Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) treated with arthrodesis and posterior titanium instrumentation: 8 to 12 years follow up without late infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are no data in the peer-reviewed literature regarding long term results in patients treated for AIS with a posterior titanium instrumentation. Therefore we assessed the outcome in 50 patients treated by titanium implant.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 50 patients with a mean age of 16.6 years were treated. In all patients, titanium hooks and pedicle screws were used in combination. The demographic data and the pre- and post-operative radiographs of all 50 patients were re-examined, and 49 of the 50 patients (98%) attended a radiological and clinical follow up-examination on average 10.1 years post-operatively. The clinical results were recorded by means of the SRS 24 questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the frontal plane, the mean pre-operative thoracic and lumbar curve had been 62.4° and 43.5° respectively, post-operatively the curves were reduced to 26.9° and 16.3°, resulting in a correction rate of 56.9% for thoracic and 62.5% for lumbar curve. At the follow up-evaluation, the Cobb angle of the thoracic and lumbar curve was 31.0° and 21.3° respectively, giving a final correction rate of 50.3% for thoracic, and 51.0% for lumbar curve. 7 of the 50 patients (14.3%) had undergo revision surgery for complications, but complete implant removal was necessary in only one case. Analysis of the SRS 24 questionnaire showed an average score of 95.8 points.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Posterior titanium instrumentation is a safe and effective procedure in the surgical correction of AIS. In this retrospective study with small patient number, it shows favourable long-term results; in particular, the loss of correction is low, no late infection occurred and there was a very high survival rate of the implant itself.</p

One-stage cementless revision arthroplasty for infected hip replacements

We hypothesised that one-stage cementless revision hip arthroplasty may have advantages and a role in the treatment of selected patients with an infected hip replacement. We retrospectively reviewed all patients with an infected hip replacement treated with one-stage revision using cementless implants. Twelve patients were reviewed and followed up for at least three years (average: 7.2 years, range: 3.3–11.3 years) postoperatively. One recurrence of infection and one aseptic stem loosening were detected during follow-up. Grafted bone, which was used in eight patients, appeared to have united to host bone in all patients. The success rate of treatment was 83.3% when infection recurrence or component loosening were regarded as failure. One-stage revision hip arthroplasty using cementless implants appears to have a role in the treatment of carefully selected patients with an infected hip replacement if meticulous débridement is performed and appropriate antibiotics are properly used