Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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OBJECTIVE Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) is a minimally disruptive surgical procedure that uses a lateral approach. There is, however, concern about the development of neurological complications when this approach is used, particularly at the L4-5 level. The authors performed a prospective study of the effects of a new neural monitoring system using a finger electrode to prevent neurological complications in patients treated with XLIF and compared the results to results obtained in historical controls. ⋯ The thresholds after dissection improved to 11 mA or higher in all patients. There were no serious neurological complications in any patient, but there was a significantly lower incidence of transient neurological symptoms in the finger electrode group (7 [38%] of 18 cases vs 5 [14%] of 36 cases, p = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS The new neural monitoring system using a finger electrode may be useful to prevent XLIF-induced neurological complications.
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OBJECTIVE Limited tools exist to stratify perioperative risk in patients undergoing spinal procedures. The modified frailty index (mFI) based on the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Frailty Index (CSHA-FI), constructed from standard demographic variables, has been applied to various other surgical populations for risk stratification. The authors hypothesized that it would be predictive of postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing spine surgery. ⋯ Patients with an mFI of 0 had a 1.7% rate of surgical site infections and a 0.8% rate of Clavien IV complications, whereas patients with an mFI of ≥ 0.27 had rates of 4.1% and 7.1% for surgical site infections and Clavien IV complications, respectively (p < 0.001 for both). Multivariate analysis showed that the preoperative mFI and American Society of Anesthesiologists classification of ≥ III had a significantly increased risk of leading to Clavien IV complications and death. CONCLUSIONS A higher mFI was associated with a higher risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality, providing an additional tool to improve perioperative risk stratification.
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OBJECTIVE Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is one of the most commonly performed spine procedures. It can be used to correct cervical kyphotic deformity, which is the most common cervical deformity, and is often performed using lordotic interbody devices. Worsening of the cervical sagittal parameters is associated with decreased health-related quality of life. ⋯ ACDF is able to achieve statistically significant improvement in C2-7 cervical lordosis by the 1-year followup, with a mean improvement of 3.46°. Increasing the number of levels operated on resulted in improved cervical sagittal parameters. This establishes a baseline for further examination into the ability of multilevel ACDF to achieve cervical deformity correction through the intervertebral correction of lordosis.
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The purpose of this review was to compare the efficacy and safety of synthetic bone graft substitutes versus autograft or allograft for the treatment of lumbar and cervical spinal degenerative diseases. Multiple major medical reference databases were searched for studies that evaluated spinal fusion using synthetic bone graft substitutes (either alone or with an autograft or allograft) compared with autograft and allograft. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) and cohort studies with more than 10 patients were included. ⋯ The PMMA and BOP grafts led to lower fusion rates, and PMMA, HA, and BOP had greater risks of graft fragmentation, settling, and instrumentation problems compared with iliac crest bone graft. The overall quality of evidence evaluating the potential use and superiority of the synthetic biological materials for lumbar and cervical fusion in this systematic review was low or insufficient, largely due to the high potential for bias and small sample sizes. Thus, definitive conclusions or recommendations regarding the use of these synthetic materials should be made cautiously and within the context of the limitations of the evidence.
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OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to isolate whether the effect of a baseline clinical history of depression on outcome is independent of associated physical disability and to evaluate which mental health screening tool has the most utility in determining 2-year clinical outcomes after adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. METHODS Consecutively enrolled patients with ASD in a prospective, multicenter ASD database who underwent surgical intervention with a minimum 2-year follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. A subset of patients who completed the Distress and Risk Assessment Method (DRAM) was also analyzed. ⋯ CONCLUSIONS A baseline clinical history of depression does not correlate with worse 2-year outcomes after ASD surgery after adjusting for baseline differences in comorbidities, health-related quality of life, and spinal deformity severity. Conversely, DRAM improved risk stratification of patient subgroups predisposed to achieving suboptimal surgical outcomes. The DRAM's MSPQ was more predictive than MCS and SRS mental domain for 2-year outcomes and may be a valuable tool for surgical screening.