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Background: Operative treatment of clavicle fractures by intramedullary nailing with titanium elastic nailing (TEN) has been established as an alternative to plate osteosynthesis for many years. The main complication after TEN osteosynthesis is nail migration. The goal of this study was evaluation of predictors for medial nail migration and comparison with plate osteosynthesis., Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis of electronic patient charts, surgical protocols and radiographs of all operatively treated clavicle shaft fractures between 2010-2014 (n = 141) was performed. When evaluating the patient charts and the surgical protocols special attention was paid to the fracture type, the duration of the operation, the need for an open reduction and the onset of complications as well as the duration until implant removal. Radiographs were analyzed concerning the implant location and an implant migration., Results: Surgery time (39 vs. 83 min) as well as the time to implant removal (226 vs. 495 days) were significantly reduced (p = 0.00), while complication (39% vs. 21.4%) as well as reoperation rates (15% vs. 7.1%; p = 0.033) were increased in TEN compared to plate osteosynthesis. The main complication was medial nail migration. The following predictors regarding medial migration could be identified: open or closed reduction (p = 0.021), multifragmentary fractures (p = 0.049), oblique fractures (p = 0.08) and TEN thickness (33% at 2 mm, 0% at 3 mm)., Discussion: Advantages of TEN are a shorter surgery time as well as a shorter duration until implant removal. The TEN osteosynthesis led to a significantly increased complication rate, with nail migration representing the major reason. When predictors for medial TEN migration are considered, type B and C fractures can also be sufficiently treated by a large diameter TEN.

Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Background: Although investigations of retrieved medical implants can provide valuable information about the cause of the revision, there is a lack of information, which could be avoided by consequent failure analyses. In the framework of the EndoCert certification system it is obligatory to record and report incidents., Objectives: The present work examines how the willingness to report has developed in certified arthroplasty centers and which method of handling retrievals is preferred and actually used., Materials and Methods: On the basis of a questionnaire for handling retrievals, all 508 arthroplasty centers that were certified till June 1, 2016, were included (return rate = 97.2%)., Results: A total of 93.3% of the centers have established an algorithm for handling of retrievals and 83.0% of the centers prefer to hand out the retrieval to the patient, while only 25.7% wish to store it in the center for research purposes. In the case of a potential incident as the cause of revision, centers prefer to forward the retrieval to damage analysis, whereby the centers act in different ways, depending on the case. An implant fracture is, e.g., considered a reportable event in most cases without temporal limitation. On the other hand, breakage or failure of surgical instruments is considered not to be reported in the case of more than half of the centers. In 2014 and 2015, approximately 71% of EPZs reported no incidents., Conclusions: According to our survey, many certified arthroplasty centers are sensitized to careful handling of retrievals. The treatment of the explanted components is conducted in different ways. The assessment of whether an incident is to be reported shows large differences. In view of the relatively high number of revision surgeries, the number of reports to the authorities appears to be low.

Background In end-stage medial osteoarthritis, the surgeon can decide whether to use unicompartmental or total knee arthroplasty for operative treatment of the patient. Despite the available literature there is a lack of evidence to suggest if one procedure can be rated as being superior to the other. With increasing demand for knee arthroplasty, treatment with the highest expectation of success will be of particular interest. The purpose of this manuscript was to analyse and compare the available literature on unicompartmental vs. total knee arthroplasty for the treatment of medial osteoarthritis. Material and Methods In this review of literature, the two procedures were compared regarding their clinical outcome, implant survival, and complication rates. Results Regarding the clinical outcome the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty was shown to be superior over total knee arthroplasty. However, studies were mostly retrospective and groups were also different preoperatively. Patients treated with unicompartmental knee arthroplasty had better preoperative range of motion and function scores. Unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty showed comparably increased functional scores. Taking the implant survival as parameter, institutional registries, multicenter studies and arthroplasty registries found total knee arthroplasties to have a significantly better long-term survival in comparison to unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. However, data might be biased by the lower threshold to revise unicompartmental knee arthroplasty due to expected simple revision and more subjective indications for revision. Looking at the complication rate, one has to differentiate between general and implant-specific complications. While the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty was shown to be advantageous in terms of general complications and mortality, it was also shown to be inferior in terms of implant-specific complications. Conclusion The available literature does not show one procedure to be superior to the other. The trend to a better clinical outcome and a lower mortality rate is advantageous for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, while the better long-term survival and a lower risk of implant-specific complications may make total knee arthroplasty preferable., Competing Interests: Interessenkonflikt: Tilman Pfitzner und Philipp von Roth haben keine Interessenkonflikte. Carsten Perka erhält Honorare von Aesculap / B. Braun, Ceramtec, DepuySynthes, Smith & Nephew und Zimmer. Diese stehen in keiner Verbindung zu dieser Publikation. Darüber hinaus besteht Forschungsunterstützung von Aesculap / B. Braun., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background  Total knee replacement is the only surgical option to treat painful degenerative osteoarthritis, restore knee function, improve quality of life, and enable patients to return to sports activity. With an aging population expecting an active life after retirement, patients' expectations of improvement after surgery are increasing as well. In view of the growing demand for higher performance, exercise and athletic activity, clinicians have been increasingly forced to question how much athletic activity a patient may resume after total knee replacement, and what types of athletic activity seem to be acceptable. However, there is currently no consensus on the appropriate intensity of physical activity after total knee arthroplasty or how activity levels affect the rate of revision surgery. Patients, material and methods  In a retrospective study with a follow-up period of 12 years, 130 patients were asked about their sport activities 22 months before and after total knee replacement. Based on their answers, the patients were divided into one sports group (group A) and one group without any sports activity (group B). Seven years after surgery the same patients were asked about their sports activity again, and 12 years postoperatively they were additionally asked about whether or not they underwent revision surgery. Results  Twenty-two months after total knee replacement 88 (67.7 %) of the 130 patients practiced sports for a minimum of 3 times a week (group A), whereas 42 (32.3 %) patients reported that they practiced no sports (group B). In 2010 - 7 years postoperatively - 60 patients of group A and 27 patients of group B took part in the survey; their levels of sports activity had not changed over the previous 7 years. In 2015, 46 patients out of group A and 21 patients out of group B were questioned. We saw a revision rate of 15.2 % (7 out of 46 patients) in the group with continuous sports activity, whereas we found an increased revision rate of 23.8 % (5 out of 21 patients) in the group without any sports activity 12 years after total knee arthroplasty. Conclusion  Our study showed that sports activity after total knee replacement led to a reduced revision rate in the sports group compared with the non-sports group. Therefore, more liberal recommendations should be given to patients regarding athletic activity after total knee arthroplasty. We conclude that moderate sports activities have no negative influence on total knee arthroplasty and may even lead to improved osteointegration with a decrease in osteolytic changes and less prosthesis loosening., Competing Interests: Interessenkonflikt: Es besteht seitens der Autoren kein Interessenkonflikt., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

The main reason for total hip arthroplasty (THA) revision is the wear-related aseptic loosening. Younger and active patients after total joint replacement create high demands, in particular, on the bearings. The progress, especially for alumina ceramic-on-ceramic bearings and mixed ceramics have solved many problems of the past and lead to good in vitro results. Modern ceramics (alumina or mixed ceramics containing alumina) are extremely hard, scratch-resistant, biocompatible, offer a low coefficient of friction, superior lubrication and have the lowest wear rates in comparison to all other bearings in THA. The disadvantage of ceramic is the risk of material failure, i.e., of ceramic fracture. The new generation of mixed ceramics (delta ceramic), has reduced the risk of head fractures to 0.03-0.05 %, but the risk for liner fractures remains unchanged at about 0.02 %. Assuming a non-impinging component implantation, ceramic-on-ceramic bearings have substantial advantages over all other bearings in THA. Due to the superior hardness, ceramic bearings produce less third body wear and are virtually impervious to damage from instruments during the implantation process. A specific complication for ceramic-on-ceramic bearings is "squeaking". The high rate of reported squeaking (0.45 to 10.7 %) highlights the importance of precise implant positioning and the stem and patient selection. With precise implant positioning this problem is rare with many implant designs and without clinical relevance. The improved tribology and the presumable resulting implant longevity make ceramic-on-ceramic the bearing of choice for young and active patients., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

A New Implant System for Orbital Prosthetic Rehabilitation: "Epiplating Mono" Prosthetic or episthetic rehabilitation of ear, eye and nose are currently most common performed using magnetic fixation. While at the beginning single implants have been used, now-a-days a more extended approach with plate fixation are recommended to enhance the stability of the anchored magnets. A newly designed implant system epiplating mono is presented that combines the structure of a single implant with additional fixation elements. In a pilot study this new implant system was used in 4 patients for prosthetic orbital rehabilitation. Further experiences with this new implant system are required necessitating long-term experiences of implant stability to define the value of the presented epiplating mono system for prosthetic rehabilitation., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

The present article discusses for which arthroplastic operations a histology investigation should be performed and in which cases histological analyses can be omitted.

Prosthesis durability has steadily increased with high 10-year rates of 88-95%. However, four pathogenetic groups of diseases can decrease prosthesis durability: (1) periprosthetic wear particle disease (aseptic loosening) (2) bacterial infection (septic loosening) (3) periprosthetic ossification, and (4) arthrofibrosis. The histopathological "extended consensus classification of periprosthetic membranes" includes four types of membranes, arthrofibrosis, and osseous diseases of endoprosthetics: The four types of neosynovia are: wear particle-induced type (type I), mean prosthesis durability (MPD) in years 12.0; infectious type (type II), MPD 2.5; combined type (type III) MPD 4.2; and indeterminate type (type IV), MPD 5.5. Arthrofibrosis can be determined in three grades: grade 1 needs clinical information to be differentiated from a type IV membrane, and grades 2 & 3 can be diagnosed histopathologically. Periprosthetic ossification, osteopenia-induced fractures, and aseptic osteonecrosis can be histopathologically diagnosed safely with clinical information. The extended consensus classification of periprosthetic membranes may be a diagnostic groundwork for a future national endoprosthesis register.