Traumatic Simultaneous Bilateral Knee Dislocation: A Case Report

Bilateral knee dislocation is an extremely rare and devastating injury to the knee joint. This injury is a true emergency as concomitant injuries may threaten life and limb. Here, we report the case of a 26-year-old male patient who sustained bilateral knee dislocation due to a high-velocity motor vehicle accident. In this case, the patient suffered a feared complication associated with knee dislocation, popliteal artery disruption with peroneal nerve damage. Abdominal and skeletal injuries were also discovered and treated appropriately by a multidisciplinary team. A staged surgical approach to ligament reconstruction was used without any postoperative complication. Postoperatively, the patient successfully returned to his preoperative activity level.

Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Reason Not to Wait Until Skeletal Maturity

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears within the skeletally immature population give rise to controversy regarding the timing of treatment decisions due to the concern of iatrogenic damage to the open physis. Physis disruption from the required intraoperative graft tunnel drilling can lead to growth disturbance, thus ligament reconstruction is not without risk. Nonoperative management carries the risk of future damage to the menisci and cartilage as an ACL-deficient knee can be unstable. This particular case of a skeletally immature 10-year old male demonstrates an initial course of nonoperative treatment which ultimately resulted in previously undiagnosed meniscal damage. Failure of the nonoperative treatment was followed by a successful ACL reconstruction and meniscal repair surgery utilizing a partial physeal sparing technique. The patient successfully returned to his preoperative activity level without any graft disruption, postoperative indications of meniscus pathology, or abnormal growth deformities. This case report adds to the current literature reporting successful and safe ACL reconstructions in a skeletally immature patient.

The application of minimally invasive surgical techniques. Part I: total hip arthroplasty

Traditional surgical approaches often involve making large skin incisions and extensively dissecting healthy tissue to access diseased anatomy. Obviously more desirable is to make smaller incisions and more focused dissections and achieve the same postsurgical outcomes. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is gaining popularity in many orthopedic fields, but MIS techniques are not without risk. Continued use of these techniques is a topic of debate. If satisfactory alignment is satisfactory with MIS, and if the complication rates of MIS are similar to those of traditional approaches, it seems sensible to consider the less invasive approaches to enable earlier patient recovery and improve cosmesis. Skeptics claim that there is no advantage in using MIS over time-tested approaches and are concerned that MIS approaches are being implemented before being properly subjected to peer review.

The application of minimally invasive surgical techniques. Part II: total knee arthroplasty

Traditional surgical approaches often involve making large skin incisions and extensively dissecting healthy tissue to access diseased anatomy. Obviously more desirable is to make smaller incisions and more focused dissections and achieve the same postsurgical outcomes. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is gaining popularity in many orthopedic fields, but MIS techniques are not without risk. Continued use of these techniques is a topic of debate. If alignment is satisfactory with MIS, and if the complication rates of MIS are similar to those of traditional approaches, it seems sensible to consider the less invasive approaches to enable earlier patient recovery and improve cosmesis. Skeptics claim that there is no advantage in using MIS over time-tested approaches and are concerned that MIS approaches are being implemented before being properly subjected to peer review.

Applying computer-assisted navigation techniques to total hip and knee arthroplasty

Appropriate implant alignment is a major goal of total joint arthroplasty. Obtaining appropriate alignment typically involves making intraoperative decisions in response to visual and tactile feedback. Integrated computer-based systems provide the option of continuous real-time feedback and offer the potential to decrease intraoperative errors while enhancing the surgical learning experience. Computer-assisted orthopedic surgery helps the surgeon perform both intraoperative and postoperative technical audits of implant alignment. Improving implant alignment can be correlated with improved long-term clinical outcomes. However, despite emerging data, many surgeons remain wary of computer-assisted orthopedic surgery.