Accidents and injuries in elite MotoGP motorcycle riders.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluating incidence, characteristics and risk factors of accidents and injuries in each elite motorcycle racing class (MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3), 2013-2017. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. SETTING: MotoGP Medical Team, Dorna Sports SL. PARTICIPANTS: Competing riders in elite motorcycling racing classes, 2013-2017. INTERVENTIONS: Benchmarking incidence, characteristics and risk factors of accidents and injuries in each elite motorcycle racing class, 2013-2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between accident type (by class and year) and fracture, withdrawal from race, need for surgery, injuries (fractures or contusions/wounds) and time riders kept inactive. Circuit and curve, weather conditions, presence and type of fracture, clinical outcome, and time until return to competition. Event outcomes were defined as rider fit/rider unfit after each accident. Racing class, track curves and circuits with the most and fewest accidents, circuit characteristics, speed and deceleration, G-forces, and time race differences between classes. RESULTS: 9092 accidents (mean 1818,4 per year). Most during race and under wet-weather conditions. Class and circuit with most accidents 2013-2017 were Moto3 (3374; 37.11%) and MWC - Marco Simoncelli -with 430.119/9092 accidents resulted in a fracture (1.31%), 83, surgical fractures (70%). Most frequent surgical fractures were upper extremity (clavicular; 29/119; 21%). On average, riders returned to competition after two circuits (1-5 weeks). CONCLUSIONS: Accidents are not uncommon among elite motorcycle riders; incidences of fractures and surgical fractures are low. Factors such as weather conditions and circuit's characteristics influence the risk of accidents. Further research is necessary to clarify the magnitude of the role each of these factors play.

Randomized clinical trial: expanded autologous bone marrow mesenchymal cells combined with allogeneic bone tissue, compared with autologous iliac crest graft in lumbar fusion surgery.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Although autogenous iliac crest bone graft (AICBG) is considered the gold-standard graft material for spinal fusion, new bone substitutes are being developed to avoid associated complications and disadvantages. By combining autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) expanded ex vivo and allogenic cancellous bone graft, we obtain a tissue-engineered product that is osteoconductive and potentially more osteogenic and osteoinductive than AICBG, owing to the higher concentration of MSCs. PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of implanting a tissue-engineered product consisting of expanded bone marrow MSCs loaded onto allograft bone (MSC+allograft) for spinal fusion in degenerative spine disease, as well as to assess its clinical and radiological efficacy. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A prospective, multicenter, open-label, blinded-reader, randomized, parallel, single-dose phase I-II clinical trial. PATIENT SAMPLE: A total of 73 adult patients from 5 hospitals, with Meyerding grade I-II L4-L5 degenerative spondylolisthesis and/or with L4-L5 degenerative disc disease who underwent spinal fusion through transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). OUTCOME MEASURES: Spinal fusion was assessed by plain X-ray at 3, 6, and 12 months and by computed tomography (CT) at 6 and 12 months post-treatment. An independent radiologist performed blinded assessments of all images. Clinical outcomes were measured as change from baseline value: visual analog scale for lumbar and sciatic pain at 12 days, 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment, and Oswestry Disability Index and Short Form-36 at 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment. METHODS: Patients who underwent L4-L5 TLIF were randomized for posterior graft type only, and received either MSC+allograft (the tissue-engineered product, group A) or AICBG (standard graft material, group B). Standard graft material was used for anterior fusion in all patients. Feasibility was measured primarily as the percentage of randomized patients who underwent surgery in each treatment group. Safety was assessed by analyzing treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) for the full experimental phase and appraising their relationship to the experimental treatment. Outcome measures, both radiological and clinical, were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients were randomized in this study, 36 from the MSC+allograft group and 37 from the AICBG group, and 65 were surgically treated (31 group A, 34 group B). Demographic and comorbidity data showed no difference between groups. Most patients were diagnosed with grade I or II degenerative spondylolisthesis. MSC+allograft was successfully implanted in 86.1% of randomized group A patients. Most patients suffered treatment-emergent AEs during the study (88.2% in group A and 97.1% in group B), none related to the experimental treatment. X-ray-based rates of posterior spinal fusion were significantly higher for the experimental group at 6 months (p=.012) and 12 months (p=.0003). CT-based posterior fusion rates were significantly higher for MSC+allograft at 6 months (92.3% vs 45.7%; p=.0001) and higher, but not significantly, at 12 months (76.5% vs 65.7%; p=.073). CT-based complete response (defined as the presence of both posterior intertransverse fusion and anterior interbody fusion) was significantly higher at 6 months for MSC+allograft than for AICBG (70.6% vs 40%; p=.0038), and remained so at 12 months (70.6% vs 51.4%; p=.023). Clinical results including patient-reported outcomes improved postsurgery, although there were no differences between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the current gold standard, our experimental treatment achieved a higher rate of posterior spinal fusion and radiographic complete response to treatment at 6 and 12 months after surgery. The treatment clearly improved patient quality of life and decreased pain and disability at rates similar to those for the control arm. The safety profile of the tissue-engineered product was also similar to that for the standard material, and no AEs were linked to the product. Procedural AEs did not increase as a result of BM aspiration. The use of expanded bone marrow MSCs combined with cancellous allograft is a feasible and effective technique for spinal fusion, with no product-related AEs found in our study.

Síndrome de la espalda inclinada: Presentación de cuatro casos y revisión de la bibliografía / Bent spine syndrome. Presentation of four cases and literature review

El síndrome de la espalda inclinada o camptocormia es una causa de desequilibrio sagital del tronco no estructurada de difícil manejo médico y quirúrgico. Puede ser secundario a enfermedades del sistema nervioso central o periférico, o de origen primario muscular, como la atrofia aislada de la musculatura paravertebral espinal. El diagnóstico se basa en la evaluación clínica, los estudios por imágenes, la electromiografía y la biopsia muscular. El síndrome de la espalda inclinada, cualquiera fuera su causa, tiene un pronóstico pobre, los síntomas suelen progresar hasta afectar la bipedestación de manera irreversible. Presentamos un análisis retrospectivo de cuatro casos de síndrome de la espalda inclinada tratados en nuestro centro y una revisión de la bibliografía. Nivel de Evidencia: IV

Objectives: Bent spine syndrome (BSS) or camptocormia is a cause of unstructured sagittal imbalance of difficult medical and surgical management. The purpose of this paper is to describe the causes of BSS and how to approach its treatment. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 4 cases of BSS treated at our center and review of the literature. Results: The 4 patients were women between 60 and 82 years of age. In 3 of them, BSS was due to an isolated atrophy of the paravertebral erector spinae muscles, and in 1 of them, it was due to an inflammatory myopathy. Conclusions: The prognosis of BSS is poor in all cases, so symptoms usually progress to an irreversible difficulty to stand upright. Level of Evidence: IV

Two-stage revision of hip prosthesis infection using a hip spacer with stabilising proximal cementation.

Two-stage revision hip arthroplasty for infection using an antibiotic-loaded cement spacer has been used frequently with good results. However, spacer instability is also frequent. Proximal cementation of the spacer could avoid spacer dislocation. We retrospectively assessed 35 patients in whom a 2-stage revision hip arthroplasty for infection was carried out using an antibiotic-loaded cement spacer with gentamicin (Spacer-G) in which the spacer was proximally cemented in 16 patients. The mean follow-up was 32 months. We assessed spacer stability and infection elimination. There were 8 spacer dislocations (22.9%), 5 in hips without proximal cementation and 2 in hips with proximal cementation (p>0.05). There was no fracture in any hip. Reinfection occurred in 5 hips (14.3%), in 3 with the same microorganism, while 2 had a different microorganism. Our results indicate that the proximal cementation of the spacer prevents its dislocation. Infection was eliminated in 86% of the hips.