The Iowa orthopaedic journal
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Review Case Reports
The use of thermography in sympathetically maintained pain.
This paper reviews the symptomatology, pathophysiology, and treatment of reflex sympathetic dystrophy and sympathetically maintained pain. It is the author's experience that there exists a group of patients who present with chronic, unexplained pain following trauma, but lack the physical findings and positive investigative tests to confirm the diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy. For these patients, thermography serves as a useful and sensitive test to diagnosis sympathetically maintained pain. This paper presents six case reports in which thermography was used to diagnosis sympathetic dysfunction as the cause of chronic pain.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Arthroscopic versus open debridement of penetrating knee joint injuries.
Arthroscopic debridement of penetrating knee joint injuries has become a common treatment method. A comparative study was undertaken to compare this method with open joint debridement. ⋯ Of note, the arthroscopic debridement group had a shorter postoperative hospital stay [mean of 1.6 days compared to a mean of 2.6 days in the open debridement group (p < 0.02)], a significant incidence of additional intra-articular injuries detected (p < 0.01), less postoperative pain, and a superior cosmetic result. We conclude that arthroscopic debridement of penetrating knee joint injuries is a safe and effective method of treatment, providing additional diagnostic information while minimizing morbidity and reducing hospital stay.