Collum screw – to parallel or not

Two bridges

Bridging the knowledge gap in how to operate femoral neck fractures. The image is CC by Nick Mealey.

One of the first surgeries young orthopaedic surgeons learn is the femoral neck fracture fixation with collum screws. A common theme is how to position the screws and as a young surgeon one often believe that everything depends on the screw position, especially if they’re parallel or not. It was therefore quite fun and liberating to read Nyholm et al’s study with the subtitle: “Minimal Effect of Implant Position on Risk of Reoperation” Continue reading

Are the fancy locking plates for distal radius fractures nothing more than orthopaedic bling?

Shinier is not always better. The image is CC by Dennis Skley.

Shinier is not always better. The image is CC by Dennis Skley.

Costa et. al. performed recently a multi-center study including 18 trauma centers throughout the United Kingdom. They randomized patients with distal radius fractures to volar locking plates or Kirschner wires. They managed to randomize 461 patients and follow-up 90% after 1 year using self-reported scores. They could not find any difference after 1 year regarding their primary outcome, PRWE-score (−1.3 points, 95% CI -4.5 to 1.8). This was well below their stipulated minimally clinically important difference of 6 points. Could this be the end of the volar locking plate era? Continue reading