Slipping with the waste (a wheelie bin hand injury).

A right hand dominant man in his 60s was moving his wheelie bin when he tripped and landed still holding on to the handle. His hand was trapped between the handle and the ground. He sustained lacerations at the level of the proximal interphalangeal joints of all the fingers of his right hand.

Use of the mini C-arm for wrist fractures--establishing a diagnostic reference level.

The establishment of diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for all typical radiological examinations became mandatory following the implementation of the Ionising Radiations (Medical Exposure) Regulations Act 2000. At present, there are no national dosage guidelines in the UK regarding use of fluoroscopy in orthopaedic trauma. The increasing popularity of the mini C-arm image intensifier amongst surgeons has led to concerns regarding use of ionizing radiation by personnel who have not been trained in radiation protection.

Correlation between inter-vertebral disc morphology and the results in patients undergoing Graf ligament stabilisation.

Background: Previous studies have shown Graf ligament stabilisation procedure to give mixed results in the short to medium term. The aim of this study was to correlate the pre-operative state of the disc, multifidus muscles, age of the patient, levels operated and the clinical outcome after a mean follow-up of 47 months.

Methods: Graf ligament stabilisation procedure was carried out in 38 patients between 1996 and 1999.

Allograft versus autograft in instrumented posterolateral lumbar spinal fusion: a randomized control trial.

Study Design: To evaluate the clinical outcome respective of the type of bone graft used, 69 patients undergoing instrumented lumbar spinal fusion were randomized to receive either their own bone (harvested from the iliac crest) or allograft bone (fresh-frozen femoral head from donors undergoing total hip joint arthroplasty). Self-completed questionnaires were administered before surgery and at intervals thereafter.

Objectives: To compare the clinical outcome of lumbar spinal fusion carried out using either allograft or autograft bone.