Spine
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A prospective cohort study assessing the responsiveness of two disease-specific questionnaires and a generic health questionnaire for patients with low back pain and sciatica. ⋯ Responsiveness varied according to which method was used in its calculation. The responsiveness of the SF-36 questionnaire shows that it can be a useful adjunct in the assessment of patients with low back pain when combined with disease-specific questionnaires.
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Comparative Study
Variability of somatosensory-evoked potentials in different stages of scoliosis surgery.
A comparison of the latencies and amplitudes of the somatosensory-evoked potential in different stages of scoliosis surgery. ⋯ Some variability in latencies and amplitudes between different stages of scoliosis surgery is normal. These results suggest that the somatosensory-evoked potential when the spine is exposed may be used as the reference baseline to determine whether somatosensory-evoked potentials are subnormal at the subsequent stages of surgery.
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Comparative Study
Determining the lumbar vertebral segments on magnetic resonance imaging.
A study to test the ability of an additional cervicothoracic localizer scan to decrease interobserver discrepancy in the identification of vertebral segments in magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine. ⋯ The addition of a cervicothoracic localizer scan in magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbosacral spine is highly recommended.
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Laboratory experiment. ⋯ Somewhat improved fixation of the head to the fracture board can be achieved by placing wedges under the head; however, the benefits of any fixation method, in terms of cervical spine immobilization, are likely to be limited unless the motion of the trunk is also controlled effectively. Future research and development should address techniques to better control head and trunk motion.
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Comparative Study
Vertebral centroid measurement of lumbar lordosis compared with the Cobb technique.
An observational study in which vertebral centroid measurement of lumbar lordosis, developed in this study, was used to examine lumbar curvature. The intra- and interobserver reliability of the vertebral centroid measurement of lumbar lordosis and the Cobb technique were compared. ⋯ The findings from this study indicate that the vertebral centroid measurement of lumbar lordosis is more reliable than the Cobb method for assessing lumbar lordosis. The vertebral centroid measurement of lumbar lordosis also can be used to evaluate the actual lumbar curvature in outline at various angles of trunk flexion.