High Dependency Unit Admissions among Patients with Lower Extremity Long Bone Fracture Visiting the Department of Orthopaedics in a Tertiary Care Centre.

Introduction: Lower extremity long bone, femoral and tibial shaft, fractures often have associated injuries. Patients with lower extremity long bone fractures in the Department of Orthopaedics can land up in high dependency unit admissions, mostly due to underlying complications. The study aimed to find out the prevalence of high dependency unit admissions among patients with lower extremity long bone fractures visiting the Department of Orthopaedics in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with lower extremity long bone fractures in a tertiary care centre. The data from 1 March 2017 to 31 January 2020 was collected from the medical records from 1 August 2020 to 30 September 2020. All patients with femoral or tibial shaft fractures in isolation or a part of a multi-system injury were included. Patients with inadequate data were excluded. A convenience sampling method was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Among 507 patients with lower extremity long bone fractures, 137 (27.55%) (23.66-31.44, 95% Confidence Interval) required high dependency unit admission. Among them, 119 (86.86%) were males. A total of 71 (51.82%) cases involved 2-wheelers. Conclusions: The prevalence of high dependency unit admission among patients with lower extremity long bone fractures was high and majority of them required multidisciplinary approach. Keywords: femoral fractures; prevalence; tibial fractures; traffic accidents.

Factors Predictive of Tenotomy After Ponseti Casting for Idiopathic Clubfoot: A Tertiary Care Center Study.

INTRODUCTION: Parents of children with clubfoot are likely to inquire about the need for tenotomy and about any factors that may be predictive. The present study was done to identify factors that may help predict the need for tenotomy in children undergoing Ponseti treatment for idiopathic clubfoot. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted on patients under 5 years of age with idiopathic clubfoot and no previous treatment history treated at Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled Children. The relationship between the Pirani score, Dimeglio score, age, and passive ankle dorsiflexion (DF) and the need for heel cord tenotomy was analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. RESULTS: Of 83 patients (125 feet) with a mean age of 6 months, 93 feet (74.4%) required a percutaneous tenotomy. The mean initial Pirani and Dimeglio score for 125 club feet was 4.5 (SD=1.68) and 13.5 (SD=6.1), respectively. The mean initial passive ankle DF was -40.4 (SD=22.31). The Dimeglio ( P =0.000), Pirani scores ( P =0 .000), and passive ankle DF ( P =0.000) showed significant association with the need for tenotomy. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a strong association between initial Pirani and Demiglio scores and initial passive ankle DF as predictive of a heel cord tenotomy. However, age, sex, and laterality were not associated with the need for tenotomy.

Socioeconomic Status Influences Functional Severity of Untreated Cerebral Palsy in Nepal: A Prospective Analysis and Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) comprises a heterogeneous group of disorders whose clinical manifestations and epidemiologic characteristics vary across socioeconomic and geographic contexts. The functional severity of untreated CP in low-income countries has been insufficiently studied; a better understanding of how these children present for care in resource-constrained environments is important because it will better characterize the natural history of CP, guide clinical decision-making, and aid in the prognostication of children with untreated CP. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the etiologies, motor subtypes, topographic distributions, and functional classifications of a large cohort of Nepali children with untreated CP presenting to a large pediatric rehabilitation center in Nepal; and (2) to compare the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), and the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) scores of a subset of patients with spastic CP in the Nepali cohort with control subjects from high-income countries. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled Children in Nepal. Two hundred six consecutive Nepali children (76 girls; median age 4.0 years [interquartile range {IQR}, 2.5-9.0 years]) were evaluated to determine the demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics of a cohort of Nepali children with untreated CP. A systematic review of the Medline and Cochrane databases was then performed to obtain reference classification scores from high-income countries. Cross-sectional, noninterventional studies reporting at least one functional classification system with a sample size of at least 50 participants were included. Only studies of patients with spastic CP were included to allow for compatible comparisons with a subset of our study sample with spastic CP. A random-effects analysis was used to pool functional scores from participants in the included studies. Among the 206 children in our sample, 102 had spastic CP (35 girls; median age 5.5 years [IQR, 3.5-9.0 years]). Functional scores from these children were compared with pooled scores obtained from the systematic review by assessing the proportions of children in each sample with GMFCS, MACS, and CFCS score categories of I or II versus III to V. RESULTS: Children with spastic hemiplegia from high-income countries were more likely to have a GMFCS score of I or II (96% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 92%-99%] versus 78% [95% CI, 62%-89%]) and a MACS score of I or II (83% [95% CI, 77%-88%] versus 50% [95% CI, 32%-68%]) relative to those from Nepal, but they were less likely to have a CFCS score of I or II (67% [95% CI, 51%-80%] versus 97% [95% CI, 87%-99%]). No differences were seen in children with spastic diplegia or quadriplegia. CONCLUSIONS: Children in Nepal with hemiplegic CP display less difficulty in communicating and social engagement (CFCS) despite more-severe upper- and lower-extremity impairments in gross motor function (GMFCS) and manual ability (MACS) than do children with hemiplegic CP from high-income countries. Targeted interventions, including perhaps simple orthopaedic interventions to treat soft-tissue contractures, may therefore provide more-substantial improvements in function and quality of life to Nepali children than could be achieved for the same deployment of resources in more-affluent settings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, prognostic study.

Outcomes of the Ponseti Method for Untreated Clubfeet in Nepalese Patients Seen Between the Ages of One and Five Years and Followed for at Least 10 Years.

BACKGROUND: To our knowledge, there are no reports of the Ponseti method initiated after walking age and with >10 years of follow-up. Our goal was to report the clinical findings and patient-reported outcomes for children with a previously untreated idiopathic clubfoot who were seen when they were between 1 and 5 years old, were treated with the Ponseti method, and had a minimum follow-up of 10 years. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records was supplemented by a follow-up evaluation of physical findings (alignment and range of motion) and patient-reported outcomes using the Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire for Children (OxAFQ-C). The initial treatment was graded as successful if a plantigrade foot was achieved without the need for an extensive soft-tissue release and/or osseous procedure. RESULTS: We located 145 (91%) of 159 patients (220 clubfeet). The average age at treatment was 3 years (range, 1 to 5 years), and the average duration of follow-up was 11 years (range, 10 to 12 years). The initial scores according to the systems of Pirani et al. and Diméglio et al. averaged 5 and 17, respectively, and an average of 8 casts were required. Surgical treatment, most commonly a percutaneous Achilles tendon release (197 feet; 90%), was required in 96% of the feet. A plantigrade foot was achieved in 95% of the feet. Complete relapse was rare (3%), although residual deformities were common. Patient-reported outcomes were favorable. CONCLUSIONS: A plantigrade foot was achieved in 95% of the feet initially and was maintained in most of the patients, although residual deformities were common. Patient-reported outcomes were satisfactory, and longer-term follow-up with age-appropriate outcome measures will be required to evaluate function in adulthood. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Hip arthrodesis in children: A review of 28 patients.

BACKGROUND: The best method of treating intractable hip pain in an unsalvageable hip joint in a child is still a subject open to debate. We believe that hip arthrodesis in such patients provides a painless and stable hip for most activities of daily living in our challenging rural terrain. Therefore, we conducted this study to assess the functional ability of children with painful hip arthrosis treated by arthrodesis of the hip. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective evaluation of 28 children (out of 35) who had an arthrodesis of the hip performed between 1994 and 2008 was carried out. The average age was 14 years, with 12 males and 16 females. There was involvement of the right hip in 13 and left in 15 cases. The average duration of follow-up was 4.87 years. The preferred position of the hip for arthrodesis was 20-30 degrees of flexion, neutral abduction-adduction, and neutral rotation, irrespective of the method of fixation. RESULTS: The average duration of clinical and radiological arthrodesis was found to be 4 months (2-6 months). At the last follow-up, all patients were painfree and had good ambulatory capacity. The average Modified Harris Hip Score increased from 53 to 84 and the average post-surgical limb length discrepancy was 1.3 cm, which was well tolerated in all cases. Patients, however, had difficulty in squatting and had to modify their posture for foot care, putting on shoes, etc. Also, some patients complained of ipsilateral knee, contralateral hip, or low back pain with prolonged activity, but this was not severe enough to restrict activity except in one case that was known to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and needed ambulatory aid. CONCLUSION: In an environment where pathology generally presents very late and often in a dramatic manner, where the patient's socioeconomic status, understanding, compliance, and the logistics of follow-up are consistently a challenge in management, hip arthrodesis has been an important procedure for our patient group, with good short-term results and promising midterm, and, hopefully, long-term prospects. In our series of patients, we have been successful in restoring painfree mobility.