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Biomedical subjects

J M Prewitt

Publications and source records attributed to J M Prewitt.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Cruciate ligament stents in reconstruction of the unstable knee. A preliminary report.

Cruciate ligament stents have been developed to severe as internal splints which provide excellent temporary stability while allowing full range of motion of the knee during postreconstruction rehabilitation. Forty-three patients with disabling chronic knee instability were treated at one center using similar reconstruction techniques with either the anterior or posterior cruciate stent. When both cruciate ligaments were absent, only the posterior was used. All stents are intended only as temporary internal splints and all patients were advised that the structures were expected to break eventually. Followup of 15 patients with anterior cruciate stents revealed only 50% satisfactory overall results. Overall results were satisfactory in 80% of 20 patients with posterior cruciate stents. Longer implant survival is needed, and this must be accomplished by building more flexibility into the stent core and by improving surgical technique with more precise instrumentation.

Adolescent

Proplast tracheal prosthesis: a preliminary report.

Proplast, a recently developed biologically acceptable synthetic polymer has been utilized in replacement of the cervical tracheas of five dogs. The results of this initial study are encouraging and, in the opinion of the authors, justify further experimentation with this refined prosthetic model.

Animals

Proplast leader for use in cruciate ligament reconstruction.

A synthetic leader has been used in 18 cases of medial one-third patellar tendon substitution for the anterior cruciate ligament and in 10 cases of posterior cruciate substitution using the medial head of the gastrocnemius tendon. The device adds length and facilitates manipulation of the transplanted tissues. There have been no problems with biocompatibility and there have been no instances of staple loosening or disruption of the junction between the stabilizer and transplanted tissues. Early results with the anterior cruciate substitutions suggest thet anchoring the transfer in bony tunnels in both the tibia and femur does not allow sufficient flexibility to prevent stretching or disruption of the tendon transfer.

Humans