Instructional course lectures
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Adequate control of postoperative pain following hip and knee arthroplasty can be a challenging task fraught with potential complications. Postoperative pain is perceived by the patient via a complex network and a multitude of molecular messengers in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. ⋯ Using both contemporary and traditional pain modulators, the delivery and timing of these medications can affect postoperative pain and, ultimately, rehabilitation of the arthroplasty patient. Current techniques for controlling pain use both multimodal and preemptive analgesia to improve the outcome of the surgery while minimizing the potential adverse effects of the medications given.
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Femoral neck fractures in physiologically young adults, which often result from high-energy trauma, are less common than intracapsular femoral neck fractures in elderly patients. They are associated with higher incidences of femoral head osteonecrosis and nonunion. Understanding the multiple factors that play a significant role in preventing these complications will contribute to a good outcome. ⋯ The timing of the open reduction and internal fixation is controversial. Until conclusive data are available through prospective, controlled studies, performing a capsulotomy followed by open reduction and internal fixation on an urgent basis is recommended. The goals of treating femoral neck fractures should include early diagnosis, early surgery, anatomic reduction, capsular decompression, and stable internal fixation.
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Athletes sustain ankle syndesmosis injuries far less frequently than they do lateral ankle sprains; however, syndesmosis injuries are more challenging to detect and treat. Grade II injuries, which are occultly unstable, may be overlooked or treated too conservatively (nonsurgically), leading to latent diastasis, chronic instability, further injury, arthritic changes, chronic pain, osteochondral lesions, and other sequelae. Surgical intervention for chronic syndesmosis injuries produces mixed results and creates an uncertain future for athletes who desire to return to their sport. ⋯ All acute unstable syndesmosis injuries (grades II and III) should be treated with surgery, which can include repair of the deltoid ligament with open reduction and internal fixation of the syndesmosis. Isolated deltoid sprains also are often repaired surgically in athletes. This more aggressive treatment helps avoid the chronic pain and instability and osteochondral abnormalities associated with chronic injury.
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Lumbar spinal stenosis, which affects an ever-increasing number of patients, is best defined as a collection of clinical symptoms that includes low back pain, bilateral lower extremity pain, paresthesias, and other neurologic deficits that occur concomitantly with anatomic narrowing of the neural pathway through the spine. The narrowing may be centrally located in the spinal canal or more laterally in the lateral recesses or neuroforamina. Lumbar spinal stenosis can have a congenital or acquired etiology, and the origin of acquired lumbar stenosis is classified as degenerative, posttraumatic, or iatrogenic. ⋯ A significant number of patients improve after nonsurgical treatment, although most studies have found that patients treated surgically have better clinical results. Delaying surgical treatment until after a trial of nonsurgical treatment does not affect the outcome. Surgical intervention should be considered only if a comprehensive program of nonsurgical measures fails to improve the patient's quality of life.
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The field of hip arthroscopy continues to grow as surgeons become more familiar with disorders of the intra-articular and extra-articular compartments of the hip. Recent studies have described the endoscopic treatment of injuries to the lateral peritrochanteric compartment of the hip, including recalcitrant trochanteric bursitis, external coxa saltans, and tears of the gluteus medius and minimus tendons.