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Translation of the achievements of basic science into everyday clinical practice remains a major issue in contemporary medicine, and is addressed through a new discipline, translational research, which aims to bridge the gap between basic and clinical research. Translational research encompasses laboratory studies, clinical demands, public health and health management, policies and economics; it is crucial in the evolution of contemporary biomedical science; and its interventions follow the political-economic, ethical-social and educational-scientific approaches. Translational research can progress through reorganisation of academic teams in a translational way. New academic posts translationally orientated are urgently needed, particularly in the field of trauma medicine, where lack of awareness of this new evolution is evident.

Patients with lower limb and pelvic trauma, or undergoing major orthopaedic surgery represent one of the highest risk groups for the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). A significant number of pharmacological and mechanical agents have been used for the prophylaxis and treatment of VTE. Fondaparinux is a relative new pharmacological agent that selectively binds to antithrombin, and represents a new class of synthetic selective inhibitors of activated factor X. Eleven percent of the fondaparinux-related English language literature, between 2001 and 2007, refers to orthopaedic trauma, and was the sample assessed for this critical analysis review. The clinical studies evaluating the safety, efficacy, and financial implications associated with lower limb orthopaedic trauma show that fondaparinux has comparable results with the well-established use of enoxaparin. However, the scientific community has raised several issues regarding mostly fondaparinux's safety, timing of its 1(st) dose, bleeding side effects, duration of administration and lack of a reliable reversing agent. Further trials are necessary focusing on the safety and efficacy of this drug mostly in relation to clinical relevant outcomes and to different fields of trauma surgery (pelvis, long bone fractures and polytrauma patients).

Objective: Millions of patients are treated annually in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany with either acute or chronic wounds. The purpose of this study is to compare how the medical education systems in the United States, Germany, and United Kingdom have prepared their physician trainees to deal with clinical issues of wounds., Methods: A retrospective study was performed in the United States by obtaining medical school curriculum data from the American Association of Medical Colleges, 2005. In the United Kingdom, data were obtained from the individual medical schools listed in the Royal Society of Medicine. In Germany, data were collected from a questionnaire sent to all the medical schools., Results: The total hours of required wound education received in the United States was 9.2 hours in the 4 years of medical school. In the United Kingdom, the total time devoted to wound-related issues equaled 4.9 hours over 5 years. In Germany, a total of 9 hours of wound education was provided over 6 years., Conclusions: Chronic wounds represent a serious problem for patients in terms of quality of life, lost employment time, and loss of income. Our comparison of the required wound education among the medical schools of United States, United Kingdom, and Germany demonstrated that all 3 systems are deficient in preparing future physicians to treat wound problems. We recommend that medical schools throughout the world devote a portion of their core curriculum to educating student physicians in the understanding of wound pathophysiology and treatment.

The present review evaluates the existing scientific proofs of this supplementary role of the BMPs and summarises its clinical implications. Bone regeneration is a process consisting of bone formation and bone resorption, two different but closely coupling pathways, which in most circumstances proceed simultaneously. Plenty of evidence has also characterised the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) as inducing factors of bone formation. However, there is also evidence that these multifunctioning proteins affect bone resorption and the osteoclast homeostasis utilising various pathways. The present review evaluates the existing scientific evidence of this supplementary role of the BMPs, and summarises its clinical implications.

The microenvironment theory has become very popular for providing mechanisms which explain the development of often lethal posttraumatic complications such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). With the recent advances in molecular biology and the ever-expanding understanding of trauma pathophysiology, immunomonitoring in trauma patients attempts to characterise and quantify novel molecules in order to predict patients at risk. This review article assesses the existing evidence on the biomarkers of endothelial injury and their potential utility as quantification parameters of endothelial dysfunction in trauma patients.

A large number of aids have been conceived and introduced into clinical practice (nutritional supplements, local dressings, technical innovations) aimed at facilitating and optimising wound healing in both acute and chronic wound settings. Among these advances, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been introduced during the last 30 years, and has been analysed in over 400 manuscripts of the English, Russian and German literature. Until very recently, vacuum assisted closure (VAC) (KCI, TX, USA) has been the only readily available commercial device that provides localised negative pressure to the wound and is the predominant agent used to deliver NPWT featured in this review. We conducted a comprehensive review of the existing clinical evidence of the English literature on the applications of NPWT in the acute setting of trauma and burns of the lower extremity. Overall, 16 clinical studies have been evaluated and scrutinised as to the safety and the efficacy of this adjunct therapy in the specific environment of trauma. Effectiveness was comparable to the standard dressing and wound coverage methods. The existing clinical evidence justifies its application in lower limb injuries associated with soft tissue trauma.

Post-trauma and post-partum pelvic ring instability and non-union are treated operatively with internal fixation and a biological enhancement stimulus. The application of BMP-7 in nine cases of persistent instability located at the anterior or the posterior elements of the pelvic girdle is prospectively evaluated for its safety and efficacy. Fusion was achieved in 89% of the patients. 78% of the patients reported excellent or good subjective functional results at a median follow up period of 12 months (range 12-27). The utilisation of BMP-7 was not associated with any adverse reactions or complications. Encouraging results of biological enhancement of bone healing with BMP-7 at the clinical setting of traumatic pelvic ring non-unions and postpartum instability were achieved. The implantation of BMP-7 in pelvic reconstruction procedures adds another alternative to the treatment methods of contemporary orthopaedics.

Open fracture management represents an orthopaedic emergency. Early aggressive management of these debilitating injuries within the first 6h has been encouraged in order to minimise the risk of infection and long term sequelae. Debridement and wash-out of the wound, followed by stabilisation of the bony elements and closure of the soft-tissue envelope are all considered essential. However, the available scientific evidence supporting the timing of this multistage approach of open fracture management, and the "Six-hour rule" itself, are unclear. This review article analyses the available evidence regarding the impact of the timing of wound debridement and closure of open fractures of the lower extremity.

Periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFF) are increasing as a result of changes in population demographics and the increase in the number of total hip replacements performed. The overall incidence has been reported to range from 0.1% to 6% of all total hip arthroplasties. Management of these fractures is often particularly demanding, complex and expensive. In many cases, the surgeon has to solve the simultaneous problems of implant loosening, bone loss and fracture. A thorough understanding of the unique characteristics of the different fracture types, the principles of PFF treatment and a familiarity with the various fixation devices, grafts and prosthetic implants are all of paramount importance. Internal fixation is used either alone or as an adjunct to stem revision. The stability of the original implant and the configuration of the fracture itself are the basic factors that influence the decision-making process. The current study reviews the existing literature on internal fixation of femoral periprosthetic fractures.

Femoral non-unions represent a formidable challenge for the orthopaedic surgeon. Their successful treatment is frequently time consuming, and requires utilisation of numerous resources. Three main methods of treatment have been described: intramedullary nailing (IMN), plating and external fixation. A systematic review of the existing English literature of femoral diaphyseal non-union treatment methods has been conducted. The gold standard remains exchange nailing despite the fact that plating has reached near equivocal rates of success. In cases where exchange nailing fails, the use of plates and external fixators has been shown to provide useful adjuncts to the nail. Most surgeons have preserved bone grafting as an option at a secondary or tertiary stage, after the initial revision procedure has failed.

A review of the existing evidence on economic costs of treatment of long-bone fracture non-unions has retrieved 9 papers. Mostly the tibial shaft non-unions have been utilised as models for these economic analyses. Novel treatment strategies like BMP-7 grafting, Ilizarov ring external fixation or supplementary use of therapeutic ultrasound devices have been compared with standard methods of treatment focusing on direct and indirect costs and expenses. A cost-identification query was conducted and revealed costs of pound 15,566, pound 17,200 and pound 16,330 for humeral, femoral, and tibial non-unions respectively on a "best-case scenario". The existing scientific evidence can only imply the extent of the economic burden of long-bone non-unions. Further systematic studies are needed to assess the direct medical, direct non-medical, indirect, and monetised quality of life and psychosocial costs of non-unions.

Modern principles for the treatment of open fractures include stabilisation of the bone and management of the soft tissues. Wound debridement and irrigation is thought to be the mainstay in reducing the incidence of infection. Although numerous studies on animals and humans have focused on the type of irrigation performed, little is known of the factors which influence irrigation. This paper evaluates the evidence, particularly with regard to additives and the mode of delivery of irrigation fluid. Normal saline should be used and although many antiseptics and antibiotics have been employed, no consensus has been reached as to the ideal additive. Despite the advocates of high-pressure methods highlighting the improved dilutional ability of such techniques, the results are inconclusive and these irrigation systems are not without complications. New systems for debridement are currently being investigated, and an ideal method has yet to be determined.

The mandatory stimulus that can optimise the healing pathway can be electrical, mechanical, biological, or a combination of all these parameters. A variety of means has been utilised for biological enhancement, including extracorporeal shock wave, electrical, ultrasound stimulation, the reaming technique of IM nailing, bone graft substitutes, osteogenic cells and bioactive molecules produced by tissue engineering techniques. The aim of this study is to present a review of the existing evidence for the efficacy of reaming, autologous bone grafting and the commercially available growth factors (BMP-2 and BMP-7) for the treatment of aseptic tibial non-unions. The gold standard method of enhancing bone healing in cases of tibial non-union remains the autologous bone graft. Autogenous bone grafts possess osteoconductive, osteoinductive properties and also osteoprogenitor cells. However, their harvesting is associated with high morbidity and many complications reaching percentages of 30%. Intramedullary reamed nailing, either used as an alternative fixation method or as an exchange to a wider implant, offers the unique biomechanical advantages of an intramedullary device, together with the osteoinductive stimulus of the by-products of reaming, and the aptitude for early weight-bearing and active rehabilitation. The safety of administration of the commercial distributed growth factors (BMP-2 and BMP-7), combined with the lack of the morbidity and the quantity restrictions that characterise autologous bone grafts, have given to this family of molecules a principal role between the other bone graft substitutes. On average the union rates reported in the 20 manuscripts that have been evaluated range from 58.3% to 100%, and the average time to union from 12.5 weeks to 48.4 weeks, indicating the significant discrepancies in the reported evidence and the multiplicity of different treatment strategies.