Simon Graham

University of Oxford | OX · Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS)

Background Despite evidence that formalized trauma systems enhance patient functional outcomes and decrease mortality rates, there remains a lack of such systems globally. Critical to trauma systems are the equipment, materials, and supplies needed to support care, which vary in availability regionally. The purpose of the present study was to ident...

Background: The population of older adults is growing in sub-Saharan Africa. Ageing exponentially increases fragility fracture risk. Of all global regions, Africa is projected to observe the greatest increase in fragility fractures. Fractures cause pain, disability and sometimes death, and management is expensive, often requiring complex healthcare...

Introduction External fixation (EF) devices are commonly used in the management of complex skeletal trauma, as well as in elective limb reconstruction surgery for the management of congenital and acquired pathology. The subsequent removal of an EF is commonly performed under a general anaesthetic in an operating theatre. This practice is resource i...

Objective: Open tibial shaft fractures are a leading cause of disability worldwide, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Guidelines for these injuries have been developed in many high-income countries, but treatment patterns across Africa are less well-documented. Methods: A survey was distributed to orthopaedic service provider...

Objective: Open tibial shaft fractures are a leading cause of disability worldwide, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Guidelines for these injuries have been developed in many high-income countries, but treatment patterns across Africa are less well-documented. Methods: A survey was distributed to orthopaedic service provider...

Objective:. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been suggested to be associated with an increased risk of the development of nonunion after a fracture. This prospective matched case–control study in South Africa investigated common risk factors, including HIV status, that influence the development of a nonunion after a femur or tibia f...

Background: Injuries are one of the leading causes of global death and disability and commonly have substantial economic implications. The economic impact of injuries is particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of injuries occur. In this study, we aimed to assess return-to-work rates of individuals who sustained a low...

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Despite improvements in trauma-related morbidity and mortality in high-income countries over recent years, outcomes following MSK injuries in low- and middle-income countries, such as South Africa (SA), have not. Despite governmental recognition that...

Purpose Ankle fractures may cause disability and socioeconomic challenges, even when managed in a high-resource setting. The outcomes of ankle fractures in sub-Saharan Africa are not widely reported. We present a systematic review of the patient-reported outcomes and complications of patients treated for ankle fractures in sub-Saharan Africa. Meth...

Introduction: This review article discusses the published methods of identification of fine wire and half-pin loosening. The evidence is reviewed and presented for the clinical, radiological and histological analysis of the half-pin and fine wire to bone interface. Materials and Methods: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-A...

Aims A number of anti-retroviral therapies (ART) have been implicated in potentially contributing to HIV-associated bone disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combination ART on the fracture healing process. Methods A total of 16 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups (n = eight each): Group 1 was given...

Purpose The successful treatment of high energy pilon fractures (AO-OTA 43C) can be achieved with a fine wire circular external fixator (CEF) or locking plate construct (ORIF). There is no consensus on whether ORIF or CEF achieves superior outcomes, and both have unique complications. We report early to mid-term outcomes comparing type C pilon frac...

In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), individuals suffer from a disproportionately higher number of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries compared with those living in a high-income setting. However, despite the higher burden of death and disability from MSK injuries in LMICs, there has been little policy, research, and funding invested in addressin...

Purpose Cost-saving strategies are important, especially in a resource-constrained environment. One such strategy well supported in the literature is the reuse of temporary monolateral external fxator components, a strategy we utilize at our institution. The aim of the study was to determine the safety and cost saving associated with the reuse of d...

In this observational study, we describe the medium-term outcomes of total joint arthroplasty (TJA) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients in Malawi, a low-income country. With a high prevalence of HIV and increasing arthroplasty rates in low and middle-income countries, understanding the outcomes of TJA in this unique cohort of pa...

Objectives The Radiographic Union Score for Tibia (RUST) scoring system has been validated in multiple studies assessing the healing of tibial fractures. Our objective was to assess the interobserver and intraobserver reliability for the RUST in diaphyseal femoral fractures treated with intramedullary (IM) nailing.Patients and methodsA total of 60...

Importance Injuries cause 30% more deaths than HIV, TB and malaria combined, and a prospective fracture care registry was established to investigate the fracture burden and treatment in Malawi to inform evidence-based improvements. Objective To use the analysis of prospectively-collected fracture data to develop evidence-based strategies to improv...

Background The use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for knee pathology may be affected by socioeconomic factors, language barriers and time constraints in busy outpatient clinics. The squat-and-smile test (SST) is an example of such a test that has previously been validated for femur fractures. The aim of this study was to validate the...

The incidence of civilian gunshot injuries is on the rise worldwide.Unfortunately, there is a lack of high-level evidence guiding management. The treatment of orthopaedic injuries from gunshots is complex and requires consideration of multiple aspects, including energy transfer to the tissue, severity of the wound, possible contamination, presence...

Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest gun-related mortality rates in the world - 20 people per day. The available data, however, do not reflect the substantial number of patients suffering non-lethal firearm injuries. Gunshot-related injury has been recognised as a highly costly healthcare problem by individual treating centres in S...

An “epidemic” is an event in which a disease, infectious or non-infectious, is actively spreading within a population and designated area. The term “pandemic” is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”. The global response to the COVID-1...

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reduces bone mineral density, mineralisation and turnover, and may impair fracture healing. Setting: This prospective cohort study in South Africa investigated whether HIV infection was associated with impaired fracture healing following trauma. Methods: All adults with acute tibia and femur fract...

BACKGROUND There is little research investigating how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affects outcomes in orthopaedic surgery. With advances in treatment, HIV has become a chronic health problem and the chance of orthopaedic surgeons encountering it in clinical practice is increasing. AIM To ascertain the quantity and quality of peer-reviewed pu...

Introduction COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on the 11th of March 2020 with the NHS deferring all non-urgent activity from the 15th of April 2020. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on Trauma and Orthopaedic trainees nationally. Methods Trauma and Orthopaedic (T&O) specialty trainees nationa...

Introduction: Orthopaedic injuries constitute a major aspect of morbidity and mortality following train accidents. The pattern of orthopaedic/musculoskeletal injuries sustained following these accidents has not been fully characterised. The main aim of this study is to describe the range of orthopaedic injuries reported in a major trauma centre an...

Citation: Botma N, Graham S, Held M, Laubscher M. Intramedullary nailing of tibial non-unions using the suprapatellar approach: a case series. SA Orthop J 2020;19(1):40-45. http://dx. Abstract Background: A number of treatment options are available for diaphyseal non-unions of the tibia, including intramedullary (IM) nailing. An infrapatellar entry...

Background: Most patients with orthopaedic pathology in low to middle-income countries are treated by nonspecialists. A curriculum to prepare undergraduate medical students for this duty should reflect the local pathology and skills that are required to manage patients in a resource-restricted environment. The aim of this study was to establish an...

We describe our 10-year experience performing total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients enrolled in the National Joint Registry of the Malawi Orthopaedic Association. Methods: Eighty-three THAs were performed in 70 patients (40 male and 30 female) with a mean age of 52 years (range, 18 to 77 years). The cohort included 24 patients (14 male and 10...

Background : To perform a bibliometric analysis and quantify the amount of orthopaedic and trauma literature published from low-income countries (LICs). Methods and methods : The Web of Science database was utilised to identify all indexed orthopaedic journals. All articles published in the 76 orthopaedics journals over the last 10 years were revie...

Outcomes of arthroplasty in sub-Saharan Africa are not widely reported. To our knowledge, this systematic review is the first to explore this topic. Scopus, EMBASE, Medline and PubMed databases were searched, utilising MeSH headings and Boolean search strategies. All papers from South Africa were excluded. Twelve papers reporting 606 total hip repl...

Introduction: The management of long bone lower limb fractures secondary to gunshot wounds (GSWs) in the civilian setting are complex and there is currently no consensus regarding the optimal approach to managing such fractures. This study aims to address the relationship of implant related sepsis in fractures secondary to GSWs. Methods: A systemat...

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) have both been shown to reduce bone mineral density, mineralisation and bone turnover. Our study group and other researchers have suggested that HIV may impair fracture healing, based on extrapolation from basic science. These observations prompted this study as the tru...

In low-income countries, where surgical expertise and resources are limited, displaced supracondylar fractures of the distal humerus are routinely managed with traction or closed reduction and casting. This is in contrast to high-income nations, where percutaneous K-wire fixation forms the mainstay of treatment. The aim of our study is to present t...

Background We describe our 10-year experience with total knee arthroplasty in patients who are included in the Malawi National Joint Registry. Methods A total of 127 patients underwent 153 total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) between 2005 and 2015. The mean duration of follow-up was 4 years and 3 months (range, 6 months to 10 years and 6 months). The...

AIM To determine the existence of a common pathological link between dementia and osteoporosis through reviewing the current evidence base. METHODS This paper reviews the current literature on osteoporosis and dementia in order to ascertain evidence of a common predisposing aetiology. A literature search of Ovid MED-LINE (1950 to June 2016) was co...

PurposeHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection could potentially play an important role in the management of fractures as they have been shown to affect fracture healing and the post-operative risk of implant sepsis. MethodsA systematic review of the relevant literature was performed on PubMed and Scopus databases. Twenty-six studies were iden...

Road trauma is an emergent global issue. There is huge disparity between the population affected by road trauma and the resource allocation. If the current trend continues, a predicted extra 5 million lives will be lost in this decade. This article aims to create an awareness of the scale of the problem of road trauma and the inequality in the reso...

The incidence of periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFF) around a stable stem is increasing. The aim of this biomechanical study was to examine how three different methods of fixation, for Vancouver type B1 PFF, alter the stiffness and strain of a construct under various configurations, in order to gain a better insight into the optimal fixation met...

A prospective cohort study was undertaken to assess the incidence of late-implant sepsis after internal fixation in HIV-positive patients. A total of 91 HIV-positive patients (67 males and 24 females) who underwent 103 procedures (111 implants) were followed up for a mean period of 27 months (range 12 to 66 months). No occurrences of late implant s...

BEIT CURE International Hospital (BCIH) opened in 2002 providing orthopaedic surgical services to children in Malawi. This study reviews the hospital's progress 10 years after establishment of operational services. In addition we assess the impact of the hospital's Malawi national clubfoot programme (MNCP) and influence on orthopaedic training. All...

Lateral humeral condyle fractures account for 17 % of the distal humeral condyle fractures. Displaced and/or rotated fractures require appropriate reduction and stabilisation. There are, however, a number of controversies in the surgical management of these patients. The aim of the present study was to review the results of patients with a displace...

Background: Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is rarely encountered in the native sub-Saharan African population. We present a retrospective review of the incidence of symptomatic DDH in Malawi and a systematic review of the role of back-carrying as a potential influence of prevalence in this population group. Methods: We retrospectively...

To analyse the management of patients treated with linezolid for orthopaedic infections. Twenty-two patients with orthopaedic related infections receiving a course of linezolid were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were classified into either post trauma, post arthroplasty and non trauma related infections. A diagnosis of infection was based on c...

We report the short-term follow-up, functional outcome and incidence of early and late infection after total hip replacement (THR) in a group of HIV-positive patients who do not suffer from haemophilia or have a history of intravenous drug use. A total of 29 patients underwent 43 THRs, with a mean follow-up of three years and six months (five month...

Purpose The incidence of gram-negative bacterial haematogenous vertebral osteomyelitis (GNB HVO) is increasing. We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with this type of infection in an effort to gain an improved understanding of the current clinical presentation, management and outcome. Methods Between May 2007 and May 2010, all pati...

Introduction: Cigarette smoke has negative effects on bone metabolism and fracture repair. However, no study has reviewed effects of nicotine on bone and fracture repair independent of other constituents of cigarette smoke. The authors review the existing evidence of the effect of nicotine on 'bone' and 'bone cells' and fracture repair, drawing co...

Purpose: The overall incidence of periprosthetic femoral fractures (PPF) is between 0.1 and 6 % of all total hip arthroplasties. Locking compression plates (LCP) have been used for the treatment of Vancouver B1 PPFs with variable results. The aim of this study is to examine the literature on locking plate failure rates, mode and reasons for failur...

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a disabling affliction, and disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) would be highly desirable adjuncts to symptomatic relief as they may delay the disease process. Areas covered: This study is a comprehensive review of the recent literature on the efficacy of DMOADs in the treatment of OA. In vitro and in...

Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stromal cells characterized by their ability to differentiate into adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes and a number of other lineages. Investigation into their use has increased in recent years as characterization of their immunomodulatory properties has developed, and their role in the...

Eating disorders are associated with a multitude of metabolic abnormalities which are known to adversely affect bone metabolism and structure. We aimed to comprehensively review the literature on the effects of eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa (AN), on bone metabolism, bone mineral density (BMD), and fracture incidence. Furthermore,...

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that antibiotics exert direct effects on bone at a cellular level, disrupting mitochondrial function and cell activity. This comprehensive literature review aims to evaluate evidence for the effects of antibiotics and antimicrobials on bone and discuss the clinical implications. Areas covered: A literature...

Introduction: In patients suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, antipsychotics are the mainstay of treatment worldwide. By blocking D(2) brain mesolimbic receptors, antipsychotics are believed to reduce and control psychotic experiences, but recent evidence has suggested that they may also have adverse effects on bone mineral architec...

Bone is one of the most transplanted tissues worldwide. Autograft is the ideal bone graft but is not widely used because of donor site morbidity and restricted availability. Allograft is easily accessible but can transmit infections and elicit an immune response. This review identifies all in vitro and in vivo evidence of immune responses following...

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been shown in vivo to increase bone formation and supplement fracture healing, and may have a role as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of bone loss and fracture healing in humans. A comprehensive review of the recent literature on the effect of PDGF on bone mineral density and fracture healing. In vitro...

Periprosthetic femoral fractures around a total knee arthroplasty present a surgical challenge in octogenarians with advanced osteoporosis. We describe a salvage technique combining retrograde intramedullary nailing augmented with polymethylmethacrylate cement in 5 patients followed up for a median time of 12 months. The nail/cement construct bridg...

Gardnerella vaginalis is a facultative anaerobic Gram-variable pleomorphic rod that forms part of the normal vaginal flora. It is most commonly associated with infection of the genital tract in women, but recognition of extravaginal G. vaginalis infection is becoming more frequent. We describe an unusual case of G. vaginalis vertebral osteomyelitis...

Using agonists that selectively stimulate PGE2 receptors, the adverse effects that have limited the clinical utility of PGE2 can be avoided and there may be potential for their use as therapeutic agents in the treatment of bone loss in humans. A comprehensive review of the recent literature on the effect of prostaglandins and their agonists on bone...