Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to the ongoing participation in activities that keep a doctor up to date and fit to practise once they have completed formal training. It is something that most will do naturally to serve their patients and to enable them to run a safe and profitable practice. Increasingly, regulators are formalising the requirements for evidence of CPD, often as part of a process of revalidation or relicensing.

This paper reviews how orthopaedic journals can be used as part of the process of continuing professional development.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014;96-B:565–6.

Introduction Successful glenoid component fixation in shoulder arthroplasty is dependent on the quality of the underlying bone. The quantity of trabecular bone available for fixation is small and its properties are critical for both fixation and load bearing. Indentation testing has been used previously to determine regional changes in the mechanical properties of the glenoid surface [1]. However, there has been no attempt to relate these properties to the quality of the surrounding bone. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the mechanical properties of the surface with both the trabecular bone volume fraction and the cortical thickness of the underlying bone. Materials and

Methods Nineteen embalmed glenoids were obtained from human cadavers (mean age 82 years). Previous work had shown that embalming had minimal impact on the mechanical properties of bone derived using indentation testing [2]. Indentation tests were performed using a 2.95 mm flat cylindrical indenter, with a speed of 2 mm/min, at 11 pre-selected grid points, up to a depth of 3 mm. Care was taken to ensure that the indenter surface was perpendicular to the local surface of the glenoid. The stiffness and maximum load following mechanical properties were measured from the resulting load-displacement curve. The Young’s modulus and strength were derived using the formula given in [3] and normalising with respect to the indenter cross section, respectively. Each of the glenoids was scanned using a large sample microCT (Scanco uCT 80) at a resolution of 78 microns. The cortical thickness and bone volume fraction (BV/TV) local to each of the grid points was determined from the 3-D reconstructions of these scans.

Results The mean strength and elastic modulus of each of the 11 indentation sites ranged from 26 to 67 MPa and 83 to 184 MPa, respectively. The largest value of BV/TV was found at the posterior edge (0.41%) and the lowest at the inferior edge (0.14%). The measured cortical thickness ranged from 0.68mm to 0.88mm with the thickest at the superior edge. Multiple regression analysis found, in the main, a significant correlation between strength and BV/TV for data derived from each of the indentation sites. The elastic modulus had only a weak correlation with BV/TV. Cortical thickness was found to have only a very marginal influence on both the elastic modulus and strength.

Discussion The indentation and uCT analysis have been used for the first time to relate the glenoid’s mechanical properties to bone morphology. The distribution of the BV/TV data is similar to that found by Frich et al [4] and for BMD measurements for BMD [5]. However, the cortical thickness measurements differ from those of Frich [4]. The local bone volume fraction strongly influenced the strength at the glenoid surface. Further investigations are ongoing to determine more fully the morphological factors important in the properties of the glenoid surface and whether such factors can be a predictor of clinical success.

The management of radial nerve palsy associated with fractures of the shaft of the humerus has been disputed for several decades. This study has systematically reviewed the published evidence and developed an algorithm to guide management. We searched web-based databases for studies published in the past 40 years and identified further pages through manual searches of the bibliography in papers identified electronically. Of 391 papers identified initially, encompassing a total of 1045 patients with radial nerve palsy, 35 papers met all our criteria for eligibility. Meticulous extraction of the data was carried out according to a preset protocol.

The overall prevalence of radial nerve palsy after fracture of the shaft of the humerus in 21 papers was 11.8% (532 palsies in 4517 fractures). Fractures of the middle and middle-distal parts of the shaft had a significantly higher association with radial nerve palsy than those in other parts. Transverse and spiral fractures were more likely to be associated with radial nerve palsy than oblique and comminuted patterns of fracture (p < 0.001). The overall rate of recovery was 88.1% (921 of 1045), with spontaneous recovery reaching 70.7% (411 of 581) in patients treated conservatively. There was no significant difference in the final results when comparing groups which were initially managed expectantly with those explored early, suggesting that the initial expectant treatment did not affect the extent of nerve recovery adversely and would avoid many unnecessary operations. A treatment algorithm for the management of radial nerve palsy associated with fracture of the shaft of the humerus is recommended by the authors.

Loosening of the glenoid component after Total Shoulder Arthroplasty is an established phenomenon with long-term follow-up studies showing radiolucency in 65% of glenoid components at 10 years (Stewart and Gray, 1997). Glenoid component designs are based on anthropometric measurements of normal shoulder joints. The purpose of this study was to study the surface anatomy of both bony and cartilaginous layers of the normal glenoid fossa in more detail.

We have developed a reproducible and inexpensive technique of surface shape assessment using laser morphometric analysis and applied this to thirty normal glenoid fossae mounted in the scapular plane. Surface analysis was carried out before and after removal of the glenoid labrum and after papain digestion of the articular cartilage allowing assessment of the skeleton alone allowing comparison with other studies using bony or cartilaginous landmarks in assessment of glenoid version. Using a specially designed program, five equi-distant lines were placed across the glenoid from which analysis of the orientation of the fossa was determined.

None of the scapulae presented a single surface that could be judged anteverted or retroverted by an amount representable by a single figure. All scapulae demonstrated a twist about the vertical axis. Two main types were identified.

Type 1 – Superior retroversion (mean 16.0 degrees) becoming progressively less to the lower pole (mean 3.0 degrees)

Type 2 – Retroverted superiorly, twisting to reach the position of maximal anteversion in the lower half of the glenoid, twisting back into more retroversion towards the lower pole. None of the specimens were morphologically equivalent to currently available glenoid prostheses. The surface shape of the glenoid is so variable that we should explore the relationship between this and the kinematics of the shoulder joint. There may be implications for the design of shoulder replacements and possibly custom prostheses.

Surgical decompression of the spinal canal is presently accepted worldwide as the method of treatment for thoracolumbar burst fractures with neurological deficit in the belief that neurological recovery may be produced or enhanced. Our clinical and laboratory experience, however, indicates that the paralysis occurs at the moment of injury and is not related to the position of the fragments of the fracture on subsequent imaging. Since the preoperative geometry of the fracture may be of no relevance, our hypothesis, backed by more than two decades of operative experience, is that alteration of the canal by ‘surgical clearance’ does not affect the neurological outcome.

We have reviewed the existing world literature in an attempt to find evidence-based justification for the variety of surgical procedures used in the management of these fractures. We retrieved 275 publications on the management of burst fractures of which 60 met minimal inclusion criteria and were analysed more closely. Only three papers were prospective studies; the remainder were retrospective descriptive analyses. None of the 60 articles included control groups. The design of nine studies was sufficiently similar to allow pooling of their results, which failed to establish a significant advantage of surgical over non-surgical treatment as regards neurological improvement. Significant complications were reported in 75% of papers, including neurological deterioration. Surgical treatment for burst fracture in the belief that neurological improvement can be achieved is not justified, although surgery may still occasionally be indicated for structural reasons. This information should not be withheld from the patients.

Many authors recommend surgery to remove retropulsed bone fragments from the canal in burst fractures to 'decompress' the spinal canal. We believe, however, that neurological damage occurs at the moment of injury when the anatomy is most distorted, and is not due to impingement in the resting positions observed afterwards. We studied 20 consecutive patients admitted to our spinal injuries unit over a two-year period with a T12 or L1 burst fracture. There was no correlation between bony or canal disruption and the degree of neurological compromise sustained but there was a significant correlation between the energy of the injury (as gauged by the Injury Severity Score) and the neurological status (p < 0.001). This suggests that neurological injury occurs at the time of trauma rather than being a result of pressure from fragments in the canal afterwards and questions the need to operate simply to remove these fragments.