The tissue surrounding carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin plates applied to forearm and tibial fractures was biopsied in 32 patients at the time the plates were removed. The reaction was minimal and was compared with that in a control group of 16 similar patients in whom stainless steel plates were used. No significant histological differences were found. A series of experiments on rats, in which the histology was studied from 2 to 78 weeks, also showed that there was very little reaction to carbon fibre reinforced plastic.
Seventy-five Freeman-Swanson (ICLH) Mark I total knee replacements, all performed in one orthopaedic unit between 1972 and 1975, were independently reviewed. The fifty-eight surviving patients, with sixty-eight arthroplasties, have been interviewed and examined and the clinical records of the deceased patients inspected. Sixty arthroplasties (80 per cent) were successful and fifteen failed (20 per cent). There were no disasters. Twenty (33.8 per cent) of the successful arthroplasties were excellent. It is expected that modification of the prosthesis and improved instrumentation will increase this percentage of excellent results and reduce the failure rate.
A prospective trial has been carried out to determine the value of suction drainage in the operation of meniscectomy. One hundred operations were analysed, in half of which drains had been used. The use of the drain could not be shown to result in any sustained advantages. The demand for analgesics after the operation was reduced but not to a statistically significant level. The size of the early effusion was significantly reduced, but this benefit was lost when the knee was mobilised. The return of power to the quadriceps and of movement to the knee were not hastened. The average volume of fluid drained was 134 millilitres and it has been shown that forty-eight hours is a suitable time for removal of the drain. The use of suction drainage is not advocated for the uncomplicated operation of meniscectomy.
