Accelerated Return to Play for Professional Rugby Players After Facial Fractures.

BACKGROUND: Facial fractures may result in a significant time away from competition for professional rugby players. An understanding of the return-to-play times is an integral part of clinical decision making when treating professional athletes. A period of 8 to 12 weeks has been conventionally recommended for returning to collision sports after facial fractures. The conventional time to return to sports of 8 to 12 weeks is usually too long for professional players. However, the time of return to play after such facial fractures in elite athletes has not been well described. PURPOSE: To investigate the return to play after facial fractures in professional rugby players with an accelerated rehabilitation protocol. METHODS: Ten professional rugby players with facial fractures were identified and analyzed. The authors investigated the number of days required to return to training and full-contact play according to the trauma type. The authors also determined the presence or absence of refractures and sequelae. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 26.9 years. Medial orbital wall fractures were the most represented pattern, followed by orbital floor fractures and zygomatic arch fractures. The players returned to jogging after 9.9 days, to sports-specific training after a mean of 10.8 days, and to full-contact training after 18.3 days. There were no cases of refractures and sequelae. CONCLUSION: Players were able to return to their regular rugby activities, earlier than the time commonly allowed to return to full activity.

Assessment of dorsal instability of the ulnar head in the distal radioulnar joint: comparison between normal wrist joints and cases of ruptured extensor tendons.

In the present study, the adaptability of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) was evaluated using conventional computed tomography (CT) evaluation methods. In addition, we investigated/compared a new method to evaluate dorsal displacement of the ulnar head. Our subjects consisted of 32 healthy volunteers (64 wrists) and 11 patients (13 wrists) with extensor tendon injuries related to dorsal displacement of the ulnar head. To diagnose instability in the DRUJ based on CT scans, the radioulnar line method and the modified radioulnar line method were measured. Instability was evaluated by the new method that the ulnar head was located on the dorsal side from a line involving the peak of Lister's tubercle in parallel to this baseline was regarded as showing abnormal dorsal displacement of the ulnar head. The diagnostic accuracy of each method was calculated. The sensitivities, specificities, false-positive rates, positive predictive values and the negative predictive value of new methods were better than other two methods. The new method that we recommend is simple. Based on the results of this study, an evaluation of normal/abnormal dorsal displacement of the ulnar head in the DRUJ using the new method may be useful for determining the timing of surgery.

A case report of patellar fracture treated by percutaneous strong suture technique.

Tension-band wiring with metal such as Kirshner wire or soft steel wire is commonly used for the treatment of patellar fractures. In recent years, metal-free surgery using a strong suture with high breaking strength has been reported to have excellent outcomes. We report a case of patellar fracture treated with a minimally invasive percutaneous strong suture. The patient is a 57-year-old salesman who fell at work, hit his knee, and came to our hospital complaining of pain. His range of motion was -15° in extension and 60° in flexion. His X-ray results showed a transverse fracture of the right patella with a 3-mm displacement, and surgery was performed 7 days post-injury. A small incision of 1 cm was made distally and proximally on the patella. Two 2.0-mm perforated K-wires were inserted from distal to proximal sides, and the wire was pulled out proximally with FiberWire® No. 2. The distal end of the FiberWire was pulled through the proximal incision via the anterior surface of the patella and finally fastened. The procedure was completed in 21 min. The patient did not use a brace since the operation day and was not restricted in terms of load or range of motion. He was able to walk without any assistance after 10 days and returned to driving and office work 14 days postoperatively. At the final follow-up, no symptoms of skin irritation were detected, and the patient did not require suture removal.

Correction of humpback and DISI deformities by vascularized bone grafting in patients with scaphoid nonunion.

INTRODUCTION: Although vascularized bone grafting (VBG) using 1, 2 intercompartmental supraretinacular artery (1, 2 ICSRA) is effective for scaphoid nonunion, dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) deformity persists even after correction of humpback deformity (HD). The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the correction of HD and DISI deformity after 1, 2 ICSRA VBG for scaphoid nonunion. METHODS: We treated 18 patients (mean age: 25.8, 16 males and 2 females) with scaphoid nonunion using a 1, 2-ICSRA VBG between January 2010 and December 2018. The average time from injury to surgery was 20.0 (3-120) months. The nonunions were located at the waist in all patients. The correction of HD and DISI deformity was investigated on the preoperative images and images at the last examination. RESULTS: In all patients, the correction of HD was positively correlated with that of DISI deformity. Moreover, we focused on the time from injury to surgery and evaluated changes in HD and DISI deformity according to the time to surgery. As a result, changes in HD and DISI deformity were positively correlated in patients with a shorter time to surgery but were not correlated when the time to surgery exceeded 5 months. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that DISI deformity can be corrected by correcting HD when the time from injury to surgery is short, but that correction is difficult if the time to surgery is prolonged.

Hook Plate Technique for Bony Mallet Thumb.

Bony mallet is a common sport injury, but bony mallet thumb is rarely encountered. We performed open reduction and fixation of bony mallet thumb using a hook plate procedure on a 27-year-old man under general anesthesia. The patient began working one day after surgery. Six months postoperatively, the patient had excellent dexterity according to Crawford's evaluation criteria and no difficulties at work or playing softball. Tension band fixation, compression pins, and the extension block technique are commonly used to manage bony mallet. Despite the anatomical reduction, rigid fixation, and early resumption of motion skills offered by the hook plate technique, to our knowledge, no previous reports of its application to bony mallet thumb were found. In this case, the hook plate technique was chosen and made an early return to work possible and brought about a successful result.

[Laboratory medicine in the field of emergency medicine and disaster medicine--Old-And-New tools of emergency medical service].

We reviewed the characteristics of the field of laboratory medicine concerning emergency medicine and disaster medicine. Gram's stain was apt to be made light of by clinicians, but it has been reviewed again. A modern sophisticated analysis system is expected for the consequence management of NBC terrorism and mass poisoning, but we would like to emphasize the importance of the basic physical strength of laboratory medicine, such as Gram's stain, to the meaning of old-and-new technology.

Pedicle freezing with liquid nitrogen for malignant bone tumour in the radius: a new technique of osteotomy of the ulna.

We describe a new technique of pedicle freezing of the distal radius with malignant bone tumour and osteotomy of the normal ulna. The distal radius was sufficiently elevated to enable freezing without damaging adjacent tissues by releasing the distal radio-ulnar and radio-carpal joint and cutting the middle third of the ulna. The distal radius (including the tumour) was soaked in liquid nitrogen and the defect filled with iliac grafts. The ulna was repaired with plate and screws and was united at month 2. There was no local recurrence and the postoperative function score was 93%. This technique decreases the risk of non-union of the osteotomy site of the tumorous bone.

Interposed autologous nerve segment stimulates nerve regeneration in peripheral nerve allografts in a rat model.

The ability of autologous nerve segments interposed between allografts, to increase the total nerve-gap distance, was studied. Sciatic nerve allografts were carried out in a rat model. A 15-mm nerve gap was repaired with a 25-mm nerve graft (interposed group: allo-auto-allograft; control group: allo-allo-allograft). Cyclosporin was given for 12 weeks. Nerve regeneration was evaluated using the weight of the anterior tibial muscle and histologic, morphometric and immunohistochemical analyses at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, and 24 weeks. Nerve regeneration in the interposed group was statistically significantly better than that in the control group. The authors concluded that a nerve allograft with interposed autograft may enhance nerve regeneration in this model, because of the migration of host-derived Schwann cells into the graft from not only the proximal and distal host nerve stumps, but also the interposed autograft.