BACKGROUND: Fasciotomy wounds can be a major contributor to length of stay for patients as well as a diffi cult reconstructive challenge. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate lower leg fasciotomy wound closure outcomes comparing treatment with combined dressing fabric (COM) and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in combination with elastic dynamic ligature (EDL). METHODS: Retrospective study of 63 patients who underwent lower leg fasciotomy due to injury treated from January 2008 to December 2015 at the Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Brno. Of these fasciotomy wounds 42 received a NPWT treatment in combination with EDL, 21 were treated only with COM. Fasciotomy wounds were closed either with primary suture or in case of persisting oedema and skin retraction the defect was covered with split thickness skin graft. RESULTS: There was statistically signifi cantly higher rate of primary wound closure using the NPWT versus traditional dressing (p = 0.015). Median time to defi nitive wound closure or skin grafting was shorter in the NPWT group. Number of dressing changes was lower in the NPWT group (p=0.008). CONCLUSION: NPWT combined with elastic dynamic ligature offers many advantages for fasciotomy wound closure in comparison with traditional techniques (Tab. 5, Fig. 3, Ref. 21). Text in PDF www.elis.sk.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDYSubtotal or total meniscectomy will increase weight-bearing per square unit of the cartilage surface approximately threeand-half-times. A long-term overloading of cartilage is clinically manifested by pain, swelling and a rapid onset of early arthritic lesions discernible on radiograms. One of the options for the treatment of degenerative changes in the joint is meniscal transplant. The authors present their first experience with the transplantation of deep frozen meniscal tissue in the Czech Republic. MATERIALBy September 2006, we had treated 26 patients with clinical problems following subtotal or total meniscectomy. The patients, 15 women and 11 men, were between 24 and 46 years of age. Eighteen patients underwent transplantation of the medial meniscus and eight received a lateral meniscal transplant. Concomitant repair of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was indicated in 11 patients, of whom 10 were treated with semitendinosus tendon graft and one with patellar ligament allograft.One patient with a lateral meniscal transplant and ACL reconstruction also had suture of the medial meniscus for a previously sustained injury.In 16 patients, chondromalacia was at the level of Outerbridge grade II and, only in five patients, the finding was Outerbridge grade I. Five patients with grade III chondromalacia were treated using the microfracture technique. Valgus or varus osteotomy was not indicated at all. METHODSThe goal of meniscal transplant surgery is: 1) to relieve pain after meniscectomy; 2) to prevent degenerative changes of cartilage; 3) to eliminate or reduce the risk of development of osteoarthritic lesions; 4) to restore normal mechanics of the knee joint. Patient selection is important and it is necessary to take into consideration: 1) level of cartilage degenerative changes; 2) knee alignment; 3) knee joint stability; 4) graft size. In patients with instability of the knee and indications for meniscal graft, it is necessary to stabilize the joint by ligament reconstruciton prior to transplantation; in the case of malalignment corrective osteotomy is required. RESULTSAll patients healed without complications. At the end of the third follow-up month, the range of motion was S-0-0-130 in 22 patients and S-0-0-120 in three patients. Only one patient had the range of motion restricted to S-0-0-110. Evaluation showed improvement from pre-operative values to those at 6 months and two years post-operatively as follows: IKDS score, 57-64 to 73-80 to 76-84; Lysholm score, 50-76 to 80-90 to 85-95; and Tegner score, 2-4 to 4-7 to 5-8.No complications associated with meniscal transplant incorporation were recorded. Also in five patients with Outbridge grade III degenerative changes, meniscal transplantation was successfully carried out. In four patients, of which two had a cartilage defect treated, second-look arthroscopy showed that the lesions healed with healthy fibrocartilaginous tissue. CONCLUSIONSAll patients reported resolution of subjective complaints, as seen from the results of the IKDC...

PURPOSE OF THE STUDYA retrospective analysis of patients with thoracolumbar junction fractures who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery via a minimally invasive approach (minithoracotomy) for reconstruction of the anterior spinal column. MATERIALBetween 2002 and 2006, a total of 127 patients were treated by this technique. The age of the group, including 75 men and 52 women, ranged from 18 to 75 years (average, 45.9 years). L1 and Th12 fractures were treated in 71 and 66 patients, respectively. Based on CT scans and operative findings, the fractures were assessed as type A in 81, type B in 42 and type C in four patients. The causes of injury were a fall from height in 72, a pedestrian's fall in 29, a traffic accident in 23 and other in three patients. On admission 19 patients had a neurological deficit of varying degree: Frankel grade A, eight patients; grade B, four; grade C, five; and grade D, two patients. METHODSThe patients were treated by either posterior stabilization and, at the second stage, the minimally invasive technique via an anterior approach, or the minimally invasive anterior procedure alone. Transpedicular posterior stabilization was performed in 52 patients. All of them had an anterior procedure completed with screw-rod-screw stabilization, and the vertebral body was replaced with an allograft or an expandable titanium cage in 50 and two patients, respectively. The anterior approach alone was used in 75 patients, who received a bisegmental angle-stable implant in 43 and a monosegmental plate in 32 cases. To replace the vertebral body, allografts were used in 71 and an expandable titanium cage in four patients. RESULTSThe average follow-up period was 3.9 years (range, 1 to 6 years). In the anterior procedure, the average operative time was 90 min (range, 50 to 130 min) and blood loss ranged from 200 ml to 2300 ml. A complication due to deep infection occurred in one patient and required removal of both the anterior and posterior implants. Bony fusion without complications was achieved in all patients within a year of surgery. The loss of correction after the anterior procedure with an allograft or titanium cage was up to 2 degrees at 1-year follow-up. No conversion of the minimally invasive technique to a conventional approach due to visceral or vascular injury was necessary; nor was revision surgery for fluidothorax needed. No loosening of an anterior implant or cage dislocation was recorded. Hypesthesia in the operative wound area was found in four patients (3.1 %). Improvement in neurological status by at least one Frankel grade was found in 10 of the 19 affected patients. DISCUSSIONThe anterior approach is recommended for reconstruction of the anterior spinal column in burst fractures of the thoracolumbar junction in particular. An isolated posterior approach may result in implant failure during bony union or in the loss of correction after implant removal that can lead to the recurrence of kyphosis. Conventional thoracotomy is often associated with significant morbidity and hence ...

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