Background: To compare the effectiveness of ischaemic compression (IC) applied directly to the knee versus dry needling (DN) with respect to pain, functional status and sensitivity to mechanical stimulation of vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Methods: A total of 54 patients with unilateral PFPS aged 20–30 years were selected randomly from patients referred to physical therapy clinics of Babol University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Twenty-seven patients were allocated to either IC or DN groups. Three sessions of treatment were applied over 1 week with follow-up at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months. Primary outcome measures comprised the Kujala questionnaire score for functional status, numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) for pain intensity and pressure pain threshold (PPT) for sensitivity to mechanical stimulation; these were measured and recorded before treatment and 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after the last treatment session. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the between-group comparisons of any variables at the various follow-up points. Both groups (n = 27 participants each) had significant improvements (p < 0.05) in pain, functional status and PPT values at follow-up. Conclusions: There were no differences in markers of pain, function or pressure sensitivity over a 3-month follow-up period between patients with PFPS treated with DN and IC. Temporal improvements in both groups suggested that the two techniques may be similarly effective for the treatment of PFPS.