The Journal of arthroplasty
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Thirty-nine consecutive patients with unstable three and four part intertrochanteric hip fractures were treated with cemented bipolar hip arthroplasty. A standard length primary femoral component was used with a novel technique of cerclage fixation of the trochanteric bone fragments allowing retention of the femoral calcar. At one year minimum follow up, there was no loosening or subsidence of the femoral components. ⋯ One dislocation and one deep infection occurred. Unstable three and four part hip fractures can be treated with a standard femoral stem and cerclage cabling of the trochanters. The technique allows safe early weight bearing on the injured hip and had a relatively low rate of complications in our series.
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Neuraxial anesthesia during major orthopedic surgery, combined with venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, is generally safe and well tolerated, with potential benefits over general anesthesia. The risk of spinal/epidural hematoma, a rare but very serious complication, can be minimized by careful patient selection and attention to anesthetic technique. This risk is further reduced with the use of peripheral nerve blocks in place of neuraxial anesthesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Reliability of common knee injection sites with low-volume injections.
This study's purpose was to evaluate the reliability of knee injection sites with low-volume (2-3 cc) injection typical of viscosupplementation. This was a prospective study of 131 knees randomly assigned to 3 injection groups before to knee arthroscopy: SM-superomedial, superolateral, and lateral joint line (LJL). ⋯ Injections then were graded at the time of arthroscopy as good, fair, or poor, depending on the intra-articular staining of MB. We conclude that a lateral joint line injection site may not be reliable for routine injections of low volumes into knees, because it results in good intra- articular delivery less than half of the time, with a high incidence of soft-tissue infiltration.
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Although low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is a widely used form of thromboprophylaxis in orthopedic surgery, concerns remain over the concomitant use of regional anesthesia (RA)/postoperative regional analgesia (PRA) stemming from reports in the 1990s of spinal hematoma associated with this combination. One of the objectives of the Second American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) Consensus Conference was to address the safety of LMWH in combination with neuraxial anesthesia. The guidelines are designed in part to help orthopedic surgeons already using or contemplating the use of LMWH prophylaxis to avoid or minimize potential complications arising from its use with RA/PRA. Clinicians should consult the ASRA guidelines for recommendations on total daily dose, timing of the first postoperative dose, and dose schedule for anticoagulants used in conjunction with RA/PRA.