The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Jun 1992
Salvage and reinfusion of postoperative sanguineous wound drainage. A preliminary report.
Thirty-five patients who were to have posterior spinal arthrodesis, total hip arthroplasty, or total knee arthroplasty were entered into one of two groups: Group A, to receive unwashed, filtered sanguineous drainage from the wound, or Group B, to receive washed, filtered drainage. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and difficulty of reinfusion of washed compared with unwashed drainage that had been salvaged from the wound after an orthopaedic operation. The sixteen patients in Group A received a mean of 475 milliliters of unwashed drainage for each total knee arthroplasty, 427 milliliters for each total hip arthroplasty, and ten milliliters for the one posterior spinal arthrodesis. ⋯ The latter patient died, four days after the operation, of a massive myocardial infarction. The nineteen patients in Group B received a mean of 193 milliliters of washed, filtered drainage for each total knee arthroplasty, 203 milliliters for each total hip arthroplasty, and 179 milliliters for each posterior spinal arthrodesis. Salvage and reinfusion of washed drainage from the wound caused no problems in these patients.
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Jun 1992
Case ReportsAnterior decompression and arthrodesis of the cervical spine: long-term motor improvement. Part I--Improvement in incomplete traumatic quadriparesis.
Between 1973 and 1983, fifty-eight patients who had an incomplete spinal-cord injury secondary to a fracture or dislocation of the cervical spine were managed by anterior cervical decompression and arthrodesis with iliac bone grafts. In all patients, myelography showed that displaced fragments of bone or disc were compressing the anterior aspect of the spinal cord. Anterior decompression was performed in an attempt to improve function in the upper and lower extremities. ⋯ The patients who had an extension injury to a spondylotic spine were older, and fewer of them had improvement. No patient lost neurological function as a result of the operation. Anterior decompression and arthrodesis, even when performed late after the injury, can improve neurological function in both the upper and lower extremities in many patients who have incomplete quadriplegia due to a fracture or dislocation of the cervical spine.