Arthroscopy was performed on 168 knees of 164 patients with anterior knee pain by a single arthroscopic surgeon between April 1993 and March 2000, with a mean follow-up of29 months. There were 168 mediopatellar plicae, 16 infrapatellar plicae, 8 suprapatellar plicae, and 30 lateral plicae, and all plicae were excised. Lateral retinacular release was performed in 74 patients with patellar lateral compression syndrome, patellar lateralization, and patellar lateral subluxation through anterolateral portal without using a third portal with the help of a hook knife. Débridement and drilling were performed in type 3 and 4 chondropathies (Outerbridge classification), and cartilage débridement was performed in type 2 chondropathies. We examined the effect on morbidity and prognosis of the arthroscopic lateral retinacular release through the standard anterolateral portal; the results of condylar chondropathies and débridement and drilling applied to the chondropathies were also evaluated. Mediopatellar plica was seen to play a mechanical role in the development of medial femoral chondropathy, which confirms that excision of plica is a prophylactic procedure. A further successful method is lateral retinacular release applied through the standard anterolateral portal with conventional methods without using a third portal at the cases with patellar lateral compression syndrome, patellar lateralization, and patellar lateral subluxation. Classical débridement and drilling methods are cheap and easy for the treatment of chondropathy. We consider these methods still to be useful methods of treatment.

Five hundred and fifteen children with single segment non-physeal extremity fractures were retrospectively reviewed. The male to female ratio was 2.7:1. The average age of study group was 9.9+/-4.7 years; 273 fractures (53%) were on the left, 242 (47%) were on the right. A fall was the main cause of the injury in most of the cases (80%). The forearm was the most commonly seen fracture site. Summer was the season when the fracture incidence was the highest. Highest surgical treatment rate (50%) was seen in supracondylar humerus fractures. It has been stated in the literature that non-physeal fractures are far more common than physeal fractures. We assume that this study not only will help understanding of the injury patterns of single segment non-physeal fractures in children but also, be a base for future studies in prevention and treatment of this type of fracture.

Sliding lengthening and Z-lengthening techniques are widely used in heel cord lengthening. Even though most surgeons performing these procedures apply a short leg cast after surgery, their postoperative immobilization intervals vary from 3 to 7 weeks. Nather et al. showed that there was no need for immobilization after the musculotendinous lengthening of long, deep flexor tendons. In the present study, we aimed to show the healing process of heel cords lengthened by sliding and Z-plasty lengthening in rabbits that did not undergo any postoperative immobilization. We performed sliding lengthening in the right heel cords of the rabbits and Z-lengthening in the left heel cords. We compared these two techniques radiographically, biomechanically, and histopathologically. Even though the biomechanical study showed superior results in the sliding lengthening group on the 7th day, elongation of the tendons at both sites was seen radiographically. There was no statistically significant difference between the sites according to the biomechanical study done on the 28th day. We concluded that the ankle should be immobilized in the early healing phase and that both types of lengthening gain a similar level of strength by the 4th week.