Fatigue strength of common tibial intramedullary nail distal locking screws

Premature failure of either the nail and/or locking screws with unstable fracture patterns may lead to angulation, shortening, malunion, and IM nail migration. Up to thirty percent of all unreamed nail locking screws can break after initial weight bearing is allowed at 8–10 weeks if union has not occurred. The primary problem this presents is hardware removal during revision surgery. The purposes of our study was to evaluate the relative fatigue resistance of distal locking screws and bolts from representative manufacturers of tibial IM nail systems, and develop a relative risk assessment of screws and materials used. Evaluations included quantitative and qualitative measures of the relative performance of these screws

Unreamed intramedullary tibial nailing - Fatigue of locking bolts

Between January 1990 and October 1993 toe investigated 72 consecutive patients who had an unreamed tibial nail inserted for fractures of the tibial shaft; 75 per cent (N = 54) were closed fractures and 25 per cent (N = 18) were open fractures. The mean follow up was 15.2 months. Of the patients 91.7 per cent (N = 66) were interlocked, 58 per cent (N = 38) statically and 42 per cent (N = 28) dynamically. Union rate was 98.6 per cent, time to union was 18.5 weeks, 17.3 weeks for closed fractures, 22 weeks for open fractures. Shortening greater than 1 cm occurred in 1.4 per cent (N = 1), varus and valgus deformity in 4.1 per cent each (N = 3). There was no rotational deformity. Of the locking bolts 30 per cent broke 8-10 weeks after partial weight bearing was allowed. Electron microscopy investigations showed that failure of the bolts was due to fatigue. It was not associated with any clinical problems with regard to union times or incidence of malunion. Bolt failure is however a problem if you try to remove the nail. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Lt

Tentativa de suicídio entre pacientes com uso nocivo de bebidas alcoólicas internados em hospital geral Suicide attempt amongst patients with alcohol misuse admitted to a general hospital

OBJETIVO: Detectar fatores associados a histórico de tentativa de suicídio (TS) em pacientes internados em hospital geral que fazem uso nocivo de bebidas alcoólicas. MÉTODO: 4.352 pacientes admitidos consecutivamente foram avaliados utilizando-se um rastreamento do qual constavam as escalas AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) e HAD (Escala Hospitalar de Ansiedade e Depressão). Fixando-se histórico de tentativa de suicídio ao longo da vida como variável dependente, foram realizados testes do qui-quadrado e regressão logística múltipla. RESULTADOS: Uso nocivo de álcool (AUDIT > 8) foi detectado em 423 pacientes. Dentre eles, 60 (14,2%) apresentavam sintomas de depressão (HAD > 8) e 34 (8%) tinham histórico de TS. Este se associou a ser adulto jovem [razão de chance (RC) = 3,4], depressão (RC = 6,6), uso pregresso de psicofármaco (RC = 7) e ter SIDA (RC = 24). CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados fortalecem a necessidade de detectar e tratar adequadamente condições que, combinadas, aumentam consideravelmente o risco de suicídio.<br>OBJECTIVE: To detect factors associated to previous suicide attempt among patients admitted to a general hospital who presented harmful alcohol drinking pattern. METHOD: 4.352 patients consecutively admitted were screened by means of the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) and HAD (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Qui-squared tests and multiple logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: 423 individuals presented alcohol harmful use or dependence (AUDIT > 8), 60 (14.2%) of which had depression (HAD > 8) and 34 (8%) previous suicide attempt. The latter was more frequent among young adults [odds ratio (OR) = 3.4], those who were depressed (OR = 6.6), had previously taken psychotropic medicines (OR = 7) and had AIDS (OR = 24). CONCLUSION: Our findings reinforce the need for detection and adequate treatment of conditions that, when together, strongly increase the suicide risk