Clinical orthopaedics and related research
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Mar 2011
Does smoking influence fusion rates in posterior cervical arthrodesis with lateral mass instrumentation?
Smoking is associated with reduced fusion rates after anterior cervical decompression and arthrodesis procedures. Posterior cervical arthrodesis procedures are believed to have a higher fusion rate than anterior procedures. ⋯ Level III, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Mar 2011
Percutaneous vertebroplasty relieves pain in metastatic cervical fractures.
Percutaneous vertebroplasty is currently an alternative for treating vertebral fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine, providing both pain control and vertebral stabilization. In the cervical spine, however, percutaneous vertebroplasty is technically challenging because of the complex anatomy of this region. ⋯ Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Mar 2011
Case ReportsThe development and evaluation of the subaxial injury classification scoring system for cervical spine trauma.
Fractures and dislocations of the subaxial cervical spine may give rise to devastating consequences. Previous algorithms for describing cervical trauma largely depend on retrospective reconstructions of injury mechanism and utilize nonspecific terminology which thus diminish their clinical relevance add to the difficulty of educating doctors and performing prospective research. ⋯ This scheme will hopefully facilitate the development of evidence-based guidelines that may influence other aspects of the therapeutic decision-making process (eg, which operative approach is most appropriate for a particular injury). We anticipate its accuracy and reproducibility will increase over time as surgeons become more familiar with the protocol.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Feb 2011
Comparative StudyA comparison of two implant systems in restoration of hip geometry in arthroplasty.
Restoration of hip offset and leg length during THA is often limited by available implant geometries. The recent introduction of femoral components with a modular junction at the base of the neck (two modular junction components) has expanded the options to restore femoral offset and leg length. ⋯ Level II, prognostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Feb 2011
Case ReportsCase report: A technique to remove a jammed locking screw from a locking plate.
Locking titanium plates revolutionized the treatment of osteoporotic and metaphyseal fractures of long bones. However as with any innovation, with time new complications are identified. One of the problems with titanium locking plates is removal of screws, often attributable to cold welding of screw heads into the locking screw holes. Several techniques have been described to overcome this problem. We describe a new easy technique to remove a jammed locking screw in a locking plate that is easily reproducible and suggest an algorithm to determine the method to remove screws from locking plates. ⋯ Removing screws from locking titanium plates can be difficult. There is no method of implant removal that can be universally applied. Therefore, this new technique and our algorithm may be used when removing screws from locking titanium plates.