Risk factors for complications of open trigger finger release.

Background: Open trigger finger release is generally considered a simple low-risk procedure. Reported complication rates vary widely from 1 to 43 %, mostly based on small studies. Our goal was to determine the incidence of complications in a large consecutive series, while also identifying potential risk factors.

The diagnostic accuracy of inflammatory blood markers for purulent flexor tenosynovitis.

Purpose: For patients with purulent flexor tenosynovitis, our purpose was to (1) calculate the diagnostic accuracy of white blood count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) for those who underwent surgical drainage, (2) to correlate these markers for those treated with antibiotics alone, and (3) to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosis for surgical patients.

Methods: A total of 82 consecutive patients (71 surgical and 11 nonsurgical) with flexor tenosynovitis were identified from orthopedic databases at 2 academic centers. We evaluated inflammatory markers (WBC, ESR, and CRP), radiographs, descriptions of surgical findings, and intraoperative cultures for all patients.

Volar locking plate implant prominence and flexor tendon rupture.

Background: Flexor tendon injury is a recognized complication of volar plate fixation of distal radial fractures. A suspected contributing factor is implant prominence at the watershed line, where the flexor tendons lie closest to the plate.

Methods: Two parallel series of patients who underwent volar locked plating of distal radial fractures from 2005 to 2008 and with at least six months of follow-up were retrospectively reviewed.

Bone marrow lesions from osteoarthritis knees are characterized by sclerotic bone that is less well mineralized.

Introduction: Although the presence of bone marrow lesions (BMLs) on magnetic resonance images is strongly associated with osteoarthritis progression and pain, the underlying pathology is not well established. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the architecture of subchondral bone in regions with and without BMLs from the same individual using bone histomorphometry.

Methods: Postmenopausal female subjects (n = 6, age 48 to 90 years) with predominantly medial compartment osteoarthritis and on a waiting list for total knee replacement were recruited.

Combined effects of recombinant human BMP-7 (rhBMP-7) and parathyroid hormone (1-34) in metaphyseal bone healing.

Fracture healing involves multiple stages of repair and coordinated actions of multiple cell types. Consequently, it may be possible to enhance healing through treatment strategies that target more than one repair process or cell type. The goal of this study was to determine the combined effects of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (rhBMP-7) and parathyroid hormone (PTH(1-34)) on metaphyseal bone healing.

Current and future clinical applications of bone morphogenetic proteins in orthopaedic trauma surgery.

Forty years after the discovery by Marshal R. Urist of a substance in bone matrix that has inductive properties for the development of bone and cartilage, there are now 15 individual human bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) that possess varying degrees of inductive activities. Two of these, BMP-2 and BMP-7, have become the subject of extensive research aimed at developing therapeutic strategies for the restoration and treatment of skeletal conditions.