Ankle fractures: When can I drive, doctor? A simulation study.

Traumatic ankle fractures are common injuries. Following injury, patients ask their doctor 'when can I drive doctor?' The ability to safely drive depends on several variables including reaction time, force, range of movement and pain. Return of the braking force is essential for return to driving and to our knowledge has not been addressed previously in the literature.

Systematic review of randomized controlled trials comparing efficacy of crossed versus lateral K-wire fixation in extension type Gartland type III supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children.

Supracondylar fractures of the humerus occur frequently in children and account for approximately 70% of all elbow fractures. The aim of this systematic review is to critically appraise randomized controlled trials in the literature comparing the outcome of surgical treatment of extension type Gartland III supracondylar fractures using either a cross pin configuration or lateral pins only for fixation in terms of the stability of fixation and the incidence of encountered complications. Only 4 randomized trials were found over the past 10 years.

Stabilization of the syndesmosis in the Maisonneuve fracture--a biomechanical study comparing 2-hole locking plate and quadricortical screw fixation.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine whether a 2-hole locking plate has biomechanical advantages over conventional screw stabilization of the syndesmosis in this injury pattern.

Methods: Six pairs of fresh-frozen human cadaver lower legs were prepared to simulate an unstable Maisonneuve fracture. Each limb was compared with its pair; the syndesmosis in one being stabilized with two 4.

Informed consent in trauma: does written information improve patient recall of risks? A prospective randomised study.

Informed consent is vital to good surgical practice. Pain, sedative medication and psychological distress resulting from trauma are likely to adversely affect a patient's ability to understand and retain information thus impairing the quality of the consent process. This study aims to assess whether provision of written information improves trauma patient's recall of the risks associated with their surgery.

Kytococcus schroeteri prosthetic valve endocarditis.

We report the case of a 64-year-old male patient with a prosthetic aortic valve who presented with clinical features of endocarditis confirmed by transoesophageal echocardiography. His blood cultures were positive for a very rare and newly described organism-Kytococcus schroeteri. The patient underwent aortic valve replacement and a 6-week course of intravenous antibiotics.

Intrapericardial paraganglioma directly irrigated by the right coronary artery.

We present a case of a nonfunctioning intrapericardial paraganglioma that presented as a typical chest pain in a 51-year-old woman. The tumor was initially diagnosed on coronary angiography where it had direct irrigation from the right coronary artery. Further computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans showed significant compression of the superior vena cava by the tumor.