Total knee arthroplasty in a spinal cord-injured patient: a case report.

Patients with spinal cord injuries are prone to knee hydrarthrosis (also known as "water on the knee"), which can cause pain, functional impairment and the restriction of social activities. Total knee arthroplasty is a potentially appropriate treatment. Here, we report on a patient presenting partial T12 AIS grade C paraplegia who was able to walk with two forearm crutches, an ankle-foot orthosis on the right leg and a knee-ankle-foot orthosis on the left leg. Thirteen years after the spinal cord injury, the patient presented with septic arthritis of the right knee, complicated by recurrent hydrarthrosis during standing and walking. Arthroscopy revealed advanced osteoarthritis. Total knee arthroplasty was performed, with very good functional and social outcomes two and half years after surgery.

[Impact of physical activity on the autonomy and the quality of life of patients with spinal cord injury]. / Impact de la pratique sportive sur l'autonomie et la qualité de vie du paraplégique.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of regular physical activity on the autonomy and the quality of life of Tunisian patients with spinal cord injury. METHODS: The study relates to 25 paraplegic divided into two groups: 10 paraplegic sportsmen and 15 sedentary paraplegics among whom we assess the degree of the autonomy with the Functional Independence Measure and the quality of life with the quality of life questionnaire SF36 in its Arabic version. RESULTS: The result analysis shows a significant difference of the total score of the Functional Independence Measure between the two groups, the sporting paraplegic having developed a better autonomy on the daily activities than the nonsporting paraplegics with a total average score of 115.10 against 93.87 (p<0.001). A significant difference is noted, mainly in the headings "personal care" and ',"mobility". Concerning the shutter "quality of life", the scores of various dimensions of scale SF36 were higher in the sporting paraplegic with significant difference in the headings bodily pain (p<0.01), vitality (p<0.04) and global physical score (p<0.008). CONCLUSION: This study enabled us to show that the regular physical activity as well had a positive effect on optimization of the functional capacities of paraplegic as on the improvement of its quality of life, thus, supporting a better socioprofessional reintegration.