Functional outcomes following non-operative versus operative treatment of clavicle fractures in adolescents.

PURPOSE: Superiority of non-operative versus operative treatment of clavicle shaft fractures remains unclear. We aimed to assess shoulder function in adolescents following shortened clavicle fracture and compare operative versus non-operative treatment. METHODS: Patients aged 12 to 18 years at the time of fracture and minimum 1.5 years post injury were identified for this institutional review board (IRB)-approved study. For this retrospective cohort study, patients were frequency-matched for age, gender, shortening of the clavicle fracture and activity level. The dominant arm was controlled in the statistical model. Initial radiographs were used to measure clavicle shortening. At follow-up, isokinetic testing of both shoulders was performed in flexion, external rotation and the plane of scapular motion. Maximum number of isotonic repetitions and average isometric torque were recorded, as were ASES and DASH scores. Data were analysed comparing non-operative and operative groups and involved and uninvolved shoulders. RESULTS: Twenty patients were recruited (18 male, 2 female), with ten in each group. Median clavicle shortening was 17.5 mm (11.4 to 23.6). There was no statistical difference in average ASES (100 vs 99; p = 0.84) or DASH (0.0 vs 1.7; p = 0.08) between non-operative and operative groups, respectively. Results of isokinetic testing comparison between non-operative and operative groups showed no statistical difference for any individual association, controlling for the dominant arm. Among the non-operative group, the involved arm had decreased functional measures compared with the uninvolved arm on all measures, when controlling for dominant arm, and there was increased variability of the functional estimate. CONCLUSIONS: The increased variability in functional measures for the non-operative group suggests some patients may have dysfunction.

Halothane hepatitis without halothane: role of inapparent circuit contamination and its prevention.

Halothane and other halogenated anesthetic agents are liquids which are highly soluble in rubber and plastic materials widely used as components of anesthesia machines. These agents must be administered using machines equipped with vaporizers. We report a patient with a past history of halothane hepatitis in whom recurrence was suspected despite the fact that halothane had been avoided purposely during the subsequent operation. Circumstances led us to believe that inapparent circuit contamination of vaporizer-equipped anesthesia machine with halothane may be responsible for the inadvertant rechallenge and recurrence of halothane hepatitis. Vaporizer-equipped machines were tested for inapparent contamination with halothane and enflurane using Perkin-Elmer mass spectrometer. Oxygen alone was passed through the anesthesia circuits, and gas in the efferent limbs of the machines was tested for halothane (in eight machines) and enflurane (in two machines) which were found in various concentrations in all machines so tested. Our findings suggest that inapparent contamination may be widely prevalent in vaporizer-equipped anesthesia machines. The validity of this conclusion was confirmed in five patients with previous diagnosis of halothane hepatitis who subsequently underwent operations under general anesthesia during which machines never equipped with vaporizers were successful in preventing recurrence of hepatitis. We conclude that patients with a prior history of halothane hepatitis are at risk of inapparent circuit contamination-induced recurrent hepatitis. Unless such contamination can be confidently excluded, vaporizer-equipped machines should not be used to administer general anesthesia in these susceptible patients.

Factors associated with perioperative complications during carotid endarterectomy.

Records from 166 cases of unilateral carotid endarterectomy were reviewed to investigate the association of certain preoperative and intraoperative factors with perioperative complications including hypertension and hypotension, neurologic deficit, myocardial infarction, and mortality. No myocardial infarctions occurred and mortality was zero. Complications associated with some of the study factors included postoperative hypertension and neurologic deficit. Postoperative hypertension occurred more frequently (a) in patients with poor preoperative blood pressure (BP) control (BP greater than or equal to 170/95 torr) than in those with adequate control (BP less than 170/95 torr) or normotension (52%, 35%, and 17%, respectively, p less than 0.01) and, (b) when additional peripheral vascular disease was present (43% vs 25%, p less than 0.05). The incidence of neurologic deficit was higher when hypertension developed after surgery (20%) than when patients remained normotensive (6%) or developed hypotension (0%, p less than 0.05). Patients whose hypertension was poorly controlled had a greater incidence or transient neurologic, deficit (23.8%) than patients with controlled hypertension (2.5%) or patients with normotension (1.5%, p less than 0.01); permanent neurologic deficit occurred more frequently in those with bilateral disease on angiography than in those with unilateral disease (8.8% vs 1.2%, p less than 0.05).