Materials and Methods: Three months old Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (I) control group; (II) alcohol (3g/kg) + normal saline; (III) alcohol (3g/kg) + olive oil; (IV) alcohol (3g/kg) + alpha-tocopherol (60mg/kg) and (V) alcohol (3g/kg) + palm vitamin E (60mg/kg). The treatment lasted for three months. Following sacrifice, the right tibia was subjected to bone biomechanical test while the lumbar (fourth and fifth lumbar) and left tibia bones were harvested for bone mineral measurement.
Results: Alcohol caused reduction in bone biomechanical parameters (maximum force, ultimate stress, yield stress and Young's modulus) and bone minerals (bone calcium and magnesium) compared to control group (P<0.05). Palm vitamin E was able to improve bone biomechanical parameters by increasing the maximum force, ultimate stress and Young's modulus (P<0.05) while alpha-tocopherol was not able to. Both alpha-tocopherol and palm vitamin E were able to significantly increase tibia calcium and magnesium content while only alpha-tocopherol caused significant increase in lumbar calcium content (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Both palm vitamin E and alpha-tocopherol improved bone mineral content which was reduced by alcohol. However, only palm vitamin E was able to improve bone strength in alcohol treated rats.
Material and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study of all distal tibia fractures treated surgically in Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang from 1st January 2016 till 30th June 2018. Patient records were reviewed to analyse the outcomes of surgical treatment and risk factors associated with it.
Results: Ninety-one patients were included with a mean age of 41.5 years (SD = 16.4). Thirty-nine cases (42.9%) were open fractures. Thirty-eight patients (41.8%) were treated with internal fixation, 27 patients (29.7%) were treated with IEF and 26 patients (28.6%) were treated with an external fixator. Among open fractures cases, no significant finding can be concluded when comparing each surgical option and its outcome, although one option was seen better than the other in a particular outcome. Initial skeletal traction or temporary spanning external fixator in close fractures reduced the risk of mal-alignment (p value=0.001). Internal fixation is seen superior to IEF and external fixator in close fractures in term of articular surface reduction (p value = 0.043) and risk of mal-alignment (p value = 0.007).
Conclusion: There is no single method of fixation that is ideal for all pilon fractures and suitable for all patients. This proposed algorithm can help surgeons in deciding treatment strategies in the challenging management of distal tibia fractures to reduce associated complications.
Aim: To evaluate parameters of the proximal tibia geometry amongst the Igbos of South Eastern Nigeria and discuss the clinical implications in total knee replacement.
Methods: The proximal tibia parameters of 558 adult tibiae bones, 300 right-sided and 258 left-sided, collected from the osteological unit of the department of anatomy University of Nigeria Enugu campus were measured using a Venier calipers.
Results: The values of the determined parameters are as follows: anterior posterior dimension (APD): 5.50 cm, medial lateral dimension (MLD):7.53 ± 5.56 cm, proximal length (PL): 7.32 ± 0.67 cm, proximal width (PW) CM: 4.10 ± 0.30 cm, medial tibia posterior slope (MTPS):11.36 ± 4.15° and lateral tibia posterior slope (LTPS):5.65 ± 2.72°. The correlation test between these parameters of the proximal tibia shows a strong significant correlation between LPTS and MPTS (r =0.814, P < .001). The comparison of the means of the MPTS of both sides using independent samples t test shows a mean difference that is not significant (p =0.628). A comparison of the values with other populations shows significant mean difference for MLD with that of Chinese and American populations (p < .05). The mean difference between the APD of this study and the Chinese is significant (p =0.007). A comparison of MPTS and LPTS for Malaysian, Chinese, and white Americans shows a significance difference for all the three populations (p tibia surface coverage in total knee replacement amongst the Igbo population.