Characteristics and Treatment Strategy of Isolated Calf Deep Venous Thrombosis after Fractures: A Review of Recent Literature.

Isolated calf deep venous thrombosis (ICDVT) includes thrombosis located at the far end of the popliteal vein, such as the anterior tibial vein, posterior tibial vein, fibular vein, and intramuscular vein of the soleus and gastrocnemius. This type of thrombosis has the highest incidence, accounting for approximately half of all deep vein thrombosis (DVT) cases; however, there is no consistent recommendation for ICDVT treatment across countries, and there is also no optimal management strategy. In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that ICDVT can develop into proximal DVT, even causing pulmonary embolism (PE). Therefore, some experts suggest anticoagulant therapy for this type of DVT, while others hold an opposing attitude. Therefore, the treatment strategy for this type of DVT has become a hot and difficult research topic. The purpose of this review is to summarize the characteristics of ICDVT and the effects of different treatment strategies by analyzing recent and important classical works in the literature in an attempt to provide recommendations for the treatment of this most common type of DVT in orthopaedic clinics.

Nickel-titanium arched shape-memory alloy connector combined with bone grafting in the treatment of scaphoid nonunion.

PURPOSE: To summarize the techniques and clinical effectiveness in treating scaphoid nonunion with nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) arched shape-memory alloy connector in combination with autologous iliac bone grafts. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 18 scaphoid nonunion cases treated with arched connectors with autologous iliac bone grafts. Based on scaphoid nonunion, 2 cases were classified as type II (fibrous union), 4 cases as type III (mild sclerotic union), 6 cases as type IV (moderate resorption and sclerosis), 5 cases as type V (severe bone resorption and sclerosis), and 1 case as type VI (pseudarthrosis formation). At the first 4, 8 and 12 weeks after the surgery, wrist anteroposterior, lateral X-ray were obtained, respectively, to evaluate bone healing. Patients who had not yet reached the standard of healing at 12 weeks after surgery would continue to receive additional appointments for follow-up visits, such as 14 weeks, 16 weeks, 18 weeks after surgery, until their imaging studies had achieved satisfactory bone healing. Clinical effectiveness was evaluated comprehensively, based on bone union time, Mayo wrist score, and visual analog pain score. RESULTS: All 18 patients achieved satisfactory reduction and fixation with a mean union time of 4.2 months. Preoperative Mayo wrist score averaged 57.4 and average final postoperative follow-up was 91.4. On the other hand, mean preoperative VAS score was 6.8, and final postoperative follow-up average was 1.6. Mayo wrist score of the overall treatment effectiveness was excellent (90-100) in 12 cases, good (80-90) in 5 cases, and acceptable (60-80) in 1 case with zero poor (below 60) cases observed. Statistical analysis suggested that a statistically significant improvement in fracture healing, wrist function recovery and visual analog pain after surgery when compared to the scores of the patients before surgery. CONCLUSION: Using Ni-Ti arched shape-memory alloy connector in combination with autologous bone grafting provided a new modality to treat scaphoid nonunions in a less traumatic, convenient to operate and satisfactory manner in treatment outcomes, and thus is worthy of further application.

Factors predicting surgical site infection after posterior lumbar surgery: A multicenter retrospective study.

This is a retrospective study.The purpose of this study is to explore incidence and risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) after posterior lumbar surgery.SSI is a common complication after posterior lumbar surgery, bringing mental and physical pain and prolonging hospital stay. However, predisposing factors, as reported less, remain controversial.Patients who underwent posterior lumbar surgery at 3 centers between 2006 and 2016 were included. The possible factors include 3 aspects: demographic variables-age, sex, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip radio (WHR), hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, smoking, drinking, steroidal injection, surgical time between June and September, preoperative shower; blood test variables-white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), total protein (TP), albumin, albumin/globulin (A/G), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and surgical related variables-operation time, blood loss, operative level, instrumentation, incision length. Factors related with SSI were also performed by multivariate analysis.The prevalence of SSI was 3.00% (267 cases of 8879) had a postoperative wound infection. There were significant difference in WHR (0.92 vs 0.83), WBC (4.31 vs 6.69), TP (58.7 vs 65.2), albumin (36.9 vs 43.2), CRP (2.01 vs 0.57), PCT (0.097 vs 0.067), operation time (217.9 vs 195.7), blood loss (997.1 vs 915.3) and operative level (3.05 vs 2.45) and incision length (24.1 vs 20.0) between SSI group and non-SSI group. >60 years old, female, BMI <18.5 and >30.0, diabetes, male smoking, preoperative steroidal injection, surgical time between June and September, no preoperative shower, instrumentation surgery were risk factors for SSI after posterior lumbar surgery.Many factors, >60 years old, female, BMI, WHR, diabetes, male smoking, preoperative steroidal injection, surgical time between June and September, preoperative shower, WBC, TP, albumin, CRP, PCT, operation time, blood loss and operative level, instrumentation surgery and incision length, could predict SSI after posterior lumbar surgery. Measure should be taken before surgery to lower incidence of SSI after surgery.