The American journal of orthopedics
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Comparative Study
Acute achilles tendon ruptures: a comparison of minimally invasive and open approach repairs followed by early rehabilitation.
We retrospectively compared the outcomes of early functional weight-bearing after use of 2 different approaches (minimally invasive, standard) for surgical repair of the Achilles tendon. We reviewed the cases of 63 consecutive patients who underwent repair of an acute closed Achilles tendon rupture and had follow-up of at least 6 months. Of these 63 patients, 33 were treated with a minimally invasive posterolateral approach (minimal group), and 30 were treated with a standard posteromedial approach (standard group). ⋯ At final follow-up, the groups did not differ in their functional outcomes (ability to perform a single heel raise, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores). Used after a minimally invasive posterolateral or standard posteromedial approach, early functional weightbearing is an effective and safe method for treating acute ruptures of the Achilles tendon, and it has a lower rate of soft-tissue complications. A standard posteromedial approach has a higher rate of wound complications, and a minimally invasive posterolateral approach has a higher rate of sural nerve injury.
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Case Reports
Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve palsy following shoulder surgery in the beach chair position: a report of 4 cases.
Neuropathy of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve can present as pain, decreased sensation, and/or burning or tingling on the anterolateral thigh. We present 4 cases of lateral femoral cutaneous nerve palsy following shoulder surgery in the beach chair position, all of which occurred in obese patients. ⋯ Full resolution of symptoms can be expected within 6 months following conservative management. A preoperative discussion regarding this complication should occur with obese patients undergoing shoulder surgery in the beach chair position.
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Coccidioidomycosis infections result from inhalation of the dimorphic fungus Coccidiodes immitis. Coccidioidomycosis typically is benign, but its extremely rare disseminated form can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Dissemination of the fungus to the spine is difficult to control and usually requires an aggressive combination approach (surgical/medical). ⋯ The patient presented with an unstable C5 pathologic fracture caused by C immitis. After corpectomy and stabilization of the cervical spine along with antifungal therapy with amphotericin B and oral fluconazole, he developed multiple complications. This case illustrates some of the potential pitfalls in managing spinal osteomyelitis caused by C immitis and the need for continuous medical therapy after surgical treatment.
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We tried to reduce our rate of conversion from index knee arthroscopy to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for degenerative pathology (primarily meniscal) in the setting of coexisting arthritis in patients 50 years or older. We hypothesized that, by using a 2-surgeon independent evaluation method, we could reduce the rate to less than 10% by 3-year follow-up. Forty-two consecutive patients were initially evaluated by the knee replacement surgeon to determine if they were TKA candidates. ⋯ The overall rate of conversion to TKA was 26%. The 2 main groups (arthroscopy only, arthroscopy-plus-TKA) did not differ in all measured characteristics. Failure of our method to achieve better outcomes demonstrates that conventional criteria are poor in predicting which patients with meniscal pathology, which is believed to be relatively more symptomatic than coexisting arthritis, should avoid arthroscopy and go straight to TKA.
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The majority of patients with symptomatic herniated discs can be successfully and conservatively managed and can achieve clinical improvement without surgical intervention. Resorption of the herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP) is 1 conservative mechanism for clinical improvement. We present the case of a 76-year-old healthy man with acute cervical radicular right arm pain and positive Spurling test. ⋯ The patient returned to his normal activities and has not had recurrence of symptoms for 2 years. This report provides an interesting example of complete resorption of a large, extruded cervical herniated disc in a symptomatic patient and a review of the literature on resorption of herniated discs. The review suggests that larger herniations with an epidural location (penetration of the posterior longitudinal ligament) have a greater chance of resorption.