Injury
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The changing demographics of Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) patients have not fully been investigated. However, there has been a general suspicion that this injury is occurring in an increasingly older population, in terms of mean age. The aim of this study was to objectively show an increase in age in Achilles tendon rupture patients over time. ⋯ Level III; Retrospective cohort study.
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On evaluation of the clinical indications of computed tomography (CT) scan of head in the patients with low-energy geriatric hip fractures, Maniar et al. identified physical evidence of head injury, new onset confusion, and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)<15 as predictive risk factors for acute findings on CT scan. The goal of the present study was to validate these three criteria as predictive risk factors for a larger population in a wider geographical distribution. ⋯ With the observed 100% sensitivity and 100% negative predictive value, physical evidence of acute head injury, acute retrograde amnesia, and GCS<15 can be recommended as a clinical decision guide for the selective use of head CT scans in geriatric patients with low energy hip fractures. All the patients with positive acute head CT findings can be predicted in the presence of at least one positive criterion. In addition, if these criteria are used as a pre-requisite to order the head CT, around 50% of the unnecessary head CT scans can be avoided.
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Fractures of the proximal femur constitute a major public health problem, with an annual incidence in Spain of 7.6 cases per 1000 inhabitants over 65 years of age. Hip fractures are frequent in elderly patients, related to osteoporosis and with low energy trauma, which means that they can be considered a geriatric syndrome. Simultaneous ipsilateral extra- and intra-articular hip fractures are considered as very rare are, and generally speaking, classified as extra- or intra-capsular fractures. Moreover, there is no consensus with regard to treatment of these concomitant fractures. ⋯ The incidence of concomitant ipsilateral extra- and intra-capsular fractures of the proximal femur must be taken into account in patients over 65 years of age. It is clinically relevant to identify these concomitant fractures in order to arrive at a correct diagnosis, which will facilitate preoperative planning and the choice of the best treatment to achieve a better outcome. Misdiagnosis may cause further problems, such as fixation failures, disability and, in a worst case scenario, an increased risk of death. Therefore, a good and complete preoperative study is important, along with both good quality X-ray projections and 2D and 3D Ct-Scans in case of doubt.
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Increased mortality rates have been reported for emergency admissions during weekends and outside office hours. Research on the weekend effect in hip fracture patients is however limited and demonstrates conflicting results. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of weekend admission and weekend surgery on 30-day and 1-year mortality following hip fracture surgery. ⋯ There was no weekend effect for hip fracture patients in our study. These results indicate an adequate level of perioperative care outside weekday office hours within our health care system.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Prospective randomized study comparing two cephalomedullary nails for elderly intertrochanteric fractures: Zimmer natural nail versus proximal femoral nail antirotation II.
Although both clinical and biomechanical studies suggest that cephalomedullary implants have a mechanical advantage over extramedullary implants, a high rate of complications or implant failure remains in elderly patients with osteoporosis. In an attempt to address some of these challenges, new implants with improved designs named proximal femoral nail antirotation II (PFNA II) and Zimmer natural nail (ZNN) were developed for elderly patients. Although the PFNA II reportedly has good clinical outcomes, it is unclear which implant achieves better safety and efficacy for treating intertrochanteric hip fractures. The primary objective of this prospective, randomized trial involved 353 patients was to evaluate Harris Hip Score (HHS). The secondary objective was to compare results associated with clinical outcome such as operation time, fluoroscopy time, lateral hip pain, walking ability, and reoperation rate as well as the incidence of cut-out by using implant position and fracture reduction quality. ⋯ Although group I had significant longer operation and fluoroscopy time than group II, both implants are useful tools in the treatment of elderly intertrochanteric fractures as well as only TAD, but not Cleveland zone significantly correlated with lag screw cut-out.