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Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of arthroscopic internal drainage (AID) and cyst wall resection (CWR) in children with popliteal cysts., Methods: This study included 16 pediatric patients with popliteal cysts and received arthroscopy using the double posteromedial (PM) portal system during June 2020 and June 2021 at The General Hospital of Northern Theater Command. Among these pediatric patients, 14 were males and two were females, with the mean age of nine years (range: 7-12 years). The left knee was affected in 12 cases, while the right knee was involved in the rest four cases. All patients underwent MR imaging before the procedure to assess whether there was intra-articular trauma and whether the popliteal cyst communicated with the knee-joint cavity. The MRI results showed that each patient had a simple popliteal cyst that involved a single knee joint without intra-articular trauma, which was classified as Grade-1 (n=3), Grade-2 (n =10) or Grade-3 (n =3) according to the Rauschning and Lindgren grading of knee joint symptoms. Arthroscopy was performed through anterolateral (AL) and PM portals to the knee joint for AID plus CWR, and the surgical outcomes were evaluated based on the Rauschning and Lindgren criteria., Results: No major vascular or nerve injury occurred during the operation. Postoperative complications such as wound infection and lower-extremity deep venous thrombosis were not recorded in these patients. Complications involving the saphenous nerve or the great saphenous vein or pseudocyst formation were not observed during the follow-up period. All patients completed the follow-up ranging from 3-12 months and were identified to have grade-0 (n=15) and grade-1 (n=1) popliteal cysts based on the Rauschning and Lindgren criteria, indicating significant improvement compared with the preoperative levels (all p<0.05). Moreover, no recurrence was recorded after operation., Conclusion: AID plus CWR is a minimally invasive and safe approach for pediatric patients with popliteal cysts to promote postoperative recovery and reduce the recurrence rate., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)

Objectives: To investigate the clinical efficacy of exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique applying in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus of the knee., Methods: From January 2016 to June 2019, 52 patients with injury in the medial meniscus treated in our department were selected. The horizontal tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus was repaired by exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique using the meniscus suture system. Postoperatively, the efficacy was evaluated using the Lysholm scoring system., Results: These 52 patients were all followed up for 3~18 months, with an average of 12.5 ± 7.3 months. The pain and activity of all patients were significantly improved compared with those before surgery., Conclusion: Exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique in the repair of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus presents satisfactory efficacy. It can improve the pain and activity of the knee, and enhance the stability of residual meniscus. Therefore, it is worth promoting., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)

Objective: To explore the clinical effects upon gap nonunion of antibiotic-loaded bone cement spacer combined with membrane induction on infected bone defects., Methods: The data of 16 patients with infected bone defects admitted in General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command from January 2009 to January 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 12 males and 4 females aged between 24-63 years age (average 43.1 ± 9.7) who had received antibiotic laiden bone cement spacer treatment. Stage-1, debridement and anti-biotic treatment with intraoperative preparation of customized bone cement spacers (antibiotics and bone cement spacer) with or without internal or external fixation Stage-2, removal of spacer and repair of bone defects using membrane-induced technique and internal fixation at bone defects site., Results: Sixteen patients were followed up for 39-98 months, (67.2 ± 20.4) on average. All patients with infected bone defects were healed. X-ray showed that fractures had healed and the new bone formed at graft site was more radio opaque than that of adjacent bone segments. The healing time was 6 to 10 months, (7.4 ± 1.1) on average. There was no recurrence of infection or deformity., Conclusion: The antibiotic-loaded cement spacer can control the local infection while maintaining the limb length and increasing the stability, reducing the contracture of bone and soft tissue, creating conditions for subsequent repair and reducing the infection rate of bone defects., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the expressions and clinical significance of bone Gla-protein (BGP), bone alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP) and C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) in patients with osteoporosis (OP), and to provide evidence for developing individualized treatment plans., Methods: Seventy-two OP patients in our hospital were selected as an OP group, and another 72 healthy subjects were used as a control group. Their BGP, B-ALP and CTX levels as well as bone mineral density (BMD) values were measured. The correlations between BGP, B-ALP and CTX levels and BMD values were determined., Results: The BGP level of the OP group [(5.61±5.52) ng/ml] was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05), but the levels of B-ALP and CTX did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The BMD values of femoral neck and Ward's triangle in the OP group were negatively correlated with the B-ALP levels (P<0.05). For women OP patients, the BMD values of femoral neck and Ward's triangle were also negatively correlated with the B-ALP levels (P<0.05). The BMD of femoral neck in the control group was negatively correlated with the CTX level (P<0.05)., Conclusion: Determining BGP, B-ALP and CTX levels can evaluate the bone metabolism degree, which provides evidence for clinical typing of OP and developing treatment strategies.

A new method has been developed in this paper for determining sulphide and sulphur dioxide simultaneously. Two emission lines, 202.6 nm and 214.3 nm which are emitted from hollow cathode lamps (HCL) of magnesium and tellurium, respectively, were used as radiation sources for measurement of absorbances of H(2)S at 202.6 nm and SO(2) at 214.3 nm or 202.6 nm. The detection limit for S(2-) was shown to be 0.01 mug/ml and the detection limits for SO(2) with 202.6 nm and 214.3 nm lines were 0.05 and 0.2 mug/ml, respectively. The method has been employed to satisfactorily analyse practical samples.