Multiple intraoperative strategies are described to achieve full extension in total knee arthroplasty, but only a few studies have assessed the effect of the flexion gap on intraoperative improvement in flexion contracture. The aim of this study was to determine whether posterior condylar offset, in isolation, independently affects extension at the time of total knee arthroplasty.Two hundred and seventy-eight patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty for knee osteoarthritis and flexion contracture ≥ 5 degrees between January 2008 and July 2018 were included in this study. Patients with other factors that could affect knee extension at the time of surgery were excluded. We recorded the thickness of posterior femoral condyle bone resected as well as the thickness of the posterior femoral component chosen for each patient. Patients' knee extension was recorded under anesthetic, prior to resection and intraoperatively after total knee replacement.Average thickness of bone resection for the posteromedial femur was 12.64  ± 1.65 mm and for the posterolateral femur was 10.38  ± 1.52 mm. Using a linear regression model, we found that changes in posterior offset and implant downsizing influenced correction of fixed flexion deformity at the time of surgery. When patients had a combined posteromedial and posterolateral offset 2 mm thinner than the thickness of bone resected, there was an average correction of 3.5 degrees of flexion contracture.Our study demonstrated that posterior femoral condyle offset is an independent variable affecting correction of flexion contracture at the time of surgery in a gap balanced cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE  Level IV evidence.Patellofemoral complications following total knee arthroplasty can be traced in part to alignment of the femoral component. Kinematic alignment (KA) and mechanical alignment (MA) use the same femoral component but align the component differently. Our objective was to determine differences in trochlear morphology from native for a femoral component interfaced with an anatomical patellar prosthesis in KA and MA. Ten three-dimensional femur-cartilage models were created by combining computed tomography and laser scans of native human cadaveric femurs free of skeletal abnormalities. The femoral component was positioned using KA and MA. Measurements of the prosthetic and native trochlea were made along the arc length of the native trochlear groove and differences from native were computed for the medial-lateral and radial locations of the groove and sulcus angle. Mean medial-lateral locations of the prosthetic groove were within 1.5 and 3.5 mm of native for KA and MA, respectively. Mean radial locations of the prosthetic groove were as large as 5 mm less than native for KA and differences were greater for MA. Sulcus angles of the prosthetic trochlea were 10 degrees steeper proximally, and 10 degrees flatter distally than native for both KA and MA. Largest differences from native occurred for radial locations and sulcus angles for both KA and MA. The consistency of these results with those of other fundamentally different designs which use a modified dome (i.e., sombrero hat) patellar prosthesis highlights the need to reassess the design of the prosthetic trochlea on the part of multiple manufacturers worldwide.Kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty (KATKA) was developed to improve the anatomical alignment of knee prostheses, assisting in restoring the native alignment of the knee and promoting physiological kinematics. Early clinical results were encouraging, showing better functional outcomes than with mechanically aligned total knee arthroplasty (MATKA). However, there have been concerns about implant survival, and follow-up at 10 years or more has not been reported. In addition, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing KATKA with MATKA have reported inconsistent results. The current meta-analysis of RCTs with a minimum of 2 years of follow-up investigated the clinical and radiological differences between KATKA and MATKA. A systematic review of the English language literature resulted in the inclusion of four RCTs. The meta-analysis found no significant difference in any of the following parameters postoperative range of motion for flexion (mean difference for KATKA - MATKA [MD], 1.7 degrees; 95% confTKA were not superior to those with MATKA.
  Septic arthritis of the sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) is a rarity in everyday surgical practice with 0.5 - 1% of all joint infections. Although there are several risk factors for the occurrence of this disease, also healthy people can sometimes be affected. The clinical appearance is very variable and ranges from unspecific symptoms such as local indolent swelling, redness or restricted movement of the affected shoulder girdle to serious consequences (mediastinitis, sepsis, jugular vein thrombosis). Together with the low incidence and the unfamiliarity of the disease among practicing doctors in other specialties, this often results in a delay in the diagnosis, which in addition to a significant reduction in the quality of life can also have devastating consequences for the patient.
 
  According to a stage-dependent procedure, the therapy strategies range from antibiotic administration only to radical resection of the SC joint and other affected structures of the chest wall in severe cases with the following neads to good and excellent clinical results with stability of the joint. If the focus of infection and germ are known, stabilization using an autologous graft can be carried out under antibiotic shielding. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this surgical procedure has not yet been described in the current literature. Depending on the extent of the resection, an accompanying stabilization of the SCJ should be considered to achieve stable conditions and an optimal clinical outcome.BACKGROUND  With low influenza vaccination rates among the chronically ill, approaches to increase these rates among risk patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are to be uncovered. METHODS  120 COPD patients from Magdeburg filled out a questionnaire and were analyzed regarding the influenza vaccination status 2015/2016 or 2016/2017. Vaccinated and unvaccinated were compared in socio-epidemiological factors, the health belief model (HBM), self-efficacy (GESIS-ASKU), anxiety/depression (HADS-D) and disease processing (FKV-LIS). RESULTS  62.5 % (n = 75) were vaccinated, 31.7 % (n = 38) unvaccinated, 5.8 % (n = 7) made no statement. In over or equal to 60-year-olds 76 % were vaccinated, in under 60-year-olds 42 % were vaccinated.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Decitabine.html  60 % (n = 72) knew to belong to a risk group. Unvaccinated indicated greater concern about side effects of the vaccination (p = .004) and drew a worse benefit-expense balance (p = .001). Unvaccinated were more often uncertain about the vaccination protection and the severity of influenza (p ≤ .