Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialBilateral focused ultrasound medial thalamotomies for trigeminal neuropathic pain: a randomized controlled study.
Medial thalamotomy has been shown to benefit patients with neuropathic pain, but widespread adoption of this procedure has been limited by reporting of clinical outcomes in studies without a control group. This study aimed to minimize confounders associated with medial thalamotomy for treating chronic pain by using modern MRI-guided stereotactic lesioning and a rigorous clinical design. ⋯ This randomized controlled trial of bilateral FUS medial thalamotomy did not reduce the intensity of trigeminal neuropathic pain, although it should be noted that the ability to estimate the magnitude of treatment effects is limited by the small cohort.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2024
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyA prospective randomized comparison of functional and cosmetic outcomes of a coronal zigzag incision versus a conventional straight incision pattern for craniotomy.
Wound healing problems after neurosurgical procedures can lead to serious complications and may require complex revision or even reconstructive surgery. Therefore, optimal surgical management is critical to prevent complications. In a recent experimental study in animals, the authors demonstrated the superiority of a zigzag skin incision over a straight incision pattern. In this study, the authors applied these findings to clinical situations of neurosurgical patients with an indication for a coronal skin incision. The aim of this study was to objectively assess the functional and cosmetic outcomes between straight coronal and zigzag incisions in neurosurgical procedures. ⋯ A zigzag coronal skin incision pattern leads to significantly superior functional and cosmetic outcome scores. For certain patient groups, these findings may prove to be practice-changing.