Acta orthopaedica Scandinavica
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Clinical Trial
Ultraclean air and antibiotics for prevention of postoperative infection. A multicenter study of 8,052 joint replacement operations.
To determine the value of ultraclean air in operating rooms, 8,052 operations for total hip- or knee-joint replacement were followed up for 1-4 years. For operations done in ultraclean air, bacterial contamination of the wound, deep joint sepsis, and major wound sepsis were substantially less than for operations done in conventionally ventilated rooms. Sepsis was also less frequent when prophylactic antibiotics had been given. ⋯ Wound sepsis was associated with an enhanced risk of joint sepsis. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest joint pathogen, but infections with other organisms, often considered to be of low pathogenicity, were almost as numerous. Most S. aureus infections were traced to sources in the operating room.
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Fifty-nine Salter-Harris III and IV lesions of the medial malleolus, Tillaux fractures, and triplane fractures were examined after 9 (3-32) years to assess the frequency of late symptoms, deformity, joint incongruity, and secondary arthrosis. Six out of 18 Salter-Harris III and IV lesions of the medial malleolus were reduced open, none of which had any signs of growth disturbance, whereas 1 case, left with a 3-mm residual dislocation, had 5 degrees of anterior angulation. ⋯ Out of 18 triplane fractures, not reduced, two gave slight ankle pain and another had 6 degrees of anterior angulation, whereas three of ten reduced fractures were symptomatic. The overall results were good and no case of arthrosis, defined as reduction of the joint space, was found in any of the fracture groups despite a follow-up of 12 or more years in one third of the cases.
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When the elbow dislocated posteriorly in an 11-year-old boy the median nerve was caught behind the medial epicondyle and in the joint. The condition was diagnosed at 7 months when a total paralysis had developed. Good function was obtained after neurolysis. This rare condition has typical signs and symptoms which should permit an earlier diagnosis.
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Fifty-nine patients with immediate and 16 with secondary radial nerve palsy complicating a fracture of the shaft of the humerus were reviewed. According to the preferences of the surgeon in charge, the palsy was treated either with early exploration of the radial nerve and internal fixation of the fracture or with initial expectance. Of the latter, 12 were later explored. ⋯ Among those treated with initial expectance, there were 5/32 nonrecoveries. For secondary palsy, these figures were 2/10 and 0/6, respectively. No support emerged for routine early exploration.