No abstract

AMIC combined with the CLP-MB membrane, and Cartifill seems to be a promising approach to treat knee chondral defects.

Pharmacological prophylaxis for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a worldwide established procedure in hip and knee replacement surgery, as well as in the treatment of femoral neck fractures, but few data exist in other fields of orthopaedics and traumatology. Thus, no guidelines or recommendations are available in the literature except for a limited number of weak statements about knee arthroscopy and lower limb fractures. In any case, none of them are a multidisciplinary effort as the one here presented. The Italian Society for Studies on Haemostasis and Thrombosis (SISET), the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (SIOT), the Association of Orthopaedic Traumatology of Italian Hospitals (OTODI), together with the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) and the Italian Society of General Medicine (SIMG) have set down easy and quick suggestions for VTE prophylaxis in a number of surgical conditions for which only scarce evidence is available. This inter-society consensus statement aims at simplifying the approach to VTE prophylaxis in the single patient with the goal to improve its clinical application.

The ideal treatment for displaced intraarticular calcaneal fractures is still under debate. Open reduction and internal fixation is the most popular surgical procedure; however, wound complications, hardware failure and infection remain a major concern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of a new minimally-invasive surgical procedure: closed reduction technique combined with balloon-assisted fracture augmentation with cement or calcium phosphate (minimally-invasive percutaneous calcaneoplasty). We retrospectively reviewed 11 patients that sustained Sander’s type II and III calcaneal fractures treated in our institution from January 2008 to June 2010. The same approach and technique was utilized in all cases. Conventional X-rays and CT scan have been performed pre- and post-operatively. The average follow-up was 24 months. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle/hindfoot score has been utilized for clinical evaluation and Bohler’s angle to assess bone reduction. All cases obtained bony union in 2/3 months, with average Bohler’s angle of 22.97° (from 14.21° to 32.83°). No skin complications or adverse reactions were observed, with only one patient complaining of residual pain in the hindfoot. Minimally-invasive percutaneous calcaneoplasty can represent an alternative to open reduction internal fixation in the treatment of calcaneal fractures, allowing stable reduction without plating, early function recovery and short hospital stay.

Anticoagulant prophylaxis for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a worldwide established procedure in hip and knee replacement surgery, as well as in the treatment of femoral neck fractures (FNF). Different guidelines are available in the literature, with quite different recommendations. None of them is a multidisciplinary effort as the one presented. The Italian Society for Studies on Haemostasis and Thrombosis (SISET), the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (SIOT), the association of Orthopaedists and Traumatologists of Italian Hospitals (OTODI), together with the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) have set down easy and quick suggestions for VTE prophylaxis in hip and knee surgery as well as in FNF treatment. This inter-society consensus statement aims at simplifying the grading system reported in the literature, and its goal is to benefit its clinical application. Special focus is given to fragile patients, those with high bleeding risk, and those receiving chronic antiplatelet (APT) and vitamin K antagonists treatment. A special chapter is dedicated to regional anaesthesia and VTE prophylaxis.