Operative Treatment of Intra-articular Distal Radius Fractures Using the Small AO External Fixation Device

BackgroundA retrospective group study was done to evaluate the effect of the small AO external fixator in the management of acute intra-articular fractures of the distal radius.MethodsBetween January 1995 and December 1996, 70 consecutive patients with articular fractures of the distal radius were treated by closed reduction and external fixation with small AO external fixators. The mean age at the time of surgery was 58.9 years (range, 14–87 years). There were 58 Colles' Barton's fractures and 12 Smith's Barton's fractures. The follow-up period was 104 months (range, 92–118 months).ResultsAll fractures united in a mean of 5.8 weeks (range, 4–10 weeks). At the final follow-up, the average range of motion was 56.3 ± 11.6° in flexion, 58.6 ± 10.7° in extension, 21.5 ± 4.2° in ulnar deviation, 9.1 ± 2.9° in radial deviation, 71.5 ± 8.5° in pronation, and 67.3 ± 9.2° in supination. Compared with the normal side, the average grip force was 87 ± 6%. The overall clinical and functional outcomes, according to the scoring system of Gartland and Werley, showed that 22 patients (31.4%) had excellent results, 36 (51.4%) had good results, 9 (12.9%) had fair results, and 3 (4.3%) had poor results.ConclusionClosed reduction and external fixation with the small AO external fixator is useful and effective in the management of displaced comminuted articular fractures of the distal radius

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities