ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Classification of ankle fracture is important when deciding for operative or conservative treatment. This study rates the reproducibility of ankle stability assessment and compares it with the classification by Lauge-Hansen and Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosyntesefragen (AO) in adult patients with primary ankle fractures. METHODS: A total of 496 consecutive ankle fractures were included, and the X-ray images were reviewed 2 times by 2 medical students, 2 residents, and 1 consultant in orthopedic traumatology. The raters were blinded to each other and to their own results. Unweighted Kappa statistics were used to assess reproducibility. RESULTS: Overall mean (95% CI) interrater Kappa results were 0.65 (0.64; 0.68) for Lauge-Hansen, 0.62 (0.60; 0.63) for AO and 0.61 (0.57; 0.62) for the stability assessment. The intrarater results ranged from a mean Kappa of 0.64-0.80 for the medical students, 0.65-0.81 for the residents and 0.82-0.84 for the consultant. CONCLUSION: The stability assessment has substantial to almost-perfect agreement which is comparable to the Lauge-Hansen and AO classifications.
Subject(s)
Ankle Fractures , Classification/methods , Joint Instability/diagnosis , Adult , Ankle Fractures/classification , Ankle Fractures/complications , Ankle Fractures/diagnosis , Ankle Fractures/therapy , Conservative Treatment/methods , Female , Fracture Fixation/methods , Humans , Male , Observer Variation , Patient Selection , Radiography/methods , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Different types of oxidized cellulose have been used for haemorrhage control in thoracic surgery, abdominal surgery and neurosurgery. Oxidized resorbable cellulose (Gelita-cel) is a new haemostatic agent. Once saturated with blood, it swells and makes a gelatinous mass that formats as a fibrin clot. We have performed a prospective observational cohort study of patients operated for lung cancer or suspected lung cancer using Gelita-cel as a haemostatic agent. Between October 2010 and April 2012, 477 patients were operated in our department for lung cancer. Gelita-cel was used in 200 patients due to minor intraoperative haemorrhage after lymph node resection from Stations 2 to 11. During follow-up for lung cancer, computed tomography, which was performed 4-60 months after the primary operation, showed enlarged lymph nodes in the mediastinum in 16 patients. Endoscopic bronchial ultrasonographic biopsies of the lymph nodes showed foreign body material and granulomatous inflammation, and no sign of lung cancer recurrence. Gelita-cel has a high risk of causing granuloma and should not be used as a haemostatic agent in thoracic surgery.