Spine
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Comparative Study
Patients with chronic neck pain demonstrate altered patterns of muscle activation during performance of a functional upper limb task.
Cross-sectional study. ⋯ Patients with neck pain demonstrated greater activation of accessory neck muscles during a repetitive upper limb task compared to asymptomatic controls. Greater activation of the cervical muscles in patients with neck pain may represent an altered pattern of motor control to compensate for reduced activation of painful muscles. Greater perceived disability among patients with neck pain accounted for the greater electromyographic amplitude of the superficial cervical muscles during performance of the functional task.
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Cross-sectional, population-based survey. ⋯ Young people are more likely to suffer from asthma and headache, but not from atopic dermatitis/hay fever, if they have low back pain. All of the investigated disorders cluster in some individuals. A model of common origin for these seemingly independent disorders should be considered.
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Retrospective single-center study ⋯ Recovery of neurologic function following severe traumatic spinal cord injury occurs with a significantly greater incidence in children than adults, and these improvements can occur over a prolonged postinjury period.
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Comparative Study
Biomechanical comparison of expandable cages for vertebral body replacement in the thoracolumbar spine.
An in vitro biomechanical study of expandable cages for vertebral body replacement in the human thoracolumbar spine. ⋯ Biomechanical results indicate that design variations of expandable cages for vertebral body replacement are of little importance. Additionally, no significant difference could be determined between the biomechanical properties of expandable and nonexpandable cages. After corporectomy, isolated implantation of expandable cages plus anterior plating was not able to restore normal stability of the motion segment. Therefore, isolated anterior stabilization using cages plus Locking Compression Plate should not be used for vertebral body replacement in the thoracolumbar spine.
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A cohort study. ⋯ Spinal cord enlargement with abnormal expansion of the T2 high-signal intensity area, although not common, is an unpreventable complication after laminoplasty. This was strongly related with distal and diffuse type of postoperative paresis of the upper extremity without deterioration of lower motor function, but was little associated with a proximal type of paresis, so-called C5 and C6 palsies.