Spine
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Retrospective review of articles published in the journal Spine. ⋯ Industry funded studies demonstrated a statistically greater likelihood to report positive results than studies with other funding sources. Potential explanations for this are biased study design, biased experimental technique, biased result interpretation, or publication bias. Although the expense of research and limited funding sources have forced an increased reliance on industry support for funding basic science and clinical spine research, this does introduce the potential for bias and must be recognized by the reader.
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A retrospective evaluation and characterization of the trajectory of atlantoaxial transarticular screws inserted using an aiming device. ⋯ The atlantoaxial transarticular screw was inserted safely as aimed by using the aiming device. The trajectory was characterized by less bone thickness dorsal to the screw on lateral radiogram, which should be a new intraoperative landmark for screw insertion, in place of the anterior arch of C1.
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Experimental histologic study of the effects of radiofrequency (RF) or convective heating of the rat dorsal root ganglion or sciatic nerve to 42 degrees C. ⋯ The data support the hypothesis that pulsed RF treatment does not rely on thermal injury of neurologic tissue to achieve its effect.
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Inception cohort study. ⋯ During a period of 3 months, 24% of the patients had not recovered. Psychological factors and neurological signs were strongly associated with nonrecovery at 3 months. In addition to the traditional examination of neurological symptoms and signs, psychological factors should be considered already at the initial visit of an episode of low back pain.
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To assess the effects of acupuncture and dry-needling for the treatment of nonspecific low back pain. ⋯ The data do not allow firm conclusions regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for acute low back pain. For chronic low back pain, acupuncture is more effective for pain relief and functional improvement than no treatment or sham treatment immediately after treatment and in the short-term only. Acupuncture is not more effective than other conventional and "alternative" treatments. The data suggest that acupuncture and dry-needling may be useful adjuncts to other therapies for chronic low back pain. Because most of the studies were of lower methodologic quality, there is a clear need for higher quality trials in this area.