METHOD FOR ASSESSING DECREASE IN ACTIVITY OF INFLAMMATORY PROCESS FOLLOWING KNEE JOINT SPACER INSTALLATION Russian patent published in 2019 - IPC A61B5/01 A61B6/03 A61F7/02 

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to medicine, namely to traumatology and orthopaedics, and can be used for assessment of inflammatory process activity reduction after knee joint spacer installation. That is ensured by postoperative patient examination. Local status is evaluated. On 7–8^th day after installation of the spacer, thermal imaging of the joint area is performed. First, the initial thermal picture is recorded on the front surface and on the side surfaces of the joint when the leg is turned through 30–35° degrees. Then said cold pressure test follows. For this purpose, on anteriolateral surfaces of the knee joint with a cooling exposure of 1 minute, uniformly spreading on the joint surfaces wet, but squeezed two-layer gauze napkins with size of 15 × 18 cm, soaked and cooled in water, and in the presence of a fistulous or unhealed wound - in sterile saline solution, temperature of which is 18 °C. After 10 minutes, dynamics of thermal image restoration is evaluated. Absolute temperature values are analysed. If the averaged absolute values of the temperature are reduced at different sections in the joint region to 31 °C and lower as compared to the initial ones, conclusion is made on satisfactory reduction of activity of inflammatory process after installation of knee joint spacer. At values exceeding 31 °C, reduced activity of inflammatory process after installation of knee joint spacer is considered unsatisfactory.

EFFECT: method provides assessing the activity of the inflammatory process following the spacer installation and, as a result, preventing the onset of severe inflammatory complications, reduced number of repeated revision operations, improved results of treatment at deep suppuration after total knee joint replacement.

1 cl, 1 ex