Nowadays, the use of minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) in the management of fracture of the distal tibia is common. The various advantages of the MIPO technique, namely, preserving blood supply and better bone healing, have been described extensively in the literature. However, this technique is not without complication. Among all the complications, infection is one of the commonest. In the last 3 years, we have performed 48 cases of MIPO in treating distal tibia fractures. Our study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of these cases, with special attention to the infection rate and our experience in managing these infection cases. Our results showed that the average time until the patient started to bear full weight was 9.4 weeks. The average time for bony union was 18.7 weeks. There were 7 cases of late infection among these 48 cases. The rate was 15%. The presence of late infection had no obvious effect on the time to bony union. Twenty-five patients (52%) had the implants removed and the most common reason was skin impingement by the implant. The clinical presentation and management of these late infections are discussed. In conclusion, MIPO fixation of distal tibia fractures using a metaphyseal locking plate is safe and efficient. However, complications such as late wound infection and impingement are relatively common. The overall clinical outcome is still good despite the presence of these complications.

The management of fractures of the proximal shaft of the humerus has been evolving since the development of new techniques and new implants in recent years. It seems that this kind of fracture has an increasing incidence in the older, osteoporotic population. In the last 2 years, we have operated on 17 patients, with an average age of 65, who had proximal humeral shaft fractures treated by minimally invasive percutaneous osteosynthesis (MIPO) technique using the metaphyseal locking compression plate. Our study evaluated the surgical technique used and the outcome for these patients with regards to their range of movement and shoulder function. Our results showed that all the patients could achieve at least 140 masculine of shoulder abduction in the first 6 months after the operation, except for three patients who had shoulder impingement. These patients had an average Constant score of 76.8. All fractures had bony union at 6 months, except one, which was probably due to poor reduction in the initial operation. Another complication that we encountered was radial nerve neuropraxia. The ways to prevent these complications are discussed. In conclusion, MIPO fixation using the metaphyseal locking compression plate is a good option for the management of proximal humeral shaft fractures. It provides early functional recovery, but we had to pay special attention to some of the surgical details in order to minimise complications.

The effect of delay of surgery on the geriatric hip fractures has been a subject of interest in the past two decades. While the elderly patients will not tolerate long periods of immobilization, it is still unclear how soon these surgeries need to be performed. A review of existing literature was performed to examine the effect of timing of surgery on the different outcome parameters of these patients. Although there is conflicting evidence that early surgery would improve mortality, there is widespread evidence in the literature that other outcomes including morbidity, the incidence of pressure sores, and the length of hospital stay could be improved by shortening the waiting time of hip fracture surgery. We concluded that it is beneficial to the elderly patients to receive surgical treatment as an urgent procedure as soon as the body meets the basic anesthetic requirements.

Background: A geriatric hip fracture clinical pathway, led by an orthopedic surgeon, was developed in 2007. This clinical pathway team is multidisciplinary and consists of surgeons, physicians, anesthetists, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, medical social workers, dieticians as well as voluntary support groups. Methods: From early 2007 onward, all patients older than 65 years with acute isolated hip fractures were included. During the whole inpatient treatment, all relevant data were captured prospectively. The data in 2006, before the implementation of the clinical pathway, were collected retrospectively through computer record system. A study of the length of stay in acute and rehabilitation hospital and also the short-term mortality rate was carried out to compare the difference before and after the implementation of the pathway. Results: From 2007 onward, more than 1300 hip fractures were treated. After the implementation of the pathway, the preoperative length of stay was markedly shortened by 4 days, from an average of 6.1 days in 2006 to 1.5 days in 2011 (P < .05). The postoperative length of stay and the overall acute hospital length of stay also improved significantly. The length of stay in rehabilitation hospital was also significantly shorter in the 4-year period. Although the number of hip fractures increased annually with increased age and number of comorbidities each year, the inpatient mortality rate showed a gradual decrease from 2.7% in 2006 to 1.25% in 2010. The 30 days mortality rate also showed a decrease from 3.65% in 2006 to 2.75% in 2010. Conclusion: Geriatric hip fracture clinical pathway is an excellent approach to the geriatric hip fracture service. The most significant improvement is the dramatic shortening of the length of hospital stay. Our success in the past 5 years has proven its value and sustainability.

Geriatric hip fracture is one of the commonest fractures in orthopaedic trauma. There is a trend of further increase in its incidence in the coming decades. Besides the development of techniques and implants to overcome the difficulties in fixation of osteoporosis bone, the general management of the hip fracture is also very challenging in terms of the preparation of the generally poorer pre-morbid state and complicate social problems associated with this group of patients. In order to cope with the increasing demand, our hospital started a geriatric hip fracture clinical pathway in 2007. The aim of this pathway is to provide better care for this group of patients through multidisciplinary approach. From year 2007 to 2009, we had managed 964 hip fracture patients. After the implementation of the pathway, the pre-operative and the total length of stay in acute hospital were shortened by over 5 days. Other clinical outcomes including surgical site infection, 30 days mortality and also incidence of pressure sore improved when compared to the data before the pathway. The rate of surgical site infection was 0.98%, and the 30 days mortality was 1.67% in 2009. The active participation of physiotherapists, occupational therapists as well as medical social workers also helped to formulate the discharge plan as early as the patient is admitted. In conclusion, a well-planned and executed clinical pathway for hip fracture can improve the clinical outcomes of the geriatric hip fractures.

Hip fracture is a common injury among the elderly. Although patients who receive hip fracture surgery carry the best functional recovery compared to other treatment modalities, the presence of postoperative pulmonary complications, such as atelectasis, pneumonia, and pulmonary thromboembolism, may contribute to increased length of hospital stay, perioperative morbidity, and mortality. This review aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for preoperative assessment and perioperative strategies to reduce the risk of pulmonary complications after hip fracture surgery. Clinical assessment and basic laboratory results are sufficient to stratify the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Well-documented risk factors for pulmonary complications include advanced age, poor general health status, current infections, pre-existing cardiopulmonary diseases, hypoalbuminemia, and impaired renal function. Apart from optimizing the patient's medical conditions, interventions such as lung expansion maneuvers and thromboprophylaxis have been proven to be effective in reducing the risk of pulmonary complications after hip fracture surgery.

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Results from a prototype real-time PCR assay that separately detected human papillomavirus genotype 16 (HPV16), HPV18, and 12 other carcinogenic HPV genotypes in aggregate (cobas 4800 HPV test) and results from a PCR assay that detects 37 HPV genotypes individually (Linear Array) were compared using a convenience sample of cervical specimens (n ‫؍‬ 531). The percentage of total agreement between the two assays was 94.7% (95% confidence interval, 92.5 to 96.5%). The Linear Array test was more likely than cobas 4800 HPV test to test positive for the 12 other carcinogenic HPV genotypes among women without evidence of cervical disease (P ‫؍‬ 0.004).Persistent cervical infections by approximately 15 carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes cause cervical cancer and its immediate precursor lesions (17,22,27). DNA testing for carcinogenic HPV has proven itself to be more sensitive, albeit slightly less specific, for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia lesion grade 2 (CIN2) and more severe lesions (CIN2ϩ) (1,10,11,15,18,19). Carcinogenic HPV DNA testing of cervical samples has been introduced as an adjunct to cervical cytology into primary cervical cancer screening in the United States (20,26), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has endorsed its use as a stand-alone option in primary cervical cancer screening (14).The introduction of carcinogenic HPV DNA testing with cervical cytology as a primary screening modality creates a clinical dilemma-the management of carcinogenic HPV DNA-positive, cytology-negative women (4), who remain at a low but significant risk of CIN2ϩ. One solution for identifying women at risk for CIN2ϩ in this subgroup is the separate detection of HPV genotype 16 (HPV16) and HPV18, the most carcinogenic HPV genotypes, referring HPV16-or HPV18-positive women immediately to colposcopy and following up with HPV16-and HPV18-negative women after a year (13,26). While the first generation of clinical HPV tests pooled all carcinogenic HPV genotypes and did not include separate HPV genotyping, at least for HPV16 and HPV18, most of the next generation of clinical tests will offer at least HPV16 and HPV18 genotyping. The utility of full HPV genotyping is less certain (2), as it has been shown that repeatedly testing positive for any carcinogenic HPV is a good proxy for HPV genotypespecific persistence, especially in women aged 30 years and older (7).One of the next-generation tests, the cobas 4800 HPV test, detects a pool of 12 carcinogenic HPV genotypes in aggregate, with concurrent, separate detection of HPV16 and HPV18. We conducted the first evaluation of the cobas 4800 HPV test and compared the results to previously reported results (8) generated by a now well-validated Linear Array HPV genotyping test (5, 6, 9, 12) and to cervical diagnoses.We acquired a convenience sample of 552 anonymized residual PreservCyt (PC; Hologic) specimens, after cytologic interpretation and the histologic diagnosis had been rendered, with human subject research approvals as previously ...