Atypical Presentation of Non-Ossifying Fibroma in a Professional Muay Thai Boxer: A Case Report and a Narrative Review of the Literature.

Introduction: Sports injuries occur during sport athletic activities, or exercising. However, there are some lesions which are typically associated to sports, in such a demanding and physical sport like Muay Thai that no typical lesion has been detected yet. We performed a narrative review of the literature to highlight the typical lesions of this sport to analyze the differential diagnosis of those conditions. Case Report: A 28-year-old female, Muay Thai athlete since 16 years, presented with a 6 months history of a persistent pain in the metaphyseal lateral part of the right tibia. Differentiation between stress injuries, malignant bone tumors, and tumor-like lesions after repetitive microtrauma following sport activities can be difficult. The diagnostic approach involved conventional X-ray, echotomography, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging scan with controversial findings. The biopsy confirmed the final diagnosis of non-ossifying fibroma. Conclusion: The purpose of this case report is to exhibit the challenges in the diagnosis of a professional Muay Thai athlete with tibial pain and to discuss the clinical presentation of this type of patients with a limited population in the literature. Our case illustrates that even modern imaging techniques cannot always distinguish between tumor and tumor-like lesions caused by sports; meanwhile remembered us that we should never be too focused on a particular characteristic forgetting even rare pathologies as adamantinoma.

Why malnutrition in orthopaedic elective patient is still an issue? A recent review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a known risk factor for complications and adverse outcomes after elective total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The progressive increase in the ageing of world population and in the numbers of TJA, widens the demand for a faster post-operative recovery and function. The aim of this study was to review the literature regarding: post-operative transfusion, infections, wound complications, length of hospital stay (LOS), rate of admission in intensive care unit (ICU), and total patient charges, in malnourished patient undergoing TJA. METHODS: The search reviewed all fields of the available peer-reviewed literature, published in the English language during the last seven years 2015-2022. We started from a total of 745 studies and finally we included in the review 16 articles. RESULTS: In 10 studies, an increased surgical site infection was shown, being by far the most common complication, in 8 studies, malnutrition was associate with the increase of the average length of stay (LOS), and in 5 studies, the major founding was the increase in costs. An increase of the morbidity was found in 3 studies, instead a larger number of transfusions was highlighted in 2 studies. Lastly, one study showed a major unplanned ICU admission rate. CONCLUSIONS: Although the literature trend indicates that the nutritional status of TJA candidate patients is a parameter that influences the surgical outcome, in particular surgical site infections, length of stay, and costs, there are, to the authors' knowledge, no studies aimed at identifying validated and recognized protocols for the correction of malnutrition.

A rare presentation of tubercular osteomyelitis of the foot.

Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that is a major cause of ill health. It is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide and the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Its most common clinical presentation is pulmonary involvement. However, approximately 23-30% of tuberculosis patients have extrapulmonary symptoms. A rare (1%) clinical presentation of tuberculosis is foot and ankle infection. This is complicated by the fact that the diagnosis of osteoarticular tuberculosis is difficult. Our case was a 66-year-old multi-pathological pensioner, who, while working in the countryside, had an ankle sprain on the left foot, with a lacerated wound of about 2 cm diameter. The non-endemic area and the negative chest X-ray made the diagnosis extremely complex. However, a multidisciplinary approach with the radiologists and the infectious disease department led to clinical stabilization of the patient. Therefore, awareness and high index of suspicion of the disease is essential and referral to experts should be made if diagnosis is indeterminate despite extensive investigations. The knowledge allows early identification of the disease and prompt therapy in order to avoid long-standing untreated infections which typically cause bone destruction and loss of function. The knowledge is also mandatory for western physicians due to increasing international travel, immigration from less developed countries and increased use of immunosuppressive medications. We believe that this article can bring awareness around osteoarticular tuberculosis and help with improving outcome and eradication of the infection. Level of clinical evidence: 4.