International orthopaedics
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Comparative Study
Surgical treatment of midclavicular fractures: a prospective comparison of Knowles pinning and plate fixation.
Although several surgical techniques for midclavicular fractures have been reported, Knowles pinning has rarely been compared with plating. The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical results of these two alternative techniques. There were 88 patients with midclavicular fractures surgically treated with either a Knowles pin or a plate. ⋯ Plating has a significantly longer operation time, larger wound incision, higher pain level, more analgesic use, more complications and more symptomatic hardware (all p value<0.05). The shoulder score, union rate and healing time are not significantly different between the two groups (all p values>0.2). In conclusion, if the surgery of mid-third clavicular fractures is indicated, fixation with a Knowles pin has more advantages than plate fixation.
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Comparative Study
Comparative analysis of pedicle screw versus hybrid instrumentation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery.
The expectations of both the patient and surgeon have been greatly revised in the last 10 years with the introduction of pedicle screws (PS) in spinal surgery. In this study, we have retrospectively evaluated and compared the results of PS instrumentation and the Hybrid System (HS), the latter consists of pedicle screws, sublaminar wire and hooks. The mean follow-up period was 60.1 months (range: 49-94 months) for the patients of the HS group and 29.3 months (range: 24-35 months) for those of the PS group. ⋯ This may indicate that anchor points are more important than the use--or not--of screws. Correction durability and AV de-rotation was better with PS instrumentation, while AVT was better corrected by HS instrumentation (p<0.05). We propose that the reason for the better correction of AVT with HS instrumentation is the forceful translation offered by the sublaminar wire at the apical region, while the reason for the better correction durability of the PS instrumentation may be due to the fact that multiple pedicle screws which afford three-column control are better at maintaining the correction and preventing late deterioration.
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Distal third tibial fractures are prone to non-union following tibial nail insertion. The purpose of this study was to assess the union of distal third tibial fractures in patients who have undergone intra-medullary (IM) tibial nailing with one versus two distal locking screws. ⋯ This is statistically significant (p<0.01). We therefore conclude that two distal locking screws are essential for distal third fractures.