With the development of social economy, high-intensity energy is the direct cause of fracture, such as traffic accident, fall injury and tumble. Fracture healing is affected by many factors, such as malunion, delayed union, nonunion and wound infection. Tibial fractures are usually caused by high-energy mechanisms and can also be caused by low-energy mechanisms of ankle rotation. With the gradual deepening of orthopedic surgeons′ understanding of bone nonunion, the treatment of tibial nonunion is mainly divided into surgical treatment and non-operative treatment. Surgical treatment is generally the first choice for the treatment of bone nonunion, in which plate internal fixation plays an unique advantage in the treatment of tibial nonunion. By reviewing the recently published literature, this paper reviews the latest progress in the treatment of tibial nonunion with plate internal fixation.

Nonunion of femur is a common complication after intramedullary nail operation of femoral fracture, with an incidence of 1% to 12.5%. At present, the treatment of femoral nonunion is mainly divided into surgical treatment and non-operative treatment, and surgical treatment is the first choice. The gold standard for surgical treatment of femoral nonunion is replacement of intramedullary nail, but for non-isthmus femoral nonunion, larger diameter intramedullary nail could not solve the problem of rotation and angular displacement of the broken end of nonunion. For malnourished nonunion, atrophic nonunion and bone nonunion with large bone defect, the replacement of intramedullary nail and autogenous bone graft are not enough to eliminate the gap between the broken ends and increase the contact area between the broken ends. It cannot provide a good biological environment for the broken ends. Because the replacement of intramedullary nail does not expose the broken ends of bone nonunion, and the corresponding tissue cannot be taken for bacteriological culture, so it is difficult to judge whether the broken end sare complicated with infection. The double plate technique is to find the site of bone nonunion under direct vision, and two plates are placed with different angles. This paper reviews the literature related to the treatment of femoral nonunion with double plate technique published at home and abroad in the past 10 years, and concludes that double plate fixation combined with autogenous iliac bone graft provides a three-dimensional fixation model for the healing of nonunion. It has the characteristics of strong stability and plays an active role in improving the biological behavior and mechanical stability of the fracture ends. The operation is beneficial to the flexion and extension of the knee joint, with the characteristics of high healing rate, low complication rate, effective pain relief and so on.

Objective:To investigate the correlation of mRNA and protein levels of Ghrelin in shoulder tissue and synovial fluid with severity of rotator cuff tear(RCT) and frozen shoulder(FS).Methods:Recruited for this study were 66 RCT and 66 FS patients who had been definitely diagnosed at Department of Orthopedics, The First Hospital of Huizhou from January 2018 to September 2019. Another 60 patients with rotator instability were recruited as a control group. After the severity of RCT was evaluated by ultrasonographic images, the RCT group was further divided into 3 subgroups according to the severity of RCT: a massive full thickness tear (MFTT) subgroup, a non massive full thickness tear (MFTT) subgroup, and a partial thickness tear (PTT) subgroup. The FS group was conventionally divided into 31 cases of acute phase and 35 cases of adhesive phase. Samples of subacromial bursa and shoulder joint bursa tissues and shoulder joint synovial fluid were collected. The expression of Ghrelin mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and the expression of Ghrelin protein in joint synovial fluid was detected by ELISA. The symptoms and functions of shoulder joint were evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) and Constant-Murley functional score.Results:There were no significant differences in gender or age between the RCT, FS and control groups, showing compatibility ( P>0.05).The expression of Ghrelin mRNA in subacromial synovial capsule and shoulder joint capsule and the expression of Ghrelin protein in shoulder synovial fluid in the RCT and FS groups were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05).The expression of Ghrelin mRNA in subacromial synovial capsule and shoulder joint capsule and the expression of Ghrelin protein in shoulder synovial fluid in the PTT subgroup were the highest, followed sequentially by NMFTT and MFTT subgroups, with significant differences between subgroups ( P<0.05). For FS patients, the expression levels of Ghrelin mRNA and protein in the acute phase were significantly lower than in the adhesive phase ( P<0.05). The relative expression of Ghrelin mRNA in joint capsule and the expression of Ghrelin protein in shoulder synovial fluid were negatively correlated with VAS scores and IL-6 levels (all P<0.05), and positively correlated with the Constant-Murley scores (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The expression of Ghrelin in shoulder tissue and synovial fluid is negatively correlated with the progress of rotator cuff tear and frozen shoulder.Local supplementation of Ghrelin may be a potential therapy for rotator cuff tear and frozen shoulder.

Objective:To explore the correlations of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone ( α-MSH) levels in serum and synovial fluid with progression of primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 96 patients who had been diagnosed as primary KOA at Department of Orthopedics, The First Hospital of Huizhou from October 2018 to October 2019. Radiographic severity of KOA was determined by Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grades; α-MSH levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 β (IL-1 β) and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) were also detected. Another 64 patients with patellar dislocation, matched in age and gender, were enrolled as controls. The Numeric Pain Scale (NPS) and revised Oxford Knee Score (OKS) were employed to evaluate their symptomatic severity. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to compare α-MSH, IL-1 β and MMP-3 with regard to their diagnostic values in the K-L grading. Results:There were no statistically significant difference in age, gender and body mass index between the 2 groups, showing they were comparable ( P> 0.05). The α-MSH levels in synovial fluid were significantly lower in the KOA patients than in the controls [(16.9±3.8) pg/mL versus (18.8±2.7) pg/mL] ( P<0.001); there were no significant differences between the KOA patients and the controls in the serum α-MSH levels [(24.9±1.8) pg/mL versus (24.8±1.7) pg/mL] ( P>0.05). The α-MSH levels in synovial fluid were negatively correlated with K-L grades ( r=-0.382, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with NPS ( r=-0.382, P<0.001) but positively correlated with OKS ( r=0.339, P<0.001). Moreover, the α-MSH levels in synovial fluid were negatively correlated with the IL-1 β levels in synovial fluid ( r=-0.483, P<0.001) and with the MMP-3 levels in synovial fluid ( r=-0.336, P< 0.001). Conclusions:The level of serum α-MSH may not be correlated with the progression of KOA but the synovial fluid α-MSH is negatively correlated with the progression of KOA. Therefore, the expression level of α-MSH in joint synovial fluid can be used as a potential biomarker for assessment of severity of knee osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Implantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is a potential alternative for promoting bone defects healing or osseointegration in osteoporosis. However, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulated and excessive inflammation in the osteoporotic microenvironment could weaken the self-replication and multi-directional differentiation of transplanted BMSCs. METHODS: In this study, to improve the hostile microenvironment in osteoporosis, Poloxamer 407 and hyaluronic acid (HA) was crosslinked to synthetize a thermos-responsive and injectable hydrogel to load MnO2 nanoparticles as a protective carrier (MnO2 @Pol/HA hydrogel) for delivering BMSCs. RESULTS: The resulting MnO2 @Pol/HA hydrogel processed excellent biocompatibility and durable retention time, and can eliminate accumulated ROS effectively, thereby protecting BMSCs from ROS-mediated inhibition of cell viability, including survival, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation. In osteoporotic bone defects, implanting of this BMSCs incorporated MnO2 @Pol/HA hydrogel significantly eliminated ROS level in bone marrow and bone tissue, induced macrophages polarization from M1 to M2 phenotype, decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNFa, IL-1b, and IL-6) and osteogenic related factors (e.g., TGF-b and PDGF). CONCLUSION This hydrogel-based BMSCs protected delivery strategy indicated better bone repair effect than BMSCs delivering or MnO2 @Pol/HA hydrogel implantation singly, which providing a potential alternative strategy for enhancing osteoporotic bone defects healing.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of arthroscopic suture combined with perforator tendon double reduction and Endobutton plate technique for the treatment of tibial avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).Methods:A retrospective case series study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 32 patients with tibial avulsion fracture of PCL, who were admitted to First People′s Hospital of Huizhou from January 2018 to October 2022. There were 19 males and 13 females, with age range of 18-65 years [(42.8±15.0)years]. By the Meyers-Mckeever classicfication, 27 patients were type II, and 5 type III. All the patients were treated with arthroscopic suture combined with perforator tendon double reduction and Endobutton plate technique to fix PCL tibial avulsion fracture at the insertion point. The fracture reduction was observed by X-ray films before discharge. Three months postoperatively, the fracture healing was observed by CT imaging, and the stability of knee joint was evaluated by posterior drawer test. The knee active range of motion, visual analogue score (VAS), Lysholm score, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score were used to evaluate the pain and knee function before operation, at 3 months after operation, and at the last follow-up. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were observed.Results:All the patients were followed up for 6-36 months [(19.7±8.7)months]. The X-ray films showed satisfactory reduction of the fracture before discharge, and the CT showed that the fracture line was blurred to various degrees at 3 months after operation. Two patients had degree I positive posterior drawer test at 3 months after operation, and the rest were negative. The knee active range of motion was improved from 54.2°(45.0°, 70.0°) preoperatively to 124.8°(120.0°, 130.0°) at 3 months postoperatively and to 130.6°(125.0°, 135.0°) at the last follow-up (all P<0.01). The VAS was decreased from 5.1(3.0, 7.0)points preoperatively to 1.2(1.0, 2.0)points at 3 months postoperatively and to 0.1(0.0, 0.0)points at the last follow-up (all P<0.01). The Lysholm score was improved from 31.2(24.3, 37.0)points preoperatively to 73.6(69.3, 78.8)points at 3 months postoperatively and 92.6(91.0, 95.0)points at the last follow-up (all P<0.01). The IKDC score was increased from (20.9±7.1)points preoperatively to (59.2±8.9)points at 3 months postoperatively and to (77.5±7.0)points at the last follow-up (all P<0.01). Compared with 3 months after operation, the last follow-up showed significantly improved knee active range of motion, significantly decreased VAS, and significantly increased Lysholm score and IKDC score (all P<0.05). No intraoperative nerve vascular injury, postoperative incision infection, or lower limb venous thrombosis was observed. Conclusion:Arthroscopic suture combined with perforator tendon double reduction and Endobutton plate technique can achieve good reduction and high healing rate in patients with tibial avulsion fracture of PCL, with improved joint mobility, relieved pain, good recovery of knee joint function, and few complications.