Search

Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy are both established treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We have performed a prospective randomized study comparing these two treatments and now have long-term follow-up data. Between July 1997 and August 2001, 183 patients in Norwich took part in a randomized controlled trial comparing laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication and PPI therapy for the treatment of GERD. In October 2005, patients were followed up and asked to complete a reflux symptom questionnaire. Ninety-one patients were randomized to have surgery and 92 to have optimized PPI therapy. After 12 months, those who had been randomized to PPI were offered the opportunity to have surgery. Fifty-four patients went on to have antireflux surgery; the remaining 38 did not. In all three groups, there was a significant improvement in symptom score after the initial 12 months (P < 0.01; Mann-Whitney U test). However, those who later had surgery despite having had optimal PPI treatment beforehand experienced further symptomatic improvement (P < 0.01) at long-term follow-up (median 6.9 years, range, 4.3-8.3). Both optimal PPI therapy and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication are effective treatments for GERD. However, surgery offers additional benefit for those who have only partial symptomatic relief whilst on PPIs.

The purpose of this report is to present a systematic review of the literature to compare surgical success of lateral retinacular release (LRR) or LRR with medial soft-tissue realignment (MR) for recurrent lateral patellar instability.We searched MEDLINE and PubMed databases for all English-language studies reporting surgical management of recurrent lateral patellar instability with LRR or with LRR and MR. Exclusion criteria included a minimum follow-up2 years, mean age18 years old, bony realignment procedures, surgical treatment of an initial patellar instability episode, or surgical treatment of patellofemoral pain without instability. Surgical failure was defined as an episode of patellar dislocation or subluxation during the postoperative period. Statistical analysis compared the failure rate of LRR versus combined LRR with MR by using a Fisher exact test and assessed for publication bias.Fourteen studies met inclusion criteria. There were 247 knees with a minimum 2-year follow-up after LRR and 220 after LRR with MR. In the LRR patients, there were 56 cases (probability 0.227, odds 0.293) of recurrent lateral patellar instability, 26 of which were postoperative patellar dislocations. In the LRR with MR patients, there were 14 cases (probability 0.064, odds 0.068) of recurrent instability, 12 of which were dislocations. The frequency-weighted mean success with respect to instability in the LRR studies was 77.3% compared with 93.6% in the LRR with MR studies. The odds of subsequent instability after LRR were significantly greater than after LRR with MR with respect to any postoperative instability (P.001), recurrent dislocation (P = .045), and recurrent subluxation (P.001).This systematic review found that isolated LRR yields significantly inferior long-term results with respect to symptoms of recurrent lateral patellar instability compared with LRR with MR.Level III, systematic review of level III and IV studies.

The specter of deep infection continues to temper the optimism regarding total knee arthroplasty (TKA), despite an incidence of less than 1–3%. Infection after TKA is a topic of interest because of its diagnostic challenges, requisite intensity of care, and compromised outcomes. Efforts at reducing the rate of infection have allowed the identification of significant risk factors and the establishment of protocols for prevention. Substantial progress has been made in the approach toward the diagnosis and treatment of the infected TKA. The primary goal of treatment in most patients with an infected TKA is the eradication of the infecting pathogen. Efforts aimed at achieving this goal should ideally result in a painless and functional extremity; however, function is occasionally sacrificed to clear the infection.

The aim of this study was to report the results of ipsilateral patellofemoral arthroplasty and autologous osteochondral transplantation for patellofemoral arthritis and focal full-thickness chondral defects of the femoral condyles. The size of the condylar cartilage defects ranged from as small as 10 x 9 mm to as big as 24 x 7 mm. The mean Knee Society function score improved from 49 to 93, and the clinical score improved from 47 to 95. The mean patellofemoral pain score improved from 12 to 49, and the patellofemoral function score increased from 16 to 42. There have been no radiographic signs of progressive tibiofemoral cartilage degeneration. Combining patellofemoral arthroplasty and autologous osteochondral transplantation is a reasonable short-term approach to this condition.

Rotator cuff tears occur frequently and can cause significant pain and reduced shoulder function. A high percentage of patients are satisfied after surgical repair of rotator cuff tears, but a smaller percentage of patients with chronic tears continue to have pain and poor shoulder function. This may be partly attributable to an increase in the repair tension, the force required at repair to reappose the tendon to its original insertion site on the humerus. Increases in repair tension have been shown to occur for long-standing ruptures of the supraspinatus tendon, but the precise tension at various times after injury are unknown. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to determine the repair tension at various times after a rotator cuff tear. This was achieved by creating a full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tear in a rat model and measuring the mechanical characteristics of the musculotendinous unit at 0, 2, 4, 9, and 16 weeks after injury. The repair tension rapidly increased initially after injury followed by a progressive, but less dramatic, increase with additional time. These findings suggest that rotator cuff tears should be repaired early in the clinical setting. Future studies will investigate the effect of repair tension on tendon to bone healing after repair.

Objectives To examine the extent of parental knowledge about lead poisoning and its prevention and to determine characteristics associated with accurate lead knowledge. Setting Twenty-three pediatric practices and 1 family practicein Chicago, Ill, and its suburbs. Methods A 24-question test regarding lead poisoning and its prevention (Chicago Lead Knowledge Test) was developed based on lead specialists' review and parental test-retest reliability. One point was assigned for each correct response. It was self-administered by a sample of 2225 parents of 0- to 6-year-old children visiting study practices. A 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the association of demographic descriptors with test scores. Results Respondents had a mean age of 33 years. Ninety percent were mothers, 49% were college graduates, and 80% were home owners. Fifteen percent lived in homes built before 1950, of which 36% were remodeled or renovated during the last 6 months. Respondents' youngestn children were 80% white, 10% Hispanic, 5% African American, and 5% other. Ten percent received Medicaid and 86% had other medical insurance. Thirty-four percent recalled receipt of lead information from a health care provider, and 2.4% had had a child with a blood lead level of 0.48 µmol/L (10 µg/dL) or higher. The mean Chicago Lead Knowledge Test score was 12.2 (SD, 3.7). Questions related to lead exposure were more often answered correctly than those related to prevention and diet. In the ANOVA model, those who recalled receipt of lead information from a health care provider, college graduates, respondents aged 30 years or older, Hispanic respondents, and those living in homes built before 1950 had higher scores (all ANOVA P ≤.001). Conclusions Parents do not have much knowledge of ways to prevent childhood lead poisoning. Information from a health care provider can aid parental knowledge. The Chicago Lead Knowledge Test is a new self-administered tool to help evaluate lead education programs.

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is reported by one in ten of the population accounting for up to 40% of new referrals to gastroenterology outpatients. Patients characteristically have abdominal discomfort and disturbed bowel habit. Diarrhoea-predominant IBS is characterised by frequent loose stools with associated urgency and abdominal cramps. Current symptomatic treatments can reduce bowel frequency but often fail to reduce discomfort. Mesalazine is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease. There is one pilot study suggesting it may be beneficial to patients who have diarrhoea-predominant IBS but these findings need to be confirmed in a larger trial. The current study aims to test the effectiveness of mesalazine to reduce symptoms in diarrhoea-predominant IBS patients. The study will also investigate the mode of action of the drug, especially its impact on mast cell activation. Methods/design This is a multicentre randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using a parallel group design. At least 108 participants with diarrhoea-predominant IBS will be recruited through at least six hospitals. The intervention is a 12-week course of 2g mesalazine granules taken up to twice a day. The comparator is a blinded placebo granule formulation. Outcome measures include stool diaries, symptom questionnaires, stool and blood samples together with rectal mucosal biopsies. The daily stool diary will record stool frequency and form, urgency, bloating, abdominal pain and a global satisfaction with control of IBS scored each week. The questionnaires will assess bowel symptoms, while the samples and biopsies will be used to analyse underlying mechanisms of any response. Primary outcome will be the average stool frequency during weeks 11 and 12 of the treatment period and will be compared between treatment arms using an analysis of covariance in the form of a general linear model incorporating baseline characteristics that are thought a priori to strongly predict outcome. The primary efficacy parameter will be the difference in mean frequency between treatment arms. Discussion This report describes a randomised controlled trial that will provide evidence of any benefit of treating diarrhoea-predominant IBS patients with mesalazine. The results will be available toward the end of 2013. Trial registration ISRCTN76612274

The incidence of paralytic scoliosis subsequent to acquired spinal cord injury (SCI) has been reported to range from 46% to 97% in patients injured before the adolescent growth spurt.The purpose of this report is to review early bracing of children with SCI as a means of preventing or delaying surgical fusion.Patient records from January 1996 to December 2001 from the Shriners Hospitals for Children-Philadelphia were retrospectively reviewed; 123 patients met the inclusion criteria of cervical or thoracic SCI prior to skeletal maturity. Patients were divided into 5 groups based on their radiographic curve severity at presentation, and then they were subdivided into a group that was managed with prophylactic bracing and a group that was not braced. End-points included completion of bracing regimen, surgery, or cessation of growth.Forty-two patients presented with a curve10 degrees, 29 of whom were braced, and 13 who were not. Of the braced group, 13 (45%) went on to surgery, whereas 10 (77%) of the nonbraced group had surgical correction (P = 0.03). Of the patients who were initially braced, the average time to surgery was 8.5 years, whereas that for the nonbraced group was 4.2 years (P = 0.002). A similar trend was seen in the patients who presented with an initial curve between 11 degrees and 20 degrees (P0.001). There was no significant difference between time to surgery for the braced and nonbraced patient groups at higher (20 degrees) initial curve presentations.Bracing of children with SCI before significant curve formation (20 degrees) delays the time to surgical correction of the deformity as it progresses. At smaller curves (10 degrees), bracing may even prevent the need for surgery. As curve size increases (or = 20 degrees), bracing seems to play a limited role, because it does not seem to prevent surgery or delay time to surgical correction.