Chinese Med J Peking
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Chinese Med J Peking · Aug 2008
Comparative StudyComparative study on early period of recovery between minimally invasive surgery total knee arthroplasty and minimally invasive surgery-quadriceps sparing total knee arthroplasty in Chinese patients.
Different kinds of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures have now been used in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Compared with traditional TKA procedure with a long skin incision, clinical studies showed MIS procedures had some advantages. Quadriceps sparing (QS) procedures are the most minimally invasive MIS procedure until now. This study was aimed to find the insertion types for Chinese patients' vastus medialis and if the QS procedure had some advantages in patients' early recovery. ⋯ Although most of the Chinese patients had type III insertions of the vastus medialis, the MIS-QS TKA procedure showed less injury to the quadriceps than the standard MIS TKA and this could contribute to the earlier recovery of the patients. But a shorter skin incision and more tension on the skin may also lead to more skin complications.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Aug 2008
Semi-rigid thoracoscopy for undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions: a comparative study.
Thoracoscopy is highly sensitive and accurate for detecting pleural effusions. However, most respiratory physicians are not familiar with the use of the more common rigid thoracoscope or the flexible bronchoscope, which is difficult to manipulate within the pleural cavity. The semi-rigid thoracoscope combines the best features of the flexible and rigid instruments. Since the practice with this instrument is limited in China, the diagnostic utility of semi-rigid thoracoscopy (namely medical thoracoscopy) under local anesthesia for undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions was evaluated. ⋯ Medical thoracoscopy is a simple, safe, and cost-effective tool, with a high positive rate. Physicians should extend its access to proper patients if the facilities for medical thoracoscopy are available.