Outcomes of orthopaedic trauma patients undergoing surgery during the peak period of COVID-19 infection at a UK major trauma centre.

Background: To review the clinical outcomes of all patients undergoing emergency orthopaedic trauma surgery at a UK major trauma centre during the first 6 weeks of the COVID-19 related lockdown.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed of all patients who underwent emergency orthopaedic trauma surgery at a single urban major trauma centre over the first six-week period of national lockdown. Demographics, co-morbidities, injuries, injury severity scores, surgery, COVID-19 status, complications and mortalities were analysed.

A comparison of the efficacy of various antioxidants on the oxidative stability of irradiated polyethylene.

Background: Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is subjected to radiation crosslinking to form highly crosslinked polyethylene (HXLPE), which has improved wear resistance. First-generation HXLPE was subjected to thermal treatment to reduce or quench free radicals that can induce long-term oxidative degeneration. Most recently, antioxidants have been added to HXLPE to induce oxidative resistance rather than by thermal treatment.

Comparison of kinematic and kinetic parameters calculated using a cluster-based model and Vicon's plug-in gait.

Gait analysis is an important clinical tool. A variety of models are used for gait analysis, each yielding different results. Errors in model outputs can occur due to inaccurate marker placement and skin motion artefacts, which may be reduced using a cluster-based model.

The use of nanotechnology in tendon regeneration and repair.

Tendon injuries are common and due to their limited capacity for self-healing, the biomechanical and functional properties of healed tendon are usually inferior to normal tissue. Tissue engineering offers the hope of regenerating tendon tissue with the same biomechanical properties of the native undamaged tissue by augmenting the regenerative process of in vivo tissue or producing a functional tissue in vitro that can be implanted into the defective tendon site. Current research on tendon tissue engineering has focused on the role of stem cell and tendon derived cell therapy, scaffolds, chemical and physical stimulation and gene-therapeutic approaches.