Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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Cervical transfacet screw placement has been described in the literature. Although the technique shows promise for percutaneous application, parameters for screw placement have not been well delineated. This study used reconstructed CT scans with imaging software to assess the feasibility of percutaneous transfacet screw placement, analyzing potential entry angles, transfacet lengths, and sex differences at each subaxial level. ⋯ Cervical transfacet screw placement is possible from C-3 to C-7. Because occipital clearance can be difficult at C3-4 and C6-7, the use of curved or flexible instruments may be necessary to obtain the appropriate screw trajectory. Screw lengths varied with spinal level and the sex of the patient.
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The minimally invasive lateral interbody fusion of the lumbar spine through a retroperitoneal transpsoas approach has become increasingly used. Although preoperative imaging is performed supine, the procedure is performed with the patient in the lateral decubitus position. The authors measured the changes in location of the psoas muscle, aorta, inferior vena cava (IVC), iliac vessels, and kidneys with regard to the fixed lumbar spine when moving from a supine to a lateral decubitus position. ⋯ The authors showed that the aorta, IVC, and kidneys moved a significant distance away from the surgical corridor with changes in position. At the L4-5 level, a left-sided approach may be riskier because the right common iliac vein trends posteriorly and into the surgical corridor, whereas in a right-sided approach it trends anteriorly.
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The most currently accepted indication for cervical arthroplasty is 1- or 2-level degenerative disc disease (DDD) refractory to medical treatment. However, the randomized and controlled clinical trials by the US FDA investigational device exemption studies only compared cervical arthroplasty with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for 1-level disease. Theoretically, 2-level cervical spondylosis usually implicates more advanced degeneration, whereas the 1-level DDD can be caused by merely a soft-disc herniation. This study aimed to investigate the differences between 1- and 2-level cervical arthroplasty. ⋯ Clinical outcomes of 1- and 2-level cervical arthroplasty were similar at 46 months after surgery, and patients in both groups had significantly improved compared with preoperative status. However, there was a significantly higher rate of heterotopic ossification formation and less mobility of the Bryan disc in patients who underwent 2-level arthroplasty. Although mobility to date has been maintained in the vast majority (94.3%) of patients, the long-term effects of heterotopic ossification warrant further investigation.
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The aim of this study was to describe the pelvic parameters in a sample of healthy Mexican volunteers and to compare them with previously reported data for Caucasian and Asian populations. ⋯ A comparison of the values for pelvic parameters and lumbar lordosis across the different population samples revealed statistically significant differences, which can be attributed to the ethnic origin of the individuals.
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Advocates of minimally invasive discectomy (MID) have promoted this operation as an alternative to open discectomy (OD), arguing that there may be less injury to the paraspinal muscles, decreased postoperative pain, and a faster recovery time. However, a recently published large randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing these approaches reported inferior relief of leg pain in patients undergoing MID. The authors conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate complications and improvement in leg pain in patients with radiculopathy enrolled in RCTs comparing OD to MID. ⋯ The current evidence suggests that both OD and MID lead to a substantial and equivalent long-term improvement in leg pain. Adequate decompression, regardless of the operative approach used, may be the primary determinant of pain relief-the major complaint of many patients with radiculopathy. Incidental durotomies occurred significantly more frequently during MID, but total complications did not differ between the techniques.