Does robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty restore native joint line more accurately than with conventional instruments?

The study's primary aim is the restoration of native joint line in patients having robotic-assisted unicondylar knee arthroplasty and conventional unicondylar knee arthroplasty. Literature in the past has demonstrated that reducing the joint line can result in greater failure rates. This is a prospective cohort investigation of patients who had medial UKA between March 2017 and March 2022.All patient's pre-operative and post-operative radiological joint line assessments were examined by two observers by Weber's methods. Robotic-assisted UKA performed with hand-held image-free robots was compared to conventional UKA groups. The distal position of the femoral component was higher in Group B utilizing conventional tools than in Group A employing robotic-assisted UKA. This positional difference was statistically significant. The mean difference among the pre-operative and post-operative joint lines in Group A was 1.6 ± 0.49 (range 0.8 mm-2.4 mm), while it was 2.47 ± 0.51 (range 1.6 mm-3.9 mm) (p 0.005) in Group B. In Group A, a greater percentage of the subjects (64%) attained a femoral component position within two millimeters from the joint line, whereas just 18% in Group B did. When compared with the conventional UKA technique, the meticulous attention to detail and planning for ligament rebalancing when using the robotic-assisted UKA technique not solely enhance surgical precision for implant placing but additionally provides excellent native joint line restoration and balancing. For validation of its longevity and survivability, the cohort must be tracked for a longer period of time.

Wedge Episiotomy for Long Cemented Femoral Stem Removal and Reconstruction. A Case Report on One-Stage Revision for Failed Bipolar for Proximal Femur Giant Cell Tumor.

Introduction: Osteotomy around proximal femur provides excellent exposure and helps in revision of both cemented and uncemented femoral stem. Hereby, describing our case report on wedge episiotomy, a new surgical technique for removal of distal fitting cemented or uncemented femoral stem in conditions were extended trochanteric osteotomy (ETO) becomes inappropriate and episiotomy becomes inadequate. Case Report: A 35-year-old lady presented with painful right hip and difficulty in walking. Her X-rays showed a dissociated bipolar head and long cemented femoral stem prosthesis. She gave history of proximal femur giant cell tumor operated with cemented bipolar which failed in 4 months (Figs. 1, 2, 3). There were no signs of active infection such as discharging sinus and elevated blood infection markers. Hence, she was planned for one-stage revision of the femoral stem and conversion into total hip arthroplasty. Surgical Technique: A small trochanter fragment, along with the abductor and vastus lateralis continuity, was preserved and mobilized away augmenting hip exposure. The long femoral stem was found well fixed with a cement mantle all around in an unacceptable retroversion. There was metallosis with no macroscopic signs of infection. Taking in consideration of her young age and the long femoral prosthesis with cement mantle, the idea of ETO was considered inappropriate and more iatrogenic.Initially, an episiotomy was done along the lateral border of femur with an oscillating saw to interrupt the radio compressive force of the bone along the cement mantle and stem. However, the lateral episiotomy was not sufficient to loosen up the tight fit between bone and cement interface. Hence, a small wedge episiotomy was done along the full length lateral border of the femur (Figs. 5 and 6). A lateral wedge of 5 mm bone was removed increasing the exposure of bone cement interface with intact 3/4th cortical rim. This exposure allowed 2 mm K-wire, drill bit, flexible osteotome, and micro saw to go in between the bone and cement mantle to dissociate it. A 240 x 14 mm long uncemented femoral stem was fixed using bone cement extending along the entire femur length, With utmost care, all the cement mantle and implant were removed. The wound was soaked with three minutes of hydrogen peroxide and betadine solution and washed with high jet pulse lavage. A long 305 × 18 mm Wagner-SL revision uncemented stem was placed with adequate axial and rotational stability (Fig. 7). The long straight stem of 4 mm wider than the extracted was passed along the anterior femoral bowing augmenting the axial fit and the wagner fins helped in getting the much need rotational stability (Fig. 8). The acetabular socket was prepared with uncemented cup size of 46 mm with a posterior lip liner poly and 32 mm metal head was used. The wedge of bone was kept back along the lateral border and help with 5-ethibond sutures. Intraoperative histopathology sampling did not show any evidence of giant cell tumor recurrence, ALVAL score of 5 and microbiology culture grew negative. The physiotherapy protocol included non-weight-bearing walking for 3 months, later then partial loading was started and complete loading was done by end of fourth month. The patient had no complication such as tumor recurrence, periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) and implant failure at end of 2 years(Fig. 9).

Does Balancing a Total Hip Arthroplasty Require a New Paradigm? Functional 3-Dimensional Balancing in Total Hip Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Traditional principles for successful outcomes in Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) have relied largely on placing the socket in the native position and trying to restore static anatomical femoral parameters gauged on X-rays or intra-operative measurement. Stability is conventionally achieved by making appropriate changes during the time of trial reduction. Post-operative complications of dislocation and significant Limb Length Discrepancy (LLD) requiring foot wear modification represents opposite ends of the spectrum from a biomechanical perspective and these continue to be relatively high. A move towards giving more importance to functional dynamic parameters rather than static anatomical parameters and less reliance on stability testing at trial reduction is warranted. METHODS: Intraoperative 3D functional balancing of THA without stability testing at trial reduction was practiced in all subjects undergoing THA in our unit from April 2014. To date 1019 patients have had their hips replaced with the same technique. They were followed up till April 2020 for post-operative complications of dislocation and significant LLD needing footwear modification. A secondary cohort of 114 patients from 1st January to December 31st 2017 within this primary group were analyzed clinically and radiologically to ascertain the implications of functional 3D balancing on X-ray parameters, clinical outcome scores (Harris Hip Score and Oxford Hip Score), ability to squat, and subtle subjective post-operative perception of limb lengthening (POPLL). RESULTS: In the primary group of 1019 patients, there were only two dislocations and no patient needed footwear modification for LLD. In the detailed analysis of the secondary cohort of 114 patients, the correlation with restoration of static radiological parameters was inconsistent. 40 patients could not squat and 4 patients had subtle subjective post-operative perceived limb lengthening (POPLL). Measured outcomes such as HHS and OHS were improved in all patients with significant statistical significance (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study underlines the fact that more importance must be given to functional dynamic parameters by 3D balancing of the THA and not on static anatomical X-rays parameters and stability testing during trial reduction. This represents a paradigm shift in the evolution of total hip arthroplasty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: A Level II study. (Data collected from the ongoing prospective study) (http://www.spine.org/Documents/LevelsofEvidenceFinal.pdf). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43465-021-00505-3.

Does the Femoral Head Size Influence Outcomes After Uncemented Total Hip Arthroplasty for Fused Hips? A Prospective Study in Ankylosing Spondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Uncemented total hip arthroplasty (THA) with large size femoral heads have shown greater advantage with good stability, range of motion and decreased dislocation rate in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Meticulous planning is needed to address the unique surgical challenges in such patients with fused hip and spinal deformity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty fivefused hip joints in twenty-five AS patients who underwent uncemented THA (April 2014 to December 2016) were included in our prospective study and were followed up for a minimum period of 36 months. Pain relief, functional improvement and patient satisfaction were statistically assessed using "Visual Analogue Score" (VAS), "Harris Hip Score" (HHS) and "AJRI 10-Point Satisfaction Score" (A10PSS), respectively. RESULTS: The overall mean preoperative VAS improved from 6.9 ± 1.5 to 1.5 ± 1, HHS improved from 50.0 ± 12 to 88.4 ± 7.8 and A10PSS improved from 2.2 ± 1.2 to 7.6 ± 0.8. Our study results were significant with zero dislocation and good functional score in comparison to the other available studies in literature. First subdivision study in AS patients with bilateral THA performed better than unilateral THA. Second subdivision study showed no significant statistical difference in terms of VAS, HHS, A10PSS and dislocation rate in relation to femoral head size between 32 mm, 36 mm and 40 mm. CONCLUSION: Uncemented THA with large size femoral head equal or greater than 32 mm provides better stability and good functional outcome with less dislocation rate in comparison to older studies of literature with femoral head size less than 32 mm. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: A Level II study. (Data collected from the ongoing prospective study) (https://www.spine.org/Documents/LevelsofEvidenceFinal.pdf).

A Case Report on Extruded Disc Acting as Buttonhole reventing Reduction in Traumatic Fracture and Lateral Dislocation of L1-l2 Vertebrae.

INTRODUCTION: There is a scanty literature support describing the incidence, mechanism of lateral dislocations of thoracolumbar spine and its management describing the reduction techniques. Hereby we present an interesting case of extruded disc acting as buttonhole preventing the reduction of lateral dislocation of L1-L2 vertebrae and this would be the first of its variety to be described ever in literature. CASE REPORT: A 30 year old female was referred to our hospital on post trauma day 7 with bilateral fascet fracture and lateral dislocation of L1-L2 vertebrae and fracture humerus on right arm following a road traffic accident. She presented with clinical signs consistent of cauda equina lesion. She underwent surgical reduction and TLIF L1-L2. On one year follow-up X-Rays showed maintenance of dorsolumbar saggital alignment without collapse. CONCLUSION: Dislocations of spine are three column injuries, are highly unstable requiring surgical stabilisation. Posterior instrumentation is the routinely followed technique to achieve reduction and for posterolateral fusion. In this case lateral dislocation was reduced only after removal of the laterally extruded disc. After complete discectomy TLIF was considered a good option for restoring disc space height and maintaining saggital balance.

Does Your Patient's Urine Turns Dark? Alkaptonuria and Low Back Ache: A Literature Review.

INTRODUCTION: Alkaptonuria is a very rare inborn error of amino acid metabolism due to deficient homogentisic acid (HGA) oxidase enzyme leading to accumulation of HGA in plasma, cartilage, other tissues of human body and its excretion in urine. It has both systemic and peripheral signs and symptoms. Though low back is a common symptom of alkaptonuria but, in the absence of ochronosis it is rare. Alkaptonuria itself is very rare occurrence with no specific treatment option available to reverse the effect as yet. CASE REPORT: A 38-year-old male, embroidery worker presented with chronic low back ache with history of staining of clothes in infancy. Later on laboratory and the radiological investigation patient was diagnosed to have alkaptonuria without ochronosis. No other systemic manifestation was present. Patient was treated conservatively and responded well. CONCLUSION: Though alkaptonuria is a very rare disease, and the occurrence of low back-ache in absence of ochronosis is much rarer. One must be aware of this inborn error of metabolism. Early diagnosis though being "diagnosis of exclusion" for low back-ache, high index of suspicion is advantageous as symptomatic treatment of the alkaptonuria can be initiated and evaluation of other systemic organs can be done in early stages itself.

High-flexion posterior-stabilized total knee prosthesis: is it worth the hype?

High-flexion knee prosthesis was introduced with the aim of obtaining higher degree of flexion and good survivorship in patients with high functional demands or those requiring squatting, kneeling, etc., which is more common in Asians. Based on all the research and experience with this prosthesis, it was concluded that high flexion designs meet the need of deeper degrees of flexion in selected sets of patients only. Results were equal and comparable to the traditional standard posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty design and superior to it in terms of gaining more flexion and fulfilling activities, such as squatting, kneeling, and sitting cross-legged.