Patient-reported outcomes following treatment of tibial non-union with circular frames

Abstract

The management of tibial non-union is challenging with protracted, often arduous, treatments. The purpose of this study was to assess patient-reported outcomes following treatment of tibial non-union in circular external fixators. Twenty-one patients with tibial non-unions who successfully completed treatment at a mean of 10.1 months (range 6–20) in a circular external fixator were sent questionnaires utilising the Enneking scoring system and Euroqol EQ-5D. There were 14 responses. The mean Enneking score was 58.0 % (34.3–77.1). Two patients were enthusiastic about their treatment, while three accepted but would not repeat the treatment. The Euroqol questionnaire found that 8 patients had difficulty with mobility, 10 had difficulty with usual activities and 12 had moderate pain. There was no statistically significant difference in the EQ VAS score of overall health state for treated patients compared with predicted scores for an age- and sex-matched UK population (77.7 vs 83.1, p = 0.07).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11751-014-0187-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Two-year clinical and economic burden, risk and outcomes following application of software-assisted hexapod ring fixation systems

“…Five prior longitudinal studies on HRF systems were identified in the published literature [ 10 , 12 – 15 ]. The five studies are small relative to the current study and are not easily generalizable [ 10 , 12 – 15 ].…”

“…Five prior longitudinal studies on HRF systems were identified in the published literature [ 10 , 12 – 15 ]. The five studies are small relative to the current study and are not easily generalizable [ 10 , 12 – 15 ]. Four of the prior studies were retrospective patient chart reviews with sample sizes ranging from 16 to 102 patients [ 12 – 15 ] and one of the prior studies was a patient survey (sample size of 14 patients) [ 10 ].…”

“…The five studies are small relative to the current study and are not easily generalizable [ 10 , 12 – 15 ]. Four of the prior studies were retrospective patient chart reviews with sample sizes ranging from 16 to 102 patients [ 12 – 15 ] and one of the prior studies was a patient survey (sample size of 14 patients) [ 10 ]. The overall rate of superficial infection in the current study was 20.5% and the rate of deep infection was 17.8%, whereas in other published studies the definitions of infection varied, and the rates of infection ranged from 2.0 to 64.0% [ 10 , 12 – 14 ]..…”

“…Depending on the pathology and treatment plans, patients may require HRF for extended durations, usually 3–12 months. Complications with the procedure may also extend treatment times and are challenging for the patients [ 10 – 12 ].…”

“…There are only a few studies documenting patient experience over 1- or 2-years of HRF use, in part due to its relative uncommon utilization, and a wide variety of indications [ 10 , 12 – 15 ]. We designed two studies to analyze the intra- and postoperative experience of patients with HRF application.…”