Fracture-dislocation of the lumbo-sacral spine was an unusual injury and was divided into anterior, posterior and lateral types depending on the displacement of the cephalad portion of the spine over the caudal portion. According to the authors' knowledge, only 31 cases of traumatic fracture-dislocation of the lumbo-sacral spine were reported in the English literature. Only 3 previous reports referred to this injury with a posterior displacement, which was an even rarer injury. This was the fourth report of this type of injury.
Two cases of dislocation of total knee arthroplasty presented to us within the same week. The first patient is a 71-year-old woman who underwent bilateral primary total knee arthroplasty. The left knee dislocated three weeks after the surgery. Due to failure of conservative measures, she underwent revision total knee arthroplasty. The other patient is a 72-year-old woman presenting ten years after primary total knee arthroplasty, with a traumatic dislocation of the knee joint. She was treated as an outpatient with closed manipulative reduction.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term clinical and functional outcomes of total hip arthroplasty performed for physiologically active elderly patients with Garden type-3 or -4 femoral neck fracture.
METHODS: Records of 47 consecutive patients (40 female, 7 male) with type-3 or -4 femoral neck fracture (Garden classification) who underwent cemented total hip arthroplasty at our hospital during January 1999 to December 2002 were reviewed. Radiological and clinical (Harris functional hip score and Oxford hip score) assessments of 38 patients were measured with a mean follow-up period of 21 months (range, 4-48 months).
RESULTS: The mean age of the 47 patients was 75 years (range, 62-89 years). Records of 9 patients were excluded because of death, lost to follow-up, and development of deep infection that necessitated implant removal and excision arthroplasty. The mean Harris hip score of the 38 patients was 83 (range, 59-97), whereas the mean Oxford hip score was 25.2 (range, 14-33). Pain in the hips was absent in 30 patients, 6 had slight pain occasionally, and 2 patients had mild-to-moderate hip discomfort. No signs of aseptic loosening or change in implant position were noted on radiographic assessment. Two cases of dislocation were reduced by closed reduction. Two patients had deep wound infection and were treated with debridement, implant removal, and conversion to girdle stone.
CONCLUSION: This short-term study showed that total hip arthroplasty for femoral neck fracture had good postoperative results in functional hip and pain scores. More attention should be paid to coexisting medical illness (e.g. diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and ischaemic heart disease) and prevention of infection.