Objective To review the injury mechanism and the treatment progress of terrible triad of the elbow, and to analyze the direction of further research. Methods Related literature concerning terrible triad of the elbow was extensively reviewed and comprehensively analyzed. Results The main treatment of terrible triad of the elbow is operation. The ultimate goal of treatment is to reconstruct sufficient stability of the elbow. The treatment includes fixation of the coronoid by suture, screw or plate; fixation of radial head by screw and plate, partial or complete replacement of the radial head; fixation of lateral collateral ligament and the medial collateral ligament by bone suture or anchors and the application of the external fixator. These surgical treatments have their own indications and advantages, most get satisfactory results. Conclusion Generally, surgery is needed to maintain the stability of the elbow for patients of terrible triad elbow. However, medial ligament repair or not, the choice of approach, and mechanism of injury still need further study.
Objective To analyze the causes and managing methods of long bone fracture nonunion after allogeneic bone transplantation. Methods From December 1995 to December 2000, 43 cases of postoperative nonunion of long bone fracture were treated. These cases included 31 males and 12 females at the age of 19-57 years (40 years on average). The locations were femur in 11 cases, tibia in 21 cases, humerus in 8 cases and forearm in 3 cases. Bone nonunionafter allogeneic bone transplantation was caused by extensive soft tissue contusion and poor cover around bone fractue site in 6 cases, by incomplete debridement in 8 cases of osteomyel itis (including 6 without continual lavage and 4 only skin flap transfer), by secondary infection of wounds in 3 cases, by severe primary injury or secondary scar covering bone in 12 cases, instable internal fixation in 7 cases, and by earl ier weight bearing in 7 cases. Accroding to Weber classification, there were 4 cases of hypertrophic type and 39 cases of atrophic type. Basing on the type of nonunion, the methods such as refixation, bone retransplantation and transferring tissue flap were chosen to manage the cases. Results Incision healed by first intention in 37 cases, superficial infection occurred and cured after 2 weeks of dressing change in 5 cases, and sinus formed and cured after 2 months of dressing change and drainage in 1 case. All transferring tissue flap survived, and partial necrosis occurred at flap edge in 4 cases and cured after dressing change. All patients were followed up for 38-91 months with an average of 54.6 months. All the nonunion cases achieved bone union 5-11 months with an average of 7.6 months. But low extreme shorten monstrosity occured in 4 cases, malunion in 2 cases, functional l imitation near joints in 7 cases, and rotational l imitation of forearm in 1 case. Conclusion Fracture nonunion after allogeneic bone transplantation mainly shows atrophic type with overall or partial absorption of the allograft bone. The preconditions to guarantee fracture nonunion heal ing include stabil ity of fracture fixation, using transferring tissue flaps, controll ing infection, and adequate bone transplantion.
Objective To compare differences in the cl inical outcomes between percutaneous pinning with plaster spl int and open reduction and pull ing out wire in the treatment of mallet fingers. Methods From December 2002 to September 2007, 72 patients with mallet fingers were treated. They were divided into two groups: group A and group B. In group A, 38 patients were treated by open reduction and pull ing out wire, 34 males and 4 females, aged (26.0 ± 8.5) years. Among them, 2 patients were injured in the index finger, 11 in the middle finger, 18 in the ring finger and 7 in the l ittle finger. Thirtythreepatients suffered from sports injuries, 5 from fall ing wounds. The average time between the injury and the surgery was(6.1 ± 3.1) days. In group B, 34 patients were treated by percutaneous pinning with plaster spl int, 26 males and 8 females, aged (28.1 ± 10.7) years. Among them, 1 patient was injured in the index finger, 9 in the middle finger, 15 in the ring finger and 9 in the l ittle finger. Thirty-one patients suffered from sports injuries, 3 from fall ing wounds. The average time between the injury and the surgery was (6.3 ± 3.6) days. All the fingers had typical mallet malformation, and X-ray films showed avulsed fractures of distal-segment phalanxes at the dorsal basilar part. Results The operation time was (61.8 ± 12.8) minutes in group A and (7.0 ± 2.6) minutes in group B. All patients in both groups were followed up for 6-24 months (11.9 months on average in group A and 13.2 months in group B). In group A, apart from 3 patients who had flap necrosis and infection, all the other patients obtained heal ing by first intention. One patient had palmar skin ulcer at 6 days after the operation and healed after proper treatment. Thirty-six patients gained bone union at (47.6 ± 8.7) days postoperatively and 2 patients had pseudarthrosis, which improved after reconstruction of the extensor tendon attachment point. According to the total active movement (TAM) functional assessment system, 10 cases were e cellent, 18 good, 8 fair and 2 poor, with the choiceness rate of 73.7%. In group B, all incisions obtained heal ing by first intention without pin-track infection, flap necrosis and migration of the pins and gained bone union at (27.7 ± 3.9) days after the operation. According to the TAM functional assessment system, 19 cases were excellent, 13 good and 2 fair, with the choiceness rate of 94.1%. There were significant differences between the two groups in operation time, compl ications, heal ing time and choiceness rate (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion Percutaneous pinning with plaster spl int is simple in operation and has smaller incisions and fewer compl ications compared with open reduction and pull ing out wire, andproves to be a useful way in the treatment of mallet fingers.
Objective To study the effect of internal fixation with absorbable intramedullary nail on the treatment of phalange fractures in replantation of severed finger. Methods From September 2001 to October 2003, 28 cases with industrial severed finger (21 males and 7 females, with the age of 18-35 years) were replanted within 1-6 hours. The severed locations were index fingers in 11 cases, middle fingers in 8 cases, ring fingers in 6 cases, little fingers in 3 cases. All cases of phalange fractures were fixed by absorbable intramedullary nails of poly-DL-lactic acid(PDLLA) that combined with chitosan. Out of the 28 cases, 15 cases were with proximal phalange, 11 cases were with middle phalange, 2 cases were with distal phalange. The bone marrow cavity of the phalanges were dilated, then the intramedullary nail was inserted with suitable diameter and length to fix the fracture. Postoperatively resin bandage was applied for 3-4 weeks.Results All the 28 patients survived the performance and postoperative follow-up ranged from 3 to 10 months(4 months in average). Rejection was observed in one case 3 weeks after operation, bone unions were obtained in other cases. According to the Chinese Medical Association’s evaluation standard for replantation of amputated finger, 18 fingers resulted in excellence, 9 fingers in good function and 1 with unsatisfactory function. The excellent and good rate was 96.4%. Conclusion Internal fixation with absorbable intramedullary nail of PDLLA combined with chitosan proves to be effective in the replantation of severed finger.
Objective To compare the efficacy of plating versus intramedullary nailing in the treatment of adult humeral shaft fracture. Methods We identified eligible studies in PubMed (1950 to September 2007), MEDLINE (1950 to September 2007), OVID CINAHL (1950 to September 2007), OVID EBM (3rd Quarter 2007), CBMdisk (1978 to June 2007) and CNKI (1981 to June 2007). We also handsearched several Chinese orthopedic journals. Data were extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing plating versus intramedullary nailing for humeral shaft fracture in adults were included and the quality of these trials was critically assessed. Data analyses were conducted with Stata 10.0. Results Six RCTs involving 425 patients were included, among which the statistical heterogeneity was not significant (Pgt;0.1). Cumulative meta-analyses showed that intramedullary nailing might increase the re-operation rate in studies conducted before the year of 2000 (OR=0.39, 95%CI 0.17 to 0.90, P=0.03), but the difference was not significant in studies conducted after 2000 (OR=0.54, 95%CI 0.27 to 1.08, P=0.08). Intramedullary nailing might increase the incidence of shoulder impingement compared with plating (OR=0.13, 95%CI 0.03 to 0.65, P=0.01). The rates of non-union, deep infection, iatrogenic radial nerve injury and internal fixation failure were similar between plating and intramedullary nailing. Meta-analyses were not conducted for union time, operation time and bleeding (transfusion) volume, because the relevant data were not available from the included trials. Conclusion Intramedullary nailing may increase the incidence of shoulder impingement. The rates of re-operation, non-union, deep infection, iatrogenic radial nerve injury and internal fixation failure are similar between plating and intramedullary nailing. Further well-designed and large-scale randomized controlled trials are required to determine the effects of plating and intramedullary nailing on these outcomes.
Objective To determine the efficacy and complication rate of intramedullary nailing versus compression plate in the treatment of adult humeral shaft fracture. Methods We searched the specialized trials register of The Cochrane Collaboration’s Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group, The Cochrane Library (including CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1966 to 2006), EMbase (1980 to 2006), PubMed (1966 to 2006), NRR (http://www.update-software.com/National/), CCT (http://www.controlled-trials.com) and CBMdisc (1979 to July 2006). We also handsearched some Chinese orthopedic journals. Data were extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently. Randomize controlled trials comparing intramedullary nailing versus compression plate for humeral shaft fracture in adults were included and the quality of these trials was critically assessed. Data analyses were done using The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2.8. Results Three randomize controlled trials involving 215 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that intramedullary nailing may increase the re-operation rate (OR=2.68, 95%CI 1.19 to 6.04, P=0.02), pain in the shoulder (OR=13.02, 95%CI 2.23 to 75.95, P=0.004), and the rate of decreased range of motion of the shoulder (OR=18.60, 95%CI 1.01 to 341.83, P=0.05). The rates of no union, infection and iatrogenic radial nerve injury were comparable between intramedullary nailing and compression plate. Meta-analysis was not conducted for the time of union, because the relevant data were not available for the included trials. Conclusions Further well-designed and large-scale randomize controlled trials are required to determine the effects of intramedullary nailing and compression plate on these outcomes, because the trials available for this systematic review are too few and too small.
Objective To determine the effect of non-reamed versus reamed intramedullary nailing for tibial fractures in adults on the rates of nonunion, the rates of implant failure, the rates of infection, the incidence of compartment syndrome, the rates of malunion, and the time of union. Methods We searched MEDLINE （1966 -July, 2005）, EMBASE （1974 -July, 2005 ）, The Cochrane Library （Issue 2, 2005 ）and CBMdisc （1979 -July, 2005 ）, and handsearched the relevant Chinese and English orthopedic journals. Randomized controlled trials and Clinical controlled trials of nonreamed versus reamed intramedullary nailing for tibial fractures in adults were included. The quality of trials was critically assessed. RevMan 4.2.7 software was used for data analysis. Results Four RCTs and one CCT of non-reamed versus reamed intramedullary nailing for tibial fractures in adults were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that nonreamed intramedullary nailing for tibial fractures in adult increased the rates of nonunion （RR 1.87, 95% CI 1.20 to 2. 91, P =0. 006）, implant failure （RR 2.23, 95% CI 1.49 to 3.34, P〈0. 000 1 ） and the time to union （WMD 9.00, 95% CI 3.19 to 14.81, P =0. 002）. Conclusions Compared with reamed intramedullary nailing for tibial fractures in adults, non-reamed intramedullary nailing increases the rates of nonunion and implant failure is common. There is no statistical difference in the rates of post operative infection, the rates of malunited fracture and the incidence of compartment syndrome between the two groups. However, further studies are needed to determine the effects of reamed and non-reamed intramedullary nailing on these outcomes, expecially when patient has severe open fractures （Gustilo Grade Ⅲ C）and multiple injuries.