Fresh osteochondral knee allografts in Brazil with a minimum two-year follow-up.

Objective: The present study aimed to report the results of the first series of cases of fresh ostechondral allografts in the knee joint in Brazil with a minimum follow-up of two years.

Methods: A protocol of procurement, harvesting, processing, and utilization of fresh osteochondral allografts in the knee joint was established, beginning with legislation modifications, graft harvesting techniques, immediate processing, storage of fresh grafts, and utilization of two surgical techniques of osteochondral transplantation. Eight patients were treated and followed-up for a minimum of two years.

Development of a Fresh Osteochondral Allograft Program Outside North America.

Objective: To standardize and to develop a fresh osteochondral allograft protocol of procurement, processing and surgical utilization in Brazil. This study describes the steps recommended to make fresh osteochondral allografts a viable treatment option in a country without previous fresh allograft availability.

Design: The process involves regulatory process modification, developing and establishing procurement, and processing and surgical protocols.

The strategic role of the nurse in the selection of IV devices.

Use of vascular devices represents one of the most common procedures used as a complementary measure in the treatment of patients. An indication algorithm was established to serve as a guideline for nurses in choosing the best intravenous device, considering the main variables of drug therapy. A protocol approved by the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology of Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (IOT-HCFMUSP), where the authors work, was subsequently established and the nurse carried out the evaluation for the indication of both the peripheral device and the central device, whether a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) or other device inserted by the physician.

Histological study of fresh versus frozen semitendinous muscle tendon allografts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to histologically analyze allografts from cadaveric semitendinous muscle after cryopreservation at -80 degrees C in comparison to a control group kept at only -4 degrees C to test the hypothesis that the histological characteristics of the tissue are maintained when the tendons are kept at lower temperatures.

Methods: In a tissue bank, 10 semitendinous tendons from 10 cadavers were frozen at -80 degress C as a storage method for tissue preservation. They were kept frozen for 40 days, and then a histological study was carried out.