[A special instrument: the halo fixator].

Objective: Installation of an external fixator in combination with a body cast for temporary or definitive immobilization and retention of unstable fractures of the craniocervical junction and upper part of the cervical spine. Further established applications include presurgical extension treatment of paralytic scoliosis and temporary retention within complex spine deformity operations after ventral release or mobilized osteotomies.

Indications: Closed reposition and temporary retention of unstable injuries of the cervical spine up to operation.

Distribution of substance-P nerves inside the infrapatellar fat pad and the adjacent synovial tissue: a neurohistological approach to anterior knee pain syndrome.

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to determine the distribution and number of nerves inside the infrapatellar fat pad and the adjacent synovium, in particular with regards to nociceptive substance-P nerves.

Materials And Methods: The infrapatellar fat pad of the knee was resected from 21 patients (4 male, 17 female, mean age 69 years) during the course of standard total knee arthroplasty operations performed in our clinic. The fat pad was dissected into five standardized segments, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin.

Shoulder arthrodesis: indications, technique, results, and complications.

Complications after shoulder arthrodesis are frequent. Through results and comparisons with the literature, the presented article analyzes the correlation of complications with the specific operative techniques, indications, and postoperative treatment. Between 1964 and 2001, a total of 43 cases of shoulder arthrodesis (13 screw and 30 plate arthrodeses) were performed and then analyzed after a mean of 6.

Risk evaluation of thermal injury to the cervical spine during intradiscal laser application in vitro.

Objective: We aimed to investigate temperature distribution during laser and its possible thermal damage to the neurovascular structures.

Background Data: Percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) is now being performed as a minimally invasive intradiscal technique for the operative therapy of non-sequestered herniated cervical discs. As yet, no experimental basic research has been reported with regard to temperature rise and distribution in the cervical region during laser radiation.

Reconstructive operations for the upper limb after brachial plexus palsy.

Limited function due to paralysis following brachial plexus lesions can be improved by secondary operations of the bony and soft tissue. Between April 1994 and December 2000, 109 patients suffering from arm-plexus lesions underwent a total of 144 reconstructive operations guided by our concept of integrated therapy. The average age at the time of surgery was 32 years (range: 15-59).

Clinical results of arthroscopic meniscal repair using biodegradable screws.

This study was performed to assess the clinical results of meniscus refixation using biodegradable Clearfix meniscal screws. Between July 1999 and June 2001 this technique was performed on 65 patients, of whom 60 (27 women, 33 men; 92%) were followed up by clinical examination after an average of 18 months (range 8-34). The average age of the patients at the time of surgery was 30 years (15-58).

Long-term outcome following high tibial osteotomy with tension bend principle.

Background: High tibial osteotomy has been successfully performed on patients with varus gonarthrosis for many years now. The prospective study presented here serves to verify the long-term outcome of this procedure.

Methods: A supratuberous high tibial osteotomy was carried out on 100 patients with varus gonarthrosis.

Osteotomy of the humerus to improve external rotation in nine patients with brachial plexus palsy.

Malfunction of the infraspinatus muscle and teres minor muscle illustrate the typical clinical picture in patients with brachial plexus palsy. The arm hangs down in an inwardly rotated position and elbow flexion is hindered by striking of the lower arm against the thorax. Between 1995 and 2000, we have done external rotational osteotomy of the humerus for nine patients with brachial plexus palsy.

Arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilization: combined multiple suture repair and laser-assisted capsular shrinkage.

The results of laser-assisted capsular shrinkage (LACS) in combination with arthroscopic refixation of the capsulolabral avulsion are compared to those of an arthroscopic Bankart repair alone. In a prospective study, an arthroscopic LACS in combination with a multiple suture capsulolabral refixation according to Caspari and Savoie (Am. J.

Transposition of local muscles to restore elbow flexion in brachial plexus palsy.

Between 1994 and 2001, triceps to biceps transfers were done in 10 men and a transfer of the forearm flexors and extensors (Steindler procedure) in nine. All had suffered from a post-traumatic lesion of their brachial plexus, resulting in loss of elbow flexion. Their mean age at the time of the original accident was 27 years (range 16-50 years) and at the time of muscle transfer 35 years (range 22-56 years), with a mean observation period of 20 months (range 6-51 months).