Spine
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Retrospective cohort study of Medicare claims. ⋯ In this older population having fusion surgery for lumbar stenosis, uptake of BMP was rapid, and greatest among patients with prior surgery or having complex fusion procedures. BMP appeared safe in the perioperative period, with no increase in major medical complications. Use of BMP was associated with greater hospital charges but fewer nursing home discharges, and was not associated with reduced likelihood of reoperation.
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Cross-sectional study of teaching general practitioners (TGPs) in the South of France. ⋯ French TGPs believe that CLBP Web sites should focus on nonmedical, practical advice; they consider the design at least as important as the medical information. This viewpoint seems to conflict in part with patients' expectations. Good-quality and interactive Web sites could reduce this discordance. A list of approved sites should be available for general practitioners to recommend to their patients, to supplement information given during the consultation.
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A retrospective review and analysis of consecutive patients who underwent single-level vertebroplasty at our institute between March 2002 and March 2006. ⋯ Most subsequent fractures occurred at the adjacent level within the first 3 months. Patient preoperative condition did not help predict refracture. Although a greater volume of bone cement injected when performing vertebroplasty contributed to the risk of subsequent adjacent fracture, it resulted in a greater improvement of kyphosis.
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A finite element analysis on osteoporotic vertebrae. ⋯ This work underlines the potential of low-dose biplanar x-ray devices to make subject-specific FEMs for prediction of vertebral strength.
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Comparative Study
Differences in damage to CGRP immunoreactive sensory nerves after two lumbar surgical approaches: investigation using humans and rats.
Immunohistochemical study. ⋯ There are more CGRP-immunoreactive sensory nerve fibers and DRG neurons innervating muscle in the midline approach area than in the Wiltse paraspinal approach area in humans and rats. There are more ATF-3-immunoreactive DRG neurons innervating muscle in the midline approach area than in the Wiltse paraspinal approach area after muscle injury in rats. This result may show the differences in sensory nerve injury during the 2 surgical approaches.