Capitellocondylar total elbow replacement. A long-term follow-up study.

Fifty-one capitellocondylar elbow replacements were inserted in forty-one patients between 1976 and 1986. Thirty-nine patients had rheumatoid arthritis and two had traumatic osteoarthrosis. The average age of the patients at the time of the operation was fifty-six years (range, twenty-one to seventy-seven years). Thirty-one patients who had thirty-nine retained elbow prostheses had an average length of follow-up of 6.5 years (range, two to thirteen years). Flexion improved an average of 20 degrees; extension, 4 degrees; pronation, 22 degrees; and supination, 36 degrees. Relief of pain was complete in 85 per cent of the thirty-nine elbows, and in 15 per cent there was only mild pain. Noteworthy postoperative complications in the original fifty-one elbows included infection in four elbows (8 per cent), dislocation in three (6 per cent), and ulnar neuropathy in sixteen (31 per cent). Three elbows were revised: one for a humeral fracture, one for recurrent dislocation, and one for aseptic loosening. Aseptic loosening was evident on radiographs of two elbows; one patient was completely asymptomatic, and one had mild pain with deformity. The Souter zonal radiographic assessment system for identification of radiolucencies at the bone-cement interface was utilized; there was no significant difference in radiolucencies between ulnar components backed with metal and those that were not backed with metal. Kaplan-Meier cumulative survivorship analysis demonstrated that a functional prosthesis was retained in 88 per cent of the elbows at 1.4 years postoperatively and in 83 per cent at 5.5 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Results of phalangectomy of the fifth toe for hammertoe. The Ruiz-Mora procedure.

The Ruiz-Mora procedure has been advocated for the correction of hammertoe deformities and congenital overlapping of the fifth toe, primarily on empirical grounds. This is a review of forty-one such procedures in which the operation was used for correction of a hammertoe deformity of the fifth toe with a painful corn overlying the proximal interphalangeal joint. Twenty-two patients with thirty-one procedures were followed for an average of 3.5 years. All of the patients had complete relief of symptoms and correction of deformity. However, in 23 per cent of the patients a painful prominent head of the fifth metartarsal or a bunionette developed, and in 32 per cent a hammertoe deformity of the adjacent fourth toe developed with a painful corn either over the proximal interphalangeal joint or on the tip of the fourth toe. These problems seem to be related to excessive shortening of the the fifth toe. Less bone resection (resection of only the head and neck of the proximal phalanx) might be preferable and might not lead to these complications.

Herbert total knee prosthesis: combined laboratory and clinical assessment.

We tested the Herbert knee prosthesis, which was designed to restore intrinsic stability with limited degrees of freedom for rotation to severely damaged or deformed knees, in a knee simulator. These tests indicated a tendency for the prosthesis to fracture through the medial femoral housing after cycling for the equivalent of one to three years of normal use. In a clinical series of thirty-five knees treated with the prosthesis, there were five failures similar to those produced by laboratory testing. On the basis of this combined study, the Herbert prosthesis appears to have design characteristics that seriously limit its usefulness for long-term knee replacement. Testing in a knee simulator in this case appeared to be a valid predictor of clinical failure.

Allograft reconstruction of the acetabulum during revision total hip arthroplasty. Clinical, radiographic, and scintigraphic assessment of the results.

In twenty-one hips of twenty-one patients, the acetabulum was reconstructed using allografts during revision of a total hip arthroplasty. The patients' average age at the time of revision was 64.3 years (range, nineteen to eighty-six years). At an average follow-up of 3.5 years (range, two to five years), three patients had died of causes unrelated to the hip reconstruction, and one had been lost to follow-up. In the other seventeen, the average Harris hip rating was 89 points (range, seventy to 100 points) at follow-up. In one patient the allograft collapsed, so that revision was required. Two patients had asymptomatic progressive radiolucencies at the cement-bone interface of the reconstructed acetabulum, and another had a 1.5-millimeter-wide lucency at the interface of the donor and recipient bone but was asymptomatic, and there had been no change in the position of the cemented acetabular component since operation. The remaining grafts appeared to be incorporated securely, as determined by radiographic examination. Three-dimensional computerized tomographic radioisotopic bone scans showed uniform uptake, consistent with revascularization and new-bone formation, in all grafts. There was no radiographic evidence of focal avascularity and there were no infections. Femoral-head bone allografts appear to provide a useful technique for the reconstruction of a severely deficient acetabulum during revision total hip arthroplasty.

A ten-year follow-up of one hundred consecutive Müller curved-stem total hip-replacement arthroplasties.

One hundred consecutive Müller curved-stem total hip replacements were reviewed ten years after operation. Twenty patients with twenty-two arthroplasties had died within the ten-year period without having a revision, and twenty-five arthroplasties had been revised for various reasons. Of the remaining fifty-three arthroplasties, thirty-five were classified as good or excellent, with Harris hip scores of 80 points or higher, and eighteen were classified as poor or fair, with scores lower than 80 points. Follow-up radiographs, made for all but six of the fifty-three hips at ten years, showed a 23 per cent incidence of migration of the acetabular component and a 28 per cent incidence of migration of the femoral component. In addition, there was a 15 per cent incidence of bone resorption in the proximal end of the femur without migration of the femoral component and a 4 per cent incidence of osteolytic defects about the femoral component, also without migration. Combining the radiographically loose replacement (migration) with the clinically loose ones (revised), the over-all incidence of aseptic loosening was 29 per cent for the acetabular component and 40 per cent for the femoral component. There was a positive correlation between the incidence of loosening of the femoral component and younger age, heavier weight, male sex, unilateral hip disease, a wide femoral canal, and varus position of the femoral component, whereas the incidence of loosening of the acetabular component was increased only in association with older age. The rate of loosening of the femoral component appeared to be higher during the early follow-up period and to decrease with time, while the rate of loosening of the acetabular component appeared to be lower during the early follow-up period but to increase with time.

Characterization and comparison of wear debris from failed total hip implants of different types.

Particles of wear debris have been associated with loosening of implants and with osteolysis, but few studies have examined the relationship between characteristics of the implant and clinical variables and the concentration of particles isolated from periarticular tissues. We isolated and quantified particles of wear debris from orthopaedic implants in 123 tissue samples that had been obtained adjacent to a failed total hip prosthesis from eighty-eight patients. The concentration of these particles in the tissue and the size of the particles were then analyzed in relation to patient and implant-related variables. The number of particles ranged from 8.5 x 10(2) to 5.7 x 10(11) per gram of tissue (dry weight). More particles were found adjacent to failed titanium-alloy stems that had a cobalt-chromium-alloy modular head and failed titanium-alloy-backed cups than were found adjacent to all-cobalt-chromium-alloy prostheses. In addition, fewer particles were found adjacent to implants with a twenty-eight-millimeter femoral head than were found adjacent to implants with other femoral head sizes. Univariate analysis also showed correlations between a high concentration of particles and fixation without cement, an implant that had been in situ for a long duration, a young patient age, and an initial clinical diagnosis of avascular necrosis. Biopsy specimens from the proximal femoral membranes had higher concentrations than those from the joint capsules or the acetabular membranes. Although only five specimens were obtained directly from osteolytic lesions, the concentration of particles in those specimens was higher than that in biopsy specimens from other sites. Although many univariate correlations were identified, stepwise correlation regression analysis showed that the composition of the implant and the size of the modular femoral head were most strongly related to the concentration of debris in tissue.

The incorporation of tibial allografts in total knee arthroplasty.

Twelve knees in ten patients had revision total knee replacement with insertion of an allograft for a large tibial defect. The knees were retrospectively evaluated at an average of thirty-two months (range, twenty-five to fifty-one months) by clinical examination, radiography, planar bone scintigraphy, and single-photon-emission computed tomography. The average age of the patients was sixty-two years (range, fifty-four to seventy-nine years). A constrained total-condylar prosthesis was used for all revisions. A contained tibial defect was present in five knees, and seven knees had an uncontained defect that was treated with a massive composite structural allograft, five of which were secured with internal fixation. The knee scores improved from an average of 51 points before operation to an average of 87 points post-operatively. Seven knees had a score of 85 points or more and were considered to have an excellent clinical result. Two knees had a good result, with scores of 77 and 72 points. One knee had another revision because of painful non-union of a medial structural graft, and the result in that knee was considered a failure. The average range of motion improved from 84 degrees to 105 degrees. There were no deep infections, and no graft showed evidence of fracture or collapse. Radiographs demonstrated complete incorporation of the graft in eleven of the twelve knees at an average of twenty-three months after operation. Single-photon-emission computed-tomography scans showed uniform activity in the area of the graft in four of the five knees that were studied.

Points in the technique of recementing in the revision of an implant arthroplasty.

When aseptic failure of the bond between the cement and the prosthesis of a total joint replacement occurs, complete removal of the cement has been advocated before the insertion of a new prosthesis. The present study questions this practice. Both laboratory tests on variously prepared specimens of cement and clinical experiences demonstrate that recementing over old cement is a practical alternative if the technique employed includes the removal of blood from the old cement surface, rasping of this surface and the early application of fresh cement.

Arthrodesis of the shoulder. Current indications and operative technique.

This article describes the current indications, contraindications, and results of shoulder fusion. The preferred position, AO technique, and complications are described.