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Introduction: Primary arthroplasty of the hip joint is currently one of the most commonly performed procedures in orthopedics. In Poland we are observing significant changes in the age structure. With the prolonged life more and more elderly patients require musculoskeletal surgery to maintain comfortable and painless mobility. Reducing the duration of the procedure reduces the costs of anesthesiology, surgical and instrument teams, as well as the operating room technical team. The aim of the study was to compare the time required to perform hip joint arthroplasty by the direct anterior approach (DAA) with the postero-lateral approach (PLA) in our hospital.Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 559 total and bipolar cemented and cementless hip replacement procedures based on two operative approaches - the minimally invasive DAA over the course of 2 years, and the standard PLA over the course of 3 years - was performed.Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between the approaches used for cementless total arthroplasty with regard to the mean treatment times: 51.9 min for the 272 DAA cases, and 78.3 min for the 190 PLA cases (p < 0.0001). For the cementless hemi-arthroplasty procedure, the mean treatment times were 46.9 min in 36 patients for DAA, and 48.2 min for 61 patients for PLA (p = 0.57).Conclusions: Minimally invasive DAA significantly shortens the time of the procedure in elderly patients compared to PLA. Further study is needed to analyze other aspects of those two approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of the anatomical anomalies of the V3 segment of the vertebral artery in the Polish population. There is conflicting evidence on the incidence of these anomalies: Asian-based studies show high incidence of 10 %, whereas the North American study identifies these anomalies in less than 1 % of patients.Methods: 1800 computed tomography angiographies (CTA) obtained at the Barlicki University Hospital in Lodz, Poland, were reviewed retrospectively.Results: All the patients were Caucasians. There were 968 males and 832 females. The mean age of the patients was 58. CTAs were obtained for the following reasons: stroke 1312, trauma 25, vascular/aneurysm 216, and intracranial haemorrhage 247. Vertebral artery hypoplasia was present in 360 cases (20 %). Persistent intersegmental artery (type I anomaly) was not found in any study. Fenestration of the V3 vertebral artery (type II) was recognized in three angiograms (0.16 %). Vertebral artery ending up as posterior inferior cerebellar artery (type III anomaly) was seen in 11 patients (0.61 %).Conclusions: Very low incidence of V3 segment anomalies does not justify in our opinion routine vascular imaging in patients undergoing posterior cervical instrumented procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accessory mental foramen (AMF) is a rare anatomical variation. When accessory mental foramen is present, the nerves and vessels that go through the mental foramen (MF) must follow alternative courses and special care must be taken during dental treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and the location of AMF in a selected Polish population using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Two hundred CBCT (105 males and 95 females) examinations were evaluated for the presence of AMFs. The location and side of AMFs were reported. The mean distance between MF and AMF was also calculated. The vertical size of MF on the side with and without AMF was measured. The obtained variables were statistically analyzed. Results: AMFs were observed in 7% of the patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the appearance of AMF and sex (p > 0.05). We found no significant difference in the vertical size of MF between individuals with and without AMFs (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Twenty-eight AMFs (7%) were observed from 400 sides of 200 patients. AMFs occurred more often in males (18 AMFs) than in females (10 AMFs). Twenty AMFs (71.4%) were located anteriorly, and eight (28.6%) - posteriorly. Fifteen AMFs (53.6%) were on the right side and thirteen (46.4%) - on the left. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Ultrasound examinations are recognised as being safe. The greatest epidemiological threat during the performance of examination is the transfer of pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms between patients and from personnel to patients. Colonization of the skin with opportunistic bacteria of immunocompromised and high risk patients may lead to infection following an ultrasound scan.Aim: To identify and evaluate the strains of bacteria occurring on ultrasound equipment subjected to unexpected control performed by a local infectious diseases control team. We assumed that transducers, gel holders and gel bottles can be contaminated with normal human skin microflora. The remaining tested parts of the ultrasound equipment could possibly be contaminated with normal human skin microflora and other pathogens.Material and Methods: The swabs were taken from ultrasound scanners located in various hospital settings, from out-patient based radiology scanning rooms to operating theatre, and cultured.Results: Among all isolated 23% strains were classified as environmental microflora; 8% as strains related to patient's skin contamination; and 13 % strains constituted pathogenic Gram-negative rods.. The remaining strains were classified as opportunistic flora 38%. High prevalence of opportunistic bacteria cultured in our study lead to the modification of the ultrasound cleaning procedures in both institutions and recommendation of the use of antibacterial wipes to clean all parts of ultrasound equipment in contact with patients' skin and examiners.Conclusions: Contamination not only affects parts of diagnostic equipment placed in direct contact with the patient, but also, those surfaces that only medical personnel have had contact with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familiarity with the different anatomical variations of the arterial supply of the gallbladder and liver is of great importance in all hepatobiliary surgical procedures. A complex anomaly of the hepatobiliary arterial system, which has never been reported before, was found during anatomical dissection of a 73-year-old male Caucasian cadaver. The accessory right hepatic artery (aRHA) took its origin from the gastroduodenal artery. Two cystic arteries were present, the first arising from the gastroduodenal artery (more distal than the aRHA) and the second directly from the aRHA. Potential clinical implications of this anomaly and embryology are discussed. Knowledge of the different anatomical variations of the arterial supply of the gallbladder and liver is of great importance in hepatobiliary surgical procedures.