Biomedical subjects

A F Dinah

Publications and source records attributed to A F Dinah.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Smoking increases failure rate of operation for established non-union of the scaphoid bone.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of smoking on the operative treatment of established non-union of the carpal scaphoid. Case notes and radiographs of patients undergoing bone grafting and screw fixation of scaphoid non-unions were reviewed. There were 34 patients that had undergone 37 operations for established non-union of the carpal scaphoid bone. There were two female patients, and the average age was 26.8 years (range 13.4 years to 52.9 years). The median delay to operation was 11.9 months. The overall success rate of the operation (internal fixation and autologous bone grafting) was 59.5% (22/37), but there was a significant association between non-union and smoking (P=0.02 for Fisher's exact test). In non-smokers (n=17) the success rate was 82.4%, but this dropped to 40.0% among smokers (P<0.01). We concluded that smoking was significantly associated with failure of operative treatment of established non-union of the scaphoid bone.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Predicting duration of Ilizarov frame treatment for tibial lengthening.

AIM: To predict duration of treatment for tibial lengthening, as a function of target length increase. METHOD: Review of case notes and radiographs of patients undergoing Ilizarov method of tibial distraction osteogenesis. RESULTS: In the 27 cases suitable for analysis, the median age was 29.9 years (13.3 to 72.6 years), and the median distraction was 3.5 cm (1.0 to 7.2 cm). A positive linear relationship (r = 0.7) was demonstrated between the distraction length (x, in cm) and the frame duration (y, in days), according to the equation y = 54x + 94. A negative hyperbolic relationship was also demonstrated between rate of bone healing and distraction length (r = 0.6), with distractions over 3.0 cm healing significantly faster than shorter ones (P < 0.03).

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Reduction of waiting times in A&E following introduction of 'fast-track' scheme for elderly patients with hip fractures.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of a 'fast-track' scheme (FTS) on waiting times in A&E of elderly patients with hip fractures. DESIGN: Retrospective study of elderly patients admitted via A&E with a diagnosis of 'hip fracture' between May and July 2001. The control group was from the same 3-month period in the year before the introduction of the FTS. RESULTS: The reduction in mean waiting times between control group (n=61) and study group (n=54) was 3.7h (95% CI: 2.3-5.0 h, P<0.001). The two groups also had significantly different variances. However, no patient in the 'fast-track' group was transferred to the ward within the 'one-hour' target set by the UK Audit Commission. CONCLUSIONS: The FTS produced a significant reduction in mean waiting times as well as in the variability in waiting times for elderly patients with hip fractures.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Sequential hip fractures in elderly patients.

Osteoporotic hip fractures are an increasing cause of disability to elderly patients and expenditure to the NHS. The aim of this work was to determine whether the rate of sequential hip fractures in elderly patients has changed over the past 20 years. The design was to do a retrospective study of 186 patients admitted with a diagnosis of femoral neck fracture in order to determine how many had suffered a previous contralateral hip fracture. The results indicated that the number of patients who had had previous surgery for a contralateral hip fracture was 11.8%. In conclusion, the rate of sequential hip fractures in elderly patients has not changed significantly over the past two decades.

Aged↗