Background: Distal radius fractures are arguably the most common orthopedic injuries encountered by the treating orthopedic surgeon. Correction of dorsal tilt and radial height is important to restore the normal biomechanics of the wrist joint. The aim of this study is to report the morphometry of the distal radius in a South Indian population and give a comparison to similar studies of other races and populations. Methods: Three hundred and ten consecutive plain radiographs of the wrist joint were included in all the radiographs. Four radiological parameters were studied in all the radiographs namely radial height, radial inclination, ulnar variance and palmar tilt. Radiographs that were not centered on the wrist joint or rotated were excluded from the study. Only radiographs of the distal radius with fused physis were considered in this study. Results: The mean value of the radial height was 0.88cm with a standard deviation of 0.26cm. The mean radial height for males was 0.92 ± 0.27cm and in females was 0.81± 0.23cm (p=0, which is significant). The mean radial inclination was 21.58 ± 3.35 o . The palmar tilt averaged 11.36 ± 3.16 o . The ulnar variance was neutral in 110 males (56.4%) and 66 females (57.4%). Conclusion:The morphometry of the distal radius varies with race, ethnicity, and build of the patient. Thorough knowledge of the morphometry of the distal radius of the local population becomes critical for the treating surgeon. In this study, we attempt to publish our results of our study of the radiological parameters in the South Indian population.

Background: The spine of a good healthcare system is the medical education received by its doctors. As medicine is evolving, the same can be inferred regarding the delivery of medical education. This study was conducted among 541 students in a prestigious medical college in India. The aim of the study was to find out lapses in our current medical education system and steps to improve it.  Methods: A total of 541 medical students were included in this study. The only inclusion criteria being that they should be in their 2nd year MBBS or above. A questionnaire of 20 questions was given to each student and they were asked to mark the answers they felt was most appropriate. The questionnaire dealt with issues faced in our current education system regarding teaching methodology, clinical postings, research, evidence based medicine and steps to improve the healthcare system. Data was collected, analysed and statistically evaluated using Microsoft Excel and SPS version 21.0.  Results: Majority of the students felt that classroom strength should not be more than a hundred students. They felt that more innovative teaching methods and discussions should be included. Students laid emphasis on research, clinical skills training and evidence based medicine. They felt that the healthcare system also needs tweaking in terms of funding and practicing evidence based medicine to be on par with healthcare systems across the world.  Conclusion: The results in this study, resonates with the results of various other studies regarding delivery of medical education. It also takes into account the holistic approach of improving medical education and healthcare rather than focusing on one single aspect.

ABSTRACT:The fracture of the distal end of radius was first identified by Sir Abraham Colles. With the increase in high velocity trauma, there has been an observed increase in the incidence and fracture patterns of the distal radius. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We conducted a prospective on distal radius fractures with 132 patients. All cases of distal radius fractures were considered between the age group of 20 and 70 years. Frykmans classification was used to classify the fractures. The patients were followed up every three weeks following surgery.The patients were assessed subjectively and objectively using New York Hospital Wrist Scoring system. RESULTS: Our study showed that anatomical and functional results were excellent in 35.7% of the patients versus 25% of those patients treated by external fixation. 30.3% of our patients managed by internal fixation had good functional outcome at the end of one year follow-up versus 43.4% of them treated with external fixation. 25% of patients treated by internal fixation had fair results while 13.1% of the patients managed by external fixation had fair results. Poor results were observed in 8.9% of patients managed by internal fixation as compared to18.4% of them managed by external fixator. The fair and poor results were due to inability to maintain accurate articular reduction and congruity of the distal radius using the external fixator. Potential complications like pin tract infection and loosening could also be attributed towards poor scores while using external fixation. CONCLUSION: The incidence of complications and poor results in internal fixation are fewer when compared to external fixation in this study. Patients managed with buttress plating had better functional outcome and returned to their daily routine earlier than those patients managed with ligamentotaxis.

Specific objective: A study was undertaken to evaluate the superiority of Lowest occlusion pressure method of using the pneumatic tourniquet verus the other routine ways of usage of Pneumatic Tourniquets in Orthopaedics surgery which include the Fixed and Systolic Blood Pressure variants. Materials and methods:This study included 120 patients of both upper and lower limbs trauma. These patients were randomly included any of the three categories of study after fullfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Three modalities of application of toruniquet were included in this study. They were Fixed, Systolic Blood pressure (SBP) and Lowest Occlusion Pressure methods (LOP). Each category included 40 patients and the results were analysed according to final outcome using Ishii et al. grading, VAS Score criteria. Results: In our study 120 cases managed by LOP had better results compared to fixed variant and Systolic BP variant in terms of less pressure needed to keep tourniquet, good operative field, pain score (VAS) at tourniquet application region and skin injury (reddening). But no complications like compartment syndrome, deep vein disorder, paresis, nerve injury has occurred before and after surgery Conclusion: LOP method of using the pneuamtic tourniquet is superior to the other methods of using Tourniquet in terms of less pressure needed for elevating tourniquet, Good operative (blood less) field, no skin abrasions.Keywords: Pneumatic tourniquet, lowest occlusion pressure, systolic blood pressure, orthopaedic surgery IntroductionThe use of pneumatic tourniquet in orthopaedic surgery has been widely debated over the years. A pneumatic tourniquet is a device that allows the surgeon to have a bloodless field for the duration of the surgery [1,2] . This allows the surgeon to reduce the surgical time since all the anatomic structures are clearly visualised. The reason for debate is due to the postoperative problems experienced by the patient. Tourniquet site pain, tourniquet palsy, chemical burns at the site of tourniquet are common patient related problems consequent to using a tourniquet [3][4][5] . Great efforts have been made to identify the minimum pressure to which the tourniquet should be inflated so as to avoid the above mentioned problems. [6] In this study, we aim to use the pneumatic tourniquet by inflating it to the lowest occlusion pressure (LOP) and study its effects in terms of quality of bloodless field and post-operative complications. The results were compared with the standard techniques of using a tourniquet described already in the literature.

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