Open wedge high tibial osteotomy has become the trend for correction of varus knee deformities. The drawbacks were the need of autogenous bone graft with its associated morbidity, and later the use of bone substitutes with their cost and delayed healing. In this study, a total of 58 consecutive patients underwent high tibial osteotomy with internal fixation by wedge (toothed) plate and screws without bone graft, from 2004 to 2008. Age of the patients ranged from 24 to 65 years. There were 37 women and 21 men. The osteotomy opening size ranged from 8 to 14 mm. The mean follow-up was 38 months. The osteotomy united in all patients. Average time to union was 12.4 weeks (range 8-16 weeks). Partial loss of correction occurred in one osteotomy. There was significant difference between the healing time and the size of the osteotomy opening. The results at the final follow-up using the HSS score were excellent in 51 knees (88%) and good in seven knees (12%). Despite the routine addition of bone graft as a part of the high tibial osteotomy procedure, this study supports medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy up to 14 mm without bone graft or bone substitutes, which shortens the operative time and avoids unnecessary morbidity.

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Aim of the work: Translation and validation of three commonly used knee scores to Arabic language: the Lysholm Knee Score (LKS), the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), and IKDC Subjective Knee Form. Methods: Our work focused on translation and validation of the LKS, OKS and IKDC. Construct validity was assessed by comparing the LKS, OKS, and IKDC Subjective Knee Form and previous Arabic translated version of Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). Test−retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity were assessed, using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Results: Reliability was excellent for the Arabic IKDC subjective form (0.95), while the Arabic LKS and the Arabic OKS were good: 0.8 and 0.85, respectively. The Cronbach's ά was excellent for the Arabic LKS and Arabic OKS: 0.9 and 0.90, respectively, while the Arabic IKDC subjective form was good (0.89). Construct validity was high for the Arabic LKS and the Arabic OKS: 0.7 and 0.913, respectively, while the Arabic IKDC was moderate (0.4) in cases of ACL and meniscus injuries and mild (0.18) in cases of osteoarthritis. Conclusion: Arabic LKS and Arabic OKS were reliable and valid scores for patients complaining of ligamentous injuries, meniscus injuries, and osteoarthritis to be used for Arabic-speaking people, while the Arabic IKDC had excellent reliability and mild validity in cases of osteoarthritis and moderate validity in cases of ACL and meniscus injuries.

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Clinical and biomechanical trials have shown that rigid internal fixation during ankle arthrodesis leads to increased rates of union and is associated with a reduced infection rate, union time, discomfort and earlier mobilisation compared with other methods. We describe our technique of ankle arthrodesis using anterior plating with a narrow dynamic compression plate (DCP). Between 2004 and 2007, 29 patients with a mean age of 24.4 years (range 18-42) had ankle arthrodesis using an anteriorly placed narrow DCP. Twenty-two patients were post-traumatic and seven were paralytic (five after spine fracture and two after common peroneal nerve injury). Follow-up was between 12 and 18 months (average 14 months). A rate of fusion of 100% was achieved at an average of 12.2 weeks. According to the Mazur ankle score, 65.5% had excellent, 20.7% good and 13.8% fair results. Ankle arthrodesis using an anteriorly placed narrow DCP is a good method to achieve ankle fusion in many types of ankle arthropathies.