Anterior locking plate versus non-operative treatment in different age groups with distal radial fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis compared anterior locking plate and non-operative treatment for distal radial fractures and assessed if the age of the patients is associated with the treatment effect. We searched the MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL databases and included 12 studies with 1366 patients. Compared with non-operative care, anterior locking plate treatment does not seem to provide clinically important benefits in mean DASH score, mean pain or their mean quality of life at 12 to 24 months if the patients' ages are not considered (moderate to low certainty evidence). However, the younger the patients, the larger the benefit for surgery. Meta-regression with the DASH score suggested that while people over 70 likely experience no clinically relevant benefit from surgery, the mean effects cannot be generalized to people under 60. The evidence regarding the risk of adverse events is too uncertain to make firm conclusions.

The consistency and reliability of six-strand and four-strand flexor tendon repairs: a comparative porcine cadaveric study.

The aim of this study was to compare the consistency and reliability of the six-strand Gan modification of the Lim-Tsai flexor tendon repair with the four-strand Adelaide repair, both with 3-0 sutures and with eight to ten runs of simple 5-0 running peripheral suture as well as the influence of the surgeons' level of experience on the strength of the repair in a cadaveric animal setup. Thirty-nine surgeons repaired 78 porcine flexor digitorum profundus tendons with either the Adelaide technique (39 tendons) or the modified Lim-Tsai technique (39 tendons). Each repaired tendon was tested in a material testing machine under a single cycle load-to-failure test. The forces were recorded when the gap between the two tendon stumps reached 1 and 2 mm and when irreversible elongation or total rupture occurred. We found no significant differences in gap formation force and yielding strength of the tendons between the two methods. The surgeon's previous experience in tendon repairs did not improve the consistency, reliability or tensile strength of the repairs. We conclude that if a strong peripheral suture is added, the modified Lim-Tsai repair has the same technical reliability and consistency as the Adelaide repair in term of ultimate loading strength in this test setup.

Platelet-rich Plasma or Autologous Blood Do Not Reduce Pain or Improve Function in Patients with Lateral Epicondylitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and autologous blood are commonly used therapies for lateral epicondylitis, but the evidence from randomized, placebo-controlled trials is conflicting. Thus, it is still unclear if patients benefit from these treatments. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: In the setting of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we compared PRP, autologous blood, and saline injections in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis with respect to: (1) VAS pain scores, and (2) functional outcomes (DASH score and grip strength) 1 year after treatment. METHODS: We performed a parallel-group, randomized, controlled participant- and assessor-blinded study including adults with clinically diagnosed lateral epicondylitis. We defined lateral epicondylitis as pain in the lateral humeral epicondyle area exacerbated during resisted wrist extension and epicondyle compression. The participants were recruited from a secondary referral center, after not responding to initial nonoperative treatment. Patients with other concomitant upper-limb symptoms and surgical treatment of the elbow were excluded. Randomization sequence was generated with computer software and concealed from the investigators. We randomized 119 participants to receive an injection of PRP, autologous blood, or saline (1:1:1) in the proximal insertion of the extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle; 40 participants received PRP, 40 received autologous blood, and 39 received a saline injection. To prepare the PRP, we collected venous blood with a syringe kit followed by centrifugation, whereas autologous blood group received unprepared blood injection. Two unblinded investigators gave injections while the participant was unable to see the injection. There was no formal postinjection rehabilitation protocol and the use of NSAIDs was similar between different treatment arms. Follow-up visits were at 4, 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks after the injection. The primary outcome measure was improvement in pain, measured with VAS scale (without specification as to whether the pain was activity related or at rest; range 0-10; a higher score indicates worse pain; the minimum clinically important difference [MCID] on the 10-cm scale was 1.5 cm), from baseline to 52 weeks. The secondary outcomes were the DASH score (range 0-100; a higher indicates a poorer outcome, and the MCID was 10.2 points) and grip strength. All patients were included in the analyses, and analyses were performed using the intention-to-treat principle. There was no crossover between treatment groups. At 52 weeks, nearly all (95% [38 of 40]) participants in autologous blood group were available for analysis whereas 78% (31 of 40) and 82% (32 of 39) were available in PRP and saline groups. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov and funded by the local hospital district. With 40 patients in each group, we had 80% power to detect a clinically important improvement in pain (1.5 cm on the 10-cm VAS pain scale). RESULTS: There were no clinically important differences in the mean VAS pain or DASH scores among the groups at any timepoint. At 52 weeks, the mean difference in the VAS score for pain was -0.2 (95% CI -1.5 to 1.1; p = 0.75) for PRP versus saline and 0.5 (95% CI -0.7 to 1.7; p = 0.40) for autologous blood versus saline. The corresponding mean differences in the DASH score were 0.0 (95% CI -9.2 to 9.2; p > 0.99) and 7.7 (95% CI -1.3 to 16.7; p = 0.09) and those for grip strength were 1.4 kg (95% CI -3.3 to 6.1; p = 0.56) and -0.2 kg (95% CI -5.0 to 4.5; p = 0.92). No complications occurred because of the injections. CONCLUSIONS: PRP or autologous blood injections did not improve pain or function at 1 year of follow-up in people with lateral epicondylitis compared with those who were given a saline injection. However, because the 95% CIs did not exclude the MCID in VAS scores for autologous blood versus saline at 52 weeks, it is possible that a larger study could identify a between-group difference that we missed, but the effect size of that difference (based on our findings), even if present, is likely still to be small. Until or unless future randomized trials convincingly show a benefit either to PRP or autologous blood injections, we recommend against their use in patients with lateral epicondylitis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, therapeutic study.

Factors Accounting for Variation in the Biomechanical Properties of Flexor Tendon Repairs.

PURPOSE: To investigate factors that cause variation in the mechanical properties of flexor tendon repairs. METHODS: One surgeon repaired 50 homogeneous absorbent sticks and 40 porcine flexor tendons with a simple loop, an Adelaide repair, a peripheral over-and-over repair, or a combination of the latter 2 repairs. Ten hand surgeons repaired 1 porcine flexor tendon with the combined Adelaide core and over-and-over peripheral repair. We loaded the samples statically until failure and calculated the variations caused by the testing process, tendon substance, and surgical performance in terms of yield and ultimate load. RESULTS: Tendon material and surgical performance both caused about half of the variation in the yield load of the combined repair. Surgical performance caused all variations observed in the ultimate load of the combined, peripheral-only, and core repairs. The effect of the tendon material was negligible in ultimate load. The intersurgeon variation was present only in yield load, and it represented one-tenth of the total variation. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of tendon substance on variation of the ultimate load is minimal. In yield load, both tendon and surgical performance are responsible for the variation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In clinical realm, variation caused by testing is not present, but intersurgeon variation may cause additional variation in yield load. A hand surgeon cannot change the variation due to tendon properties, but with a more meticulous surgical technique, the variation related to the surgical performance can probably be diminished.

Gap Formation During Cyclic Testing of Flexor Tendon Repair.

PURPOSE: Substantial gap formation of a repaired finger flexor tendon is assumed to be harmful for tendon healing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gap formation and the failure of the repair during cyclic loading. METHODS: Thirty-five porcine flexor tendons were repaired and tested cyclically using variable forces until failure or a maximum of 500 cycles. Depending on the biomechanical behavior during cyclic testing, specimens were divided into 3 groups: Sustained (no failure), Fatigued (failure after 50 cycles), and Disrupted (failure before 50 cycles). The relationships between the gap formations, time-extension curves, and group assignments of the samples were investigated. RESULTS: The time-extension curves of the Fatigued specimens showed a sudden onset of repair elongation-a fatigue point-which preluded the subsequent failure of the repair. This point coincides with the start of plastic deformation and, thereafter, cumulative injury of the repair consistently led to failure of the repair during subsequent cycles. None of the sustained repairs showed a fatigue point or substantial gapping during loading. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the emergence of a fatigue point and subsequent gap formation during loading will lead to failure of the repair if loading is continued. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The results of this experimental study imply that an inadequate flexor tendon repair that is susceptible to gap formation is under risk of failure.

Validity of parameters in static linear testing of flexor tendon repair.

To study the biomechanical properties of flexor tendon repairs, static tensile testing is commonly used because of its simplicity. However, cyclic testing resembles the physiological loading more closely. The aim of the present study is to assess how the biomechanical competence of repaired flexor tendons under cyclic testing relates to specific parameters derived from static tensile testing. Twenty repaired porcine flexor tendons were subjected to static tensile testing. Additional 35 specimens were tested cyclically with randomly assigned peak load for each specimen. Calculated risks of repair failure during repetitive loading were determined for mean of each statically derived parameter serving as a peak load. Furthermore, we developed a novel objective method to determine the critical load, which is a parameter predicting the survival of the repair in cyclic testing. The mean of statically derived yield load equalled the mean of critical load, justifying its role as a valid surrogate for critical load. However, regarding mean of any determined parameter as a clinically safe threshold is arbitrary due to the natural variation among samples. Until the universal performance of yield load is verified, we recommend employing cyclically derived critical load as primary parameter when comparing different methods of flexor tendon repair.