Publications by authors named "Ernest B K Kwek"

Article Synopsis
  • Bisphosphonates, often used to treat osteoporosis and cancer-related bone issues, can lead to stress fractures, especially in patients receiving high doses, like those with metastatic cancer.
  • A rare case was presented of a young patient with metastatic breast cancer who experienced an atypical subtrochanteric femur fracture after 12 years of zoledronic acid therapy, following two earlier Jones fractures.
  • The case emphasizes the importance of monitoring for stress fractures beyond the typical ones associated with bisphosphonate treatment in cancer patients, suggesting a need for careful observation and assessment.
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Introduction: Treatment of proximal humerus fractures remains controversial. Understanding the factors that can affect the long-term functional outcomes can aid with management choices. This primary aim of this paper is to evaluate the association of radiographic parameters with functional outcomes.

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Injury to the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis can be a diagnostic challenge in the absence of advanced imaging. We report a case of a 21-year-old male patient who sustained an ankle injury and demonstrated radiological evidence of syndesmosis widening on plain radiographs. He underwent endobutton fixation which resulted in anterior subluxation of the talus and difficulty in ankle dorsiflexion.

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Hypothesis And Background: Fragility fracture of the proximal humerus is a common occurrence. Current literature suggests that poor local bone density is a significant predictor of surgical fixation failure. The deltoid tuberosity index (DTI) is a simple radiographic tool that strongly correlates with local humeral bone mineral density (BMD), aiding surgical planning to consider adjuncts or arthroplasty.

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Background: Proximal humerus fractures are common osteoporotic fractures. Postinjury outcome measures include objective clinician-measured range of motion (ROM) and subjective patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), but the relationship between both has not been established. This study aimed to determine the relationship between shoulder ROM and PROMs and establish which ROMs correlated most with PROMs.

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Introduction: Geriatric Fracture Centers (GFCs) are dedicated treatment units where care is tailored towards elderly patients who have suffered fragility fractures. The primary objective of this economic analysis was to determine the cost-utility of GFCs compared with usual care centres.

Methods: The primary analysis was a cost-utility analysis that measured the cost per incremental quality-adjusted life-year gained from treatment of hip fracture in GFCs compared with treatment in usual care centres from the societal perspective over a 1-year time horizon.

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Background: The Schatzker classification system for tibial plateau fractures is one of the most commonly used systems. However, there has been controversy if a Schatzker III type fracture truly exists by their original definition. We aimed to correlate the radiographic and CT images of type III fractures, describe the additional propagating fracture patterns and determine if these fractures do exist by their original description.

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Article Synopsis
  • Proximal humerus fractures (PHFs) are common, especially in older adults, and while most are treated nonoperatively, traditional biomedical factors have not effectively predicted recovery outcomes.
  • Recent studies emphasize the importance of psychological factors in recovery, yet the impact of social factors remains underexplored and warrants further investigation.
  • Among 171 patients with nonoperatively treated PHFs, findings showed lower recovery capability at six months and one year linked to unemployment and the presence of domestic workers, suggesting these social factors influence patient-reported outcomes.
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Introduction: Olecranon fractures are a common fracture of the upper extremity. The primary aim was to investigate the evolution of olecranon fractures and fixation method over a period of 12 years. The secondary aim was to compare complication rates of Tension Band Wiring (TBW) and Plate Fixation (PF).

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Background: Post-operative elderly hip fracture patients require significant rehabilitation. Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid used to promote muscle growth. This study aims to examine the effect of nandrolone in improving rehabilitation and quality of life in elderly female patients with hip fractures undergoing hemiarthroplasty.

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Background: Intramedullary devices for the fixation of intertrochanteric fractures are increasing in usage and popularity. This reflects either a shift in adoption of new technology or intertrochanteric fractures becoming more complex or unstable. This trend was observed in our institution, hence we set out to investigate if this was concordant with an associated change in the demographics of the patients or in the morphology of the intertrochanteric fracture pattern over a 10-year period.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of treatment in geriatric fracture centres (GFC) on the incidence of major adverse events (MAEs) in patients with hip fractures compared with usual care centres (UCC). Secondary objectives included hospital-workflow and mobility-related outcomes.

Design: Cohort study recruiting patients between June 2015 and January 2017.

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Introduction: Burnout has implications for surgeon wellbeing and patient care. We aimed to: (a) describe burnout levels among orthopaedic surgery residents in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International (ACGME-I) accredited programme; and (b) determine associations between burnout levels and resident characteristics, resilience and coping mechanisms.

Methods: This is a grant-funded, cross-sectional questionnaire-based study that included 44 orthopaedic surgery residents.

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Introduction: The transosseous suture fixation is a recognised surgical technique for inferior pole patella fractures. However, post-operative range of motion (ROM) is typically restricted to reduce complications of fracture displacement. We present a novel modified surgical technique using a supplemental Ethibond figure-of-eight stitch to reinforce the transosseous suture repair and studied its outcomes.

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Background: The location of bisphosphonate-related atypical femoral fractures (AFFs) is related to the femoral bow. Other factors that might also be related to the distribution of AFFs are not well studied. In this study, we attempt to define the demographic factors that influence the distribution AFFs in our local population.

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Introduction: The recent focus on early surgery for hip fractures to reduce complications and improve morbidity, has led some resource-constrained institutions to perform after hours surgery in a bid to meet these timelines. However, there are concerns about the potential increase in complications and poorer outcomes in after hours surgery. This study aims to evaluate the safety of after hours hip fracture surgery and its related complications.

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Background: The ideal implant for stable, noncomminuted olecranon fractures is controversial. Tension band wiring (TBW) is associated with lower cost but higher implant removal rates.On the other hand, plate fixation (PF) is purported to be biomechanically superior, with lower failure and implant removal rates, although associated with higher cost.

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Introduction: Open fractures are associated with high rates of complication, morbidity and high economic costs. To improve outcomes, an open extremity fracture clinical pathway that protocolized surgical management and encouraged multidisciplinary collaboration was implemented in our institution. This study evaluates the clinical outcomes before and after the implementation of the pathway.

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Tibial plateau fractures are significant because of its intra-articular nature. In this study, we aim to evaluate the functional outcomes of tibial plateau fractures after surgical treatment and to determine the rates of return to work and sports after recovery. This is a retrospective study conducted at a single tertiary-level institution.

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Purpose: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a higher risk of complications when undergoing hip hemiarthroplasty. The primary aim is to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference between cemented and uncemented stem loosening rates in patients with CKD who receive a hip hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fractures. The secondary aim is to determine the effect of increasing severity of renal disease on the rate of stem loosening in this CKD patient subset.

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The treatment of atypical femoral shaft fractures with abnormal bowing provides a unique challenge for surgeons. Whilst intramedullary fixation of atypical femoral shaft fractures affords both mechanical and biological benefits, the mismatch between standard intramedullary devices and the abnormal femoral bowing in these patients makes this method of fixation challenging for the surgeon. The purpose of this manuscript is to illustrate the evolution of our surgical technique through a series of four patients.

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Computed tomography (CT) scans with 3-dimensional (3D) reconstruction are the gold standard of imaging for complex fractures. However, visualising CT imaging can be challenging. With increasing access to 3D printing, we postulate that life-sized 3D models can better assist in visualising CT images, aiding preoperative planning of tibial plafond fractures.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study used an online survey to evaluate residents' understanding, finding that overall knowledge was poor, with junior residents performing better in healthcare schemes and senior residents better at estimating implant costs.
  • * It is recommended that education on implant costs and healthcare schemes be included in residency programs to develop more informed and cost-effective future clinicians.
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