Komplikationen, Revisionseingriffe und unbefriedigende funktionelle Ergebnisse nach operativer Versorgung von Monteggia-Frakturen sind häufig. Zudem existieren kaum Studien, die sich nur mit dem therapeutischen Konzept beim Erwachsenen beschäftigen.

BACKGROUND:Complications, revision surgery, and unsatisfactory functional results after operative management of Monteggia fractures are frequent. Moreover, hardly any studies exist that deal exclusively with the therapeutic concept for adults.PATIENTS AND METHODS:Between January 1988 and December 2001, 68 patients with Monteggia fractures or equivalent injury were surgically treated. A total of 49 patients could be followed up after 83 months (25-176). Fracture type was assessed according to Bado's classification, functional results according to the Mayo elbow performance score, and the extent of osteoarthritis based on the criteria of Baird and Johnson.RESULTS:The median age of the follow-up patients was 38 years (18-89, 31 men, 18 women). Corresponding to Bado's classification the following injuries were observed: 18 cases of type 1, 22 of type 2, 5 of type 3, and 4 cases of type 4. After surgical intervention, 14 patients achieved "very good", 21 "good", 9 "satisfactory", and 5 "poor" results. Of the 14 patients with either "satisfactory" or "poor" results, 9 manifested a type 2 injury. Complications requiring revision surgery occurred in 14 patients and complications not requiring revision in another 14. Severe osteoarthritic changes in the humeral or radioulnar joint were observed in 4 cases.CONCLUSIONS:Monteggia fractures in adults are fraught with complications despite good functional results in the majority of cases. The patient should be made aware early on of the risk of residual functional deficits and the need for further surgical intervention.

We investigated the magnetooptical properties of 0.9 eV luminescence in AlN. The zero-phonon lines at 0.943 eV in AlN are attributed to a transition within a d2 configuration because of a characteristic threefold ground-state splitting in magnetic fields. We determine a g value of 1.96±0.07 and a zero-field splitting of 120±30 μeV for the A32(F) ground state. On the basis of the temperature dependence in a magnetic field, we attribute the 0.943 eV zero-phonon line in AlN to the E1(D)−A32(F) transition of isolated V3+. The different fine structures of the excited state in AlN and GaN are explained in a Tanabe–Sugano diagram.