The optimal form of post-operative analgesia in hip and knee arthroplasty is still debated. Traditionally, patient-controlled analgesia and epidural anaesthesia were used. Potential side-effects such as nausea, confusion, urinary retention, hypotension and immobility have resulted in the emergence of newer techniques that limit opioid use. Peripheral nerve blockade provides excellent analgesia but limits patient ability to ambulate in the immediate post-operative period. Local infiltrative analgesia (LIA) is an emerging technique that has shown to provide superior analgesia, higher patient satisfaction and earlier discharge from hospital when compared to some of the more traditional methods. This review article highlights the advantages of LIA in hip and knee arthroplasty surgery. We describe the technique used, including additional measures that aid early ambulation and discharge from hospital in this cohort of patients.

For many fractures of the femoral shaft, closed intramedullary nailing will not control rotation or telescoping of the fragments. Locked intramedullary nailing combines closed nailing with the percutaneous insertion of screws that interlock the bone and nail. This method permits static locking that controls rotation and telescoping and subsequently conversion to dynamic locking when weight-bearing is started after approximately twelve weeks. By providing greater stability, this method extends the indications for intramedullary nailing to severely comminuted, oblique, and spiral fractures as well as to fractures complicated by loss of bone and fractures in the proximal and distal ends of the femoral shaft. Of fifty-two patients with forty-nine severely comminuted fractures of the femoral shaft and three fractures that were complicated by loss of bone, forty-seven patients had uneventful consolidation of the fracture, with a mean time of 4.5 months for the severely comminuted fractures and seven months for the fractures that had a loss of bone. At follow-up, all forty-seven patients had normal motion of the hip, and forty-five had normal motion of the knee. Of the remaining five patients, four had a non-union that eventually healed (three after a second locked nailing and one after a third) and one had a septic non-union that eventually healed after removal of the nail and screws, débridement, and immobilization with an external fixator. Based on this experience, we concluded that this form of treatment has many advantages. The risk of infection and non-union is low, the incidence and severity of malunion are reduced, the hospital stay is short, and early mobilization of the patient is possible.

In a prospective study, 114 patients with 138 zone 2 flexor tendon injuries were treated over a three-year period. Early active mobilisation of the injured fingers was commenced within 48 hours of surgery. 98 patients (86%) were reviewed at least six months after operation. Using the grading system recommended by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the active range of motion recovered was graded excellent or good in 77% of digits, fair in 14% and poor in 9%. Dehisence of the repair occurred in 11 digits (9.4%) and in these an immediate re-repair followed by a similar programme of early active mobilisation resulted in an excellent or good outcome in seven digits.

OBJECTIVE To investigate differences between hospitals in clinical management of patients admitted with fractured hip and to relate these to mortality at 90 days. DESIGN A prospective audit of process and outcome of care based on interviews with patients, abstraction from records with standard proforma, and follow up at three months. Data were analysed with chi 2 test and forward stepwise regression modelling of mortality. SETTING All eight hospitals in East Anglia with trauma orthopaedic departments. PATIENTS 580 consecutive patients admitted for fracture of neck of femur. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Mortality at 90 days. RESULTS Patients admitted to each hospital were similar with respect to age, sex, pre-existing illnesses, and activities of daily living before fracture. In all, 560 (97%) were treated surgically, by a range of grades of surgeon. Two hundred and sixty one patients (45%; range between hospitals 10-91%) received pharmaceutical thromboembolic prophylaxis, 502 (93%; 81-99%) perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis. The incidence of fatal pulmonary emboli differed between patients who received and those who did not receive prophylaxis against deep vein thrombosis (P = 0.001). Mortality at 90 days was 18%, differing significantly between hospitals (5-24%). One hospital had significantly better survival than the others (odds ratio 0.14; 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.48; P = 0.0016). CONCLUSIONS No single factor or aspect of practice accounted for this protective effect. Lower mortality may be associated with the cumulative effects of several aspects of the organisation of treatment and the management of fracture of the hip, including thromboembolic pharmaceutical prophylaxis, antibiotic prophylaxis, and early mobilisation.

BACKGROUND. For patients undergoing colonic surgery, the postoperative hospital stay is usually 6 to 10 days, and the morbidity rate is 15 to 20 percent. Fast-track rehabilitation programs have reduced the hospital stay to 2 to 3 days. The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative outcome after colonic resection with conventional care compared with fast-track multimodal rehabilitation.METHODS. One hundred thirty consecutive patients receiving conventional care (group 1) in one hospital were compared with 130 consecutive patients receiving multimodal, fast-track rehabilitation (group 2) in another hospital. Outcomes were time to first defecation after surgery, postoperative hospital stay, and morbidity during the first postoperative month.RESULTS. Median age was 74 years (group 1) and 72 years (group 2). American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score was significantly higher in group 2 ( P < 0.05). Defecation occurred on day 4.5 in group 1 and day 2 in group 2 ( P < 0.05). Median hospital stay was 8 days in group 1 and 2 days in group 2 ( P < 0.05). The use of a nasogastric tube was longer in group 1 ( P < 0.05). The overall complication rate (35 patients) was lower in group 2 ( P < 0.05), especially cardiopulmonary complications (5 patients; P < 0.01). Readmission was necessary in 12 percent of cases for group 1 and 20 percent in group 2 ( P > 0.05).CONCLUSIONS. Time to first defecation, hospital stay, and morbidity may be reduced after colonic resection with fast-track multimodal rehabilitation.

Meaningful data on the management of open tibial fractures cannot be obtained unless one categorizes the injury according to fracture type, degree of soft-tissue loss, and the velocity of the injury. Treatment by converting the type III injury to a type II injury with well-vascularized soft tissue is presented. Eighteen patients with 20 type III and type IIIa wounds were treated in a prospective fashion employing a combined orthopedic and plastic surgical scheme based on the tenets of early radical debridement, a "second look" operation, muscle or muscle-skin flap cover within 5 days of injury, external pin fixation, and ambulation within the first 3 weeks of injury. All fractures united in a mean time of 4.0 months. The mean hospitalization was 4.2 weeks. There have been no chronic infection, osteomyelitis, nonunion, shortening, or tissue breakdown.

OBJECTIVES A new percutaneous collagen hemostasis device was compared with conventional compression techniques after diagnostic catheterization and angioplasty. BACKGROUND Peripheral vascular complications after diagnostic catheterization or more complex interventional procedures, as well as the discomfort of manual compression and prolonged bed rest, represent significant morbidity for invasive cardiac procedures. METHODS A prospective, multicenter, randomized trial was designed to compare the hemostasis time in minutes and the incidence of vascular complications in patients receiving a vascular hemostasis device with those undergoing conventional compression techniques. RESULTS After diagnostic catheterization, hemostasis time was significantly less with the vascular hemostasis device than with conventional manual compression (4.1 +/- 2.8 min [n = 90 patients] vs. 17.6 +/- 9.2 min [n = 75], p < 0.0001). This difference was greater in patients undergoing angioplasty and was unrelated to the anticoagulation status (4.3 +/- 3.7 min [n = 71 not receiving heparin], 7.6 +/- 11.6 min [n = 85 receiving heparin], 33.6 +/- 24.2 min [n = 134 control patients not receiving heparin], p < 0.0001 vs. control patients). The time from the start of the procedure to ambulation was slightly less after diagnostic catheterization in patients treated with the device (13.3 +/- 12.1 h vs. 19.2 +/- 17.8 h, p < 0.05). It was also less in patients who underwent angioplasty when the device was used after discontinuation of anticoagulation (23.0 +/- 11.1 h, without heparin), as compared with control compression techniques (32.7 +/- 18.8 h, p < 0.0001). Time to ambulation was even shorter (16.1 +/- 11.1 h, p < 0.0001) in patients in whom the device was placed immediately after angioplasty while they were still fully anticoagulated with a prolonged activated clotting time (336 +/- 85 s). There were no major complications (surgery or transfusion) after diagnostic catheterization and a low incidence of major complications in patients who underwent angioplasty (0.7% in control patients, 1.4% with the device without heparin, 1.2% with the device and heparin, p = NS). After angioplasty, there was a trend toward fewer hematomas when the device was used in the absence of heparin (4.2% vs. 9.7% in control patients, p = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS A new vascular hemostasis device can significantly reduce the puncture site hemostasis time and the time to ambulation without significantly increasing the risk of peripheral vascular complications. The role of this technology in reducing complications, length of hospital stay and cost remains to be determined.

Internal fixation of fractures of the thoracolumbar spine with early ambulation is evaluated in this study of 100 patients with 106 fractures, 34 of which were treated by recumbency, 13 with Meurig-Williams plates, and 59 with Harrington rods. Fracture reduction in the recumbent group was 14% unsatisfactory and 82% satisfactory; only one fracture was anatomically reduced. After plating, 38% of fracture reductions were unsatisfactory and 61% satisfactory. Harrington rod reduction and internal fixation resulted in 67% anatomic, 31% satisfactory, and 2% unsatisfactory reductions. Neurologic improvement in partial lesions was 53% with Harrington rods and 44% with recumbent treatment. For paraplegic patients the time between treatment and wheelchair mobilization was reduced from 10.5 weeks with recumbent treatment to 5.3 weeks with Harrington instrumentation. Rehabilitation time for ambulatory candidates was decreased from 7.1 weeks to 2.5 weeks. Complications were reduced from 18% in the recumbent group to 7% in the Harrington rod groups. By using the three above-three below, rod long/fuse short approach rather than the two above-two below with fusion over the length of the rods technique, the number of anatomic reductions was increased from 70% to 82% and the length of the fusion decreased from 4.8 levels to 1.4 levels.

Over a two-year-period, 34 adult patients who had suffered zone two flexor tendon injuries to 38 fingers (70 tendons) were managed post-operatively by a regime of early active mobilisation. The results of this technique, assessed by the Strickland criteria after a mean follow-up period of 10.2 months, compared favourably with other more cumbersome methods.

The incidence of pulmonary emboli after a standardized technique of total hip replacement in a series of 7,959 hip arthroplasties operated on between 1962 and 1973 was 1.04% fatal and 7.89% non-fatal. 1,174 had no prophylaxis against embolism with a fatality rate of 2.3% and non-fatal embolism in 15.2%. Phenindione, intravenous heparin and dextran all reduced the complication rate to about 1% fatal and 8% non-fatal but none was statistically better than another. Statistically, plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine sulphate), was as good as any of the other methods used and had few complications. Analysis of the blood groups, pre and post-operative hemoglobin levels, major and revision surgery showed little relationship to the incidence of embolism. The most frequent time of onset of embolism (75%) occurred in the second and third postoperative weeks with only 10% in the first week.

INTRODUCTION In an era of dwindling hospital resources and increasing medical costs, safe reduction in postoperative stay has become a major focus to optimize utilization of healthcare resources. Although several protocols have been reported to reduce postoperative stay, no Level I evidence exists for their use in routine clinical practice. METHODS Sixty-four patients undergoing laparotomy and intestinal or rectal resection were randomly assigned to a pathway of controlled rehabilitation with early ambulation and diet or to traditional postoperative care. Time to discharge from hospital, complication and readmission rates, pain level, quality of life, and patient satisfaction scores were determined at the time of discharge and at 10 and 30 days after surgery. Subgroups were defined to evaluate those who derived the optimal benefit from the protocol. RESULTS Pathway patients spent less total time in the hospital after surgery (5.4 vs. 7.1 days; P = 0.02) and less time in the hospital during the primary admission than traditional patients. Patients younger than 70 years old had greater benefits than the overall study group (5 vs. 7.1 days; P = 0.01). Patients treated by surgeons with the most experience with the pathway spent significantly less time in the hospital than did those whose surgeons were less experienced with the pathway (P = 0.01). There was no difference between pathway and traditional patients for readmission or complication rates, pain score, quality of life after surgery, or overall satisfaction with the hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS Patients scheduled for a laparotomy and major intestinal or rectal resection are suitable for management by a pathway of controlled rehabilitation with early ambulation and diet. Pathway patients have a shorter hospital stay, with no adverse effect on patient satisfaction, pain scores, or complication rates. Patients younger than 70 years of age derive the optimal benefit, and increased surgeon experience improves outcome.