Objective:To explore the role of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of pathogens in primary infectious diseases of the spine (IDS) and to reveal its pathogen spectrum.Methods:This is a retrospective multi-center case series study. Clinical data of 380 patients with primary IDS who were treated at four medical centers in China from December 2019 to April 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 82 cases were from the Department of Spine Surgery at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 129 cases were from the Orthopedics Section Ⅱ (Bone Infection), Public Health Clinical Center Affiliated to Shandong University, 112 cases were from the Department of Spine Surgery, Fuzhou Second General Hospital, and 57 cases were from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People′s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. There were 238 males and 242 females, with an age of (61.4±13.1) years (range: 10 to 91 years). Specimens from the site of spinal infection were obtained for pathogen culture, pathological examination, and mNGS detection preoperatively or intraoperatively in all patients. The number, types, and positive rates of pathogens detected by the two methods were analyzed and compared using the Chi-square test.Results:Among the 380 patients, 320 had confirmed pathogenic bacteria, with the highest proportion being pyogenic bacterial infections, accounting for 76.9% (246/320). The most common pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus, accounting for 22.8% (73/320). Brucella accounted for 13.8% (44/320); Mycobacterium tuberculosis accounted for 6.3% (20/320). Fungal infections accounted for 3.4% (11/320), mainly Aspergillus and Candida. In addition, Mycoplasma was detected in 3 cases (0.9%) and Benacox body in 4 cases (1.2%). The pathogen spectrum constructed by mNGS covered 46 types of pathogens, higher than the 22 types detected by traditional methods. The positive rate of mNGS was 80.8% (308/381), significantly higher than the 27.9% (106/381) of traditional methods ( χ2=182.53, P<0.01). Conclusions:mNGS improves the positive rate of pathogen diagnosis in IDS, detecting a broader spectrum of pathogens, and serves as a valuable complement to traditional diagnostic methods. Combining both methods in the diagnosis of IDS can maximize detection rates, providing robust evidence for precise anti-infective treatment.

BACKGROUND:Bone wax is a filler that can be used for bone hemostasis.Although modification of bone wax formulations is attempted worldwide,its inertness is still the main challenge today.There is an urgent clinical need to develop novel orthopedic hemostatic materials with hemostasis,osteogenesis and antibacterial properties. OBJECTIVE:To review the development of orthopedic hemostatic materials including bone wax and its substitutes. METHODS:PubMed,Web of Science,WanFang,CNKI and VIP databases were searched for literature related to bone wax,hemostatic materials,and research progress of orthopedic hemostatic materials,and 136 articles were selected for inclusion in the review by reading the abstracts of the articles in the initial screening. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:To replace traditional bone wax,researchers have developed various orthopedic hemostatic materials based on the needs of practical scenarios such as hemostasis and osteogenesis.However,relevant studies mostly focus on basic physical and chemical and performance tests,lack a systematic evaluation system,and lack sufficient reports of large animal experiments and clinical trials.Therefore,bone wax is still a recognized orthopedic hemostatic material at present.The fundamental reason is that the design of existing materials cannot timely meet the new needs of intraoperative hemostasis,postoperative osteogenesis and clinical practice.In the future,the structure,composition and function of existing hemostatic and osteogenic materials need to be integrated and redesigned to meet the increasing demand for hemostatic and osteogenic materials.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of ulnar Z-shaped shortening osteotomy combined with arthroscopic deep suture anchor repair of the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) and ulnar Z-shaped shortening osteotomy alone in the treatment of ulnar impaction syndrome with moderate or severe distal radioulnar joint instability.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 30 patients with ulnar impaction syndrome accompanied by moderate or severe distal radioulnar joint instability, who were admitted to Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2016 to June 2023, including 16 males and 14 females, aged 27-58 years [(42.4±9.9)years]. All the patients presented with positive ulnar variance and TFCC type IB injury, with the deep layer of TFCC affected. Fifteen patients were treated with Z-shaped shortening osteotomy of the ulna alone (osteotomy alone group), while the other 15 patients received Z-shaped shortening osteotomy of the ulna combined with arthroscopic suture anchor repair of the deep layer of TFCC (osteotomy combined with repair group). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and length of ulnar shortening were compared between the two groups. The forearm rotation, ulnar-radial deviation angle, palmar-dorsal flexion angle, grip strength, visual analogue scale (VAS), patient-rated wrist evaluation (PRWE) score, modified Mayo wrist score, and disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) questionnaire score were assessed preoperatively, at 6 and 12 months postoperatively, and at the last follow-up. The incidence of postoperative complications was recorded.Results:The patients were followed up for 6-24 months [(15.8±4.9)months]. The operation time in the osteotomy combined with repair group was 3.0 (2.3, 3.0)hours, longer than 1.5 (1.3, 2.0)hours in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.01). There were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss and the length of ulnar shortening between the two groups ( P>0.05). There were no significant differences in forearm rotation, ulnar-radial deviation angle, palmar-dorsal flexion angle, grip strength, VAS, PRWE score, modified Mayo wrist score, and DASH score between the two groups preoperatively ( P>0.05). At 6 and 12 months postoperatively, and at the last follow-up, the forearm rotation degrees in the osteotomy combined with repair group were (130.3±8.8)°, (135.2±7.9)°, and (141.9±6.9)°, greater than (120.5±9.4)°, (123.7±10.2)°, and (130.9±8.5)° in the osteotomy alone group; the ulnar-radial deviation angles in the osteotomy combined with repair group were 23.0 (23.0, 26.5)°, 33.0 (30.0, 36.0)°, and 36.0 (32.5, 41.5)°, greater than 22.0 (20.0, 23.0)°, 23.0 (23.0, 28.0)°, and 25.0 (23.0, 33.5)° in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.05 or 0.01). In the osteotomy combined with repair group, the palmar-dorsal flexion angles at 12 months postoperatively and at the last follow-up were (125.8±10.8)° and (132.9±16.8)°, greater than those in the osteotomy alone group [(99.1±15.7)° and (121.2±17.4)°] ( P<0.01), while there was no significant difference in the palmar-dorsal flexion angle between the two groups at 6 months postoperatively ( P>0.05). In the osteotomy combined with repair group, the grip strength at 6 months postoperatively was (14.6±1.0)N, greater than (12.8±1.8)N in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in grip strength between the two groups at 12 months postoperatively and at the last follow-up ( P>0.05). At 6, 12 months postoperatively, and at the last follow-up, the VAS scores in the osteotomy combined with repair group were (4.3±1.9)points, (2.7±1.1)points, and (2.1±0.7)points, lower than (6.5±2.5)points, (4.7±1.4)points, and (4.3±0.9)points in the osteotomy alone group; the PREW scores were (57.6±4.1)points, (47.3±2.4)points, and (35.0±3.4)points, lower than (67.8±4.5)points, (53.1±4.4)points, and (43.5±4.1)points in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.05 or 0.01). The modified Mayo wrist scores in the osteotomy combined with repair group at 6, 12 months postoperatively, and at the last follow-up were (78.3±2.9)points, (80.1±3.0)points, and (83.5±3.9)points, higher than those in the osteotomy alone group [(69.0±4.3)points, (75.5±2.9)points, (78.8±2.4)points] ( P<0.01). The DASH scores in the osteotomy combined with repair group at 12 months postoperatively and at the last follow-up were (35.8±4.6)points and (28.4±5.4)points, lower than (43.3±5.0)points and (34.2±4.4)points in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.01), while there was no significant difference in DASH scores between the two groups at 6 months postoperatively ( P>0.05). In both groups, forearm rotation, ulnar-radial deviation angle, palmar-dorsal flexion angle, grip strength, and modified Mayo wrist scores at all time points postoperatively were all higher than the preoperative values ( P<0.05), while the postoperative VAS, PREW, and DASH scores were lower than the preoperative values ( P<0.05), with statistically significant differences among different time points postoperatively ( P<0.01). The incidence of postoperative complications in the osteotomy combined with repair group was 6.7% (1/15), lower than 46.7% (7/15) in the osteotomy alone group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with the ulnar Z-shaped shortening osteotomy alone, ulnar Z-shaped shortening osteotomy with arthroscopic suture anchor deep repair of TFCC has the advantages of increased wrist range of motion, reduced pain, improved function, and lower incidence of complications, etc in treating ulnar impaction syndrome with moderate or severe instability of the distal radioulnar joint.

The incidence of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fracture (OTLVF) in the elderly is gradually increasing. The kyphotic deformity caused by various factors has become an important characteristic of OTLVF and has received increasing attention. Its clinical manifestations include pain, delayed nerve damage, sagittal imbalance, etc. Currently, the definition and diagnosis of OTLVF with kyphotic deformity in the elderly are still unclear. Although there are many treatment options, they are controversial. Existing guidelines or consensuses pay little attention to this type of fracture with kyphotic deformity. To this end, the Lumbar Education Working Group of the Spine Branch of the Chinese Medicine Education Association and Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Trauma organized the experts in the relevant fields to jointly develop Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fractures with kyphotic deformity in the elderly ( version 2024), based on evidence-based medical advancements and the principles of scientificity, practicality, and advanced nature, which provided 18 recommendations to standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To explore whether tryptophan metabolism is related to bone growth by comparing the differences in tryptophan metabolism after rotator cuff tear (RCT) repair between rats with normal bone remodeling capability and those with defective bone remodeling capability.Methods:Of the 50 adult female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats used for this study, 18 were randomly selected to undergo bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) (OVX group), and the remaining 32 underwent bilateral OVX sham surgery (sham surgery group). All rats were maintained in standard conditions. Three months after surgery, 4 rats were randomly selected from OVX group and the sham surgery group, respectively, for Micro CT identification of bone loss at the rat humeral head. The remaining rats in OVX group underwent RCT modeling and surgical repair of acute supraspinatus muscle transection (OVX+RCT group) ( n=14); the remaining rats in the sham surgery group were subjected to either surgical repair of acute supraspinatus muscle transection (RCT group, n=14) or RCT sham surgery (SO group, n=14). The grip power of the rats was tested 2 weeks after surgery. The supraspinatus tendon-bone complex was harvested for evaluation of new bone formation and growth through real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. The tryptophan metabolism was analyzed using ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Results:The grip power test showed that SO group had the greatest grip power, followed by RCT group and OVX+RCT group, with statistically significant differences between the 3 groups ( P<0.05). The qPCR showed that the relative expression of osteosclerosis in the tendon-bone complex in SO group was significantly higher than that in OVX+RCT group and RCT group; IHC staining showed that the relative expression of osteocalcin in RCT group was significantly higher than that in SO group and OVX+RCT group ( P<0.05). The UPLC showed that the content of tryptophan in the rotator cuff tendon-bone complex was similar among SO, RCT, and OVX+RCT groups, showing no significant difference ( P>0.05). The qPCR showed that the expression of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 2 in the Kynurenic acid metabolism pathway showed an increasing trend from SO group to RCT group to OVX+RCT group, with OVX+RCT group significantly higher than SO group ( P<0.05). The expression of 3-hydroxybenzoate 3, 4-dioxygenase in OVX+RCT group was significantly higher than that in RCT group and in SO group ( P<0.001). The subtypes A and B of monoamine oxidase in the 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism pathway increased from SO group to RCT group to OVX+RCT group. The subtypes A and B of monoamine oxidase in the 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism pathway increased among SO, RCT, and OVX+RCT groups( P<0.001). The expression of dopamine decarboxylase in the indole metabolism pathway in OVX+RCT group was significantly higher than that in SO group ( P<0.01). The expression of cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase increased from SO group to RCT group to OVX+RCT group ( P<0.001). Conclusions:The tryptophan metabolism in the supraspinatus tendon-bone complex after RCT in rats is mainly dominated by kynurenic acid metabolism, followed by 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism. In RCT bone remodeling, the 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolic pathway changes the most, followed by the indole pathway. The contents of niacin and xanthurenic acid in the kynurenic acid metabolism pathway are related to bone growth; the 5-hydroxytryptamine, hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and melatonin in the 5-hydroxytryptophan metabolic pathway are related to bone growth; the tryptophan and indole lactate in the indole metabolism pathway are related to bone growth. Therefore, tryptophan metabolism is related to bone growth, providing potential therapeutic targets for RCT repair.

Objective:To compare the therapeutic effects of intramedullary nail fixation, simple tibial plate fixation, and tibial plate + posterior-to-anterior screw fixation in the surgical treatment of lower 1/3 spiral fracture of the tibia combined with posterior malleolar fracture.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 78 patients with lower 1/3 spiral fracture of the tibia combined with posterior malleolar fracture who had been treated at Department of Orthopedics, The Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University from June 2015 to June 2022. There were 46 males and 32 females with an age of (48.9±14.6) years. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to their fixation methods. Group A (18 patients) underwent simple intramedullary nail fixation, group B (40 patients) simple tibial plate fixation, and group C (20 patients) tibial plate fixation for tibial fractures and posterior-to-anterior screw fixation for posterior malleolar fractures. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fracture union time, postoperative complications, as well as ankle-hindfoot scores of American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and Baird-Jackson scores at pre- and post-operation were compared among the 3 groups.Results:The differences in the preoperative baseline data were not statistically significant among the 3 groups, indicating comparability ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for (24.9±10.1) months. The fracture union time in Group A was 14.0(13.0, 14.0) weeks, significantly longer than that in groups B and C [13 (13, 14) weeks] ( P<0.05). The AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score and Baird-Jackson score at the last postoperative follow-up in all patients were better than those before surgery ( P<0.05). The AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores at the last follow-up in groups B and C [95.5 (86.0, 96.0) points and 96.0 (89.5, 98.5) points] were significantly higher than that in group A [86.5 (78.0, 93.0) points] ( P<0.05), and the Baird-Jackson scores at the last follow-up in groups B and C [93.0 (88.8, 95.0) points and 95.0 (91.0, 98.0) points] were also significantly higher than that in group A [86.0 (78.0, 89.5) points] ( P<0.05). All the 7 cases of complications (3 ones of poor fracture union and 4 ones of anterior knee pain) were observed in group A. Conclusion:In the surgical treatment of lower 1/3 spiral fracture of the tibia combined with posterior malleolar fracture, tibial plate fixation and tibial plate + posterior-to-anterior screw fixation can achieved better therapeutic effects than intramedullary nail fixation.

Objective:To investigate the effects of treadmill training with different intensities on tendon-bone healing in rats after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.Methods:Of the 99 adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats used for this study, 90 were randomly selected to undergo ACL reconstruction with autologous caudal tendon. Two weeks after the surgical reconstruction, the 90 SD rats were randomized into a low-intensity group (group L, n=30) subjected to treadmill training at a speed of 12 m/min, a moderate-intensity group (group M, n=30) subjected to treadmill training at a speed of 18 m/min, and a free group (group C, n=30) subjected to free activities in the cage as a model control. The other 9 rats were set as a blank control (group N, n=9) subjected to no treatment at all. The treadmill training started at the end of 2 weeks after surgical reconstruction. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE), micro-CT analysis, mechanical testing, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot analysis were used to evaluate the quality of tendon-bone healing. Results:There were no significant differences in the areas of femoral and tibial lateral bone tunnels or the total bone volume ratio (BV/TV) between the 3 groups 2 weeks after surgery ( P > 0.05). At 4 weeks and 8 weeks after surgery, the areas of lateral tibial bone tunnel and lateral femoral tunnel in groups C, M and L showed a decreasing trend ( P < 0.05) while the BV/TV of lateral femoral tunnel and the BV/TV of lateral tibial tunnel in groups C, M and L showed an increasing trend ( P < 0.05). At 8 weeks after surgery, HE staining showed that the tendon-bone healing was the most mature in group L, followed by group M, and the least mature in group C, showing statistically significant differences ( P < 0.05). The stiffness and maximum failure load showed an increasing trend from group C to group M to group L to group N. The stiffness in group M and the stiffness and maximum failure load in groups N and L were significantly higher than those in group C ( P < 0.05). The relative mRNA expression levels of osteopontin (OPN) and collagen type Ⅱ alpha 1 chain gene (COL2 α 1), as well as the protein expression levels of osteocalcin, OPN, and COL2 α 1, showed an increasing trend from group C to group M to group L, showing significant differences between pairwise comparisons ( P < 0.05). Conclusions:Treadmill training starting at the end of 2 weeks after surgery is beneficial to tendon-bone healing and improves the biomechanical strength of the tendon-bone complex. Low-intensity mechanical stimulation is more conducive to new bone formation and collagen fiber remodeling in the tendon-bone complex.

Objective:To explore the role of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of pathogens in primary infectious diseases of the spine (IDS) and to reveal its pathogen spectrum.Methods:This is a retrospective multi-center case series study. Clinical data of 380 patients with primary IDS who were treated at four medical centers in China from December 2019 to April 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 82 cases were from the Department of Spine Surgery at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 129 cases were from the Orthopedics Section Ⅱ (Bone Infection), Public Health Clinical Center Affiliated to Shandong University, 112 cases were from the Department of Spine Surgery, Fuzhou Second General Hospital, and 57 cases were from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People′s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. There were 238 males and 242 females, with an age of (61.4±13.1) years (range: 10 to 91 years). Specimens from the site of spinal infection were obtained for pathogen culture, pathological examination, and mNGS detection preoperatively or intraoperatively in all patients. The number, types, and positive rates of pathogens detected by the two methods were analyzed and compared using the Chi-square test.Results:Among the 380 patients, 320 had confirmed pathogenic bacteria, with the highest proportion being pyogenic bacterial infections, accounting for 76.9% (246/320). The most common pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus, accounting for 22.8% (73/320). Brucella accounted for 13.8% (44/320); Mycobacterium tuberculosis accounted for 6.3% (20/320). Fungal infections accounted for 3.4% (11/320), mainly Aspergillus and Candida. In addition, Mycoplasma was detected in 3 cases (0.9%) and Benacox body in 4 cases (1.2%). The pathogen spectrum constructed by mNGS covered 46 types of pathogens, higher than the 22 types detected by traditional methods. The positive rate of mNGS was 80.8% (308/381), significantly higher than the 27.9% (106/381) of traditional methods ( χ2=182.53, P<0.01). Conclusions:mNGS improves the positive rate of pathogen diagnosis in IDS, detecting a broader spectrum of pathogens, and serves as a valuable complement to traditional diagnostic methods. Combining both methods in the diagnosis of IDS can maximize detection rates, providing robust evidence for precise anti-infective treatment.

Pulmonary blast injury has become the main type of trauma in modern warfare, characterized by externally mild injuries but internally severe injuries, rapid disease progression, and a high rate of early death. The injury is complicated in clinical practice, often with multiple and compound injuries. Currently, there is a lack of effective protective materials, accurate injury detection instrument and portable monitoring and transportation equipment, standardized clinical treatment guidelines in various medical centers, and evidence-based guidelines at home and abroad, resulting in a high mortality in clinlcal practice. Therefore, the Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association and the Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Trauma organized military and civilian experts in related fields such as thoracic surgery and traumatic surgery to jointly develop the Clinical treatment guideline for pulmonary blast injury ( version 2023) by combining evidence for effectiveness and clinical first-line treatment experience. This guideline provided 16 recommended opinions surrounding definition, characteristics, pre-hospital diagnosis and treatment, and in-hospital treatment of pulmonary blast injury, hoping to provide a basis for the clinical treatment in hospitals at different levels.

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy between modified open wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) versus traditional open wedge high tibial osteotomy (TOWHTO) for varus knee osteoarthritis (KOA).Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the 50 patients (60 knees) with varus KOA who had received high tibial osteotomy at Department of Sports Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University between September 2019 and December 2020. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to different ways of osteotomy: a traditional group and a modified group. In the traditional group subjected to TOWHTO, there were 25 cases (30 knees); in the modified group subjected to MOWHTO, there were 25 cases (30 knees). In MOWHTO, the bone block attached to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of the knee was first chiseled at the MCL insertion before osteotomy to reduce excessive stripping of the MCL in the osteotomy area, and then the bone fragment attached to the MCL was filled into the osteotomy area to increase bone filling and bone coverage after the alignment of the lower limb was corrected. The hip-knee-ankle angle (HKAA), medioproximal tibial angle (MPTA), and joint line convergence angle (JLCA) were measured preoperatively and at 18 months postoperatively in both groups to evaluate correction of the alignment of the lower limb. Fracture healing time, bone loss in the osteotomy area, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee score and visual analogue scale (VAS) were recorded to evaluate the postoperative efficacy.Results:There was no statistically significant difference between the TOWHTO and MOWHTO groups in the general clinical data before operation, showing comparability ( P>0.05). At 18 months after operation, HKAA was (179.1° ± 1.1°) in the TOWHTO group and (179.3° ± 0.7°) in the MOWHTO group while MPTA was (91.9° ± 0.4°) in the TOWHTO group and (91.9° ± 0.4°) in the MOWHTO group, showing no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups ( P>0.05) but a significant difference between preoperation and postoperation in each group ( P<0.05). At 18 months after operation, JLCA was (1.8° ± 0.4°) in the TOWHTO group, significantly larger than that in the MOWHTO group (1.5° ± 0.4°), HSS score was 81.5 (79.5, 83.0) points in the TOWHTO group, significantly lower than that in the MOWHTO group [85.0 (82.5, 87.5) points], and VAS was 1.8 (1.6, 2.0) points in the TOWHTO group, significantly higher than that in the MOWHTO group [1.5 (1.5, 2.0) points] (all P<0.05). At 18 months after operation, the preoperative JLCA was significantly improved in both groups ( P<0.05). The time required for a fracture healing score higher than 4 points was (3.3 ± 0.6) months in the TOWHTO group and (4.5 ± 0.9) months in the MOWHTO group, and the rate of bone loss in the osteotomy area was 20% in the TOWHTO group (6/30) and 0 (0/30) in the MOWHTO group, both showing a significant difference between the 2 groups ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Both TOWHTO and MOWHTO can effectively treat varus KOA. MOWHTO is more effective in promoting bone healing in the osteotomy area, reducing bone defects in the osteotomy area and improving knee function.