European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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The objective of the study was to investigate how patients with sciatica due to disc herniation rate the bothersomeness of paresthesia and weakness as compared to leg pain, and how these symptoms are associated with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 411 patients with clinical signs of radiculopathy. Items from the Sciatica Bothersomeness Index (0 = none to 6 = extremely) were used to establish values for paresthesia, weakness and leg pain. ⋯ In the multivariate models, more severe symptoms were associated with lower physical function and higher emotional distress. Muscular paresis explained 19% of the variability in self-reported weakness, sensory findings explained 10% of the variability in paresthesia, and straight leg raising test explained 9% of the variability in leg pain. In addition to leg pain, paresthesia and weakness should be assessed when measuring symptom severity in sciatica.
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Prospective study. To study the validity of Hybrid construction (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion) ALIF at one level and total disc arthroplasty (TDA) at adjacent, for two levels disc disease in lumbar spine as surgical strategy. With growing evidence that fusion constructs in the treatment of degenerative disc disease (DDD) may alter sagittal balance and contribute to undesirable complications in the long-term, total disc arthroplasty (TDA) slowly becomes an accepted treatment option for a selected group of patients. ⋯ At 2-years clinical outcomes, mean reduction in ODI is 24.9 points (53.0% improvement compared to preop ODI). The visual analogue score for the back is 64.6% improvement. At 2-year clinical outcomes, Hybrid fusion is a viable surgical alternative for the treatment of two-level DDD in comparison with two-level TDA and with two-level fusion.
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The morbidity of surgical procedures for spine tumors can be expected to be worse than for other conditions. This is particularly true of en bloc resections, the most technically demanding procedures. A retrospective review of prospective data from a large series of en bloc resections may help to identify risk factors, and therefore to reduce the rate of complications and to improve outcome. ⋯ The treatment of recurrent cases and planned transgression to reduce surgical aggressiveness are associated with a higher rate of local recurrence, which can be considered the most severe complication. In terms of survival and quality of life, late results are worse in recurrent cases than in complicated cases. Careful treatment planning and, in the event of uncertainty, referral to a specialty center must be stressed.
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The goal of this study was to assess surgical clinical and radiographic outcomes of using a posterior transpedicular approach (posterolateral) for ventral malignant tumors of the cervical spine. Access to ventral lesions of the cervical spine can be challenging in patients with malignant tumors. Anterior approaches are the gold standard for ventral pathology in the cervical spine, however, there are cases, where a posterior approach is indicated due to multilevel disease, previous radiation, swallowing difficulty with difficulty in retraction of trachea and esophagus, and in cases where circumferential fusion cannot be done due to patients' poor medical condition. ⋯ In two patients the vertebral artery was ligated without sequelae. We conclude that cervical spine transpedicular (posterolateral) approach is useful in cases where an anterior approach or a circumferential approach is not an option. It avoids the morbidity of anterior transcervical, transternal, and transoral procedures while providing decompression of neural elements and allowing three column stabilization when needed.
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Degenerative disc disease (DDD) causes gradual intervertebral space collapse, concurrent discogenic or facet-induced pain, and possible compression radiculopathy. A new minimal invasion procedure of percutaneous posterior-lateral lumbar interbody fusion (PPLIF) using a B-Twin stand-alone expandable spinal spacer (ESS) was designed to treat this disease and evaluated by follow-up more than 1 year. 12 cases with chronic low back pain and compressive radiculopathy due to DDD refractory were selected to conservative treatment. Under fluoroscopy in the posterior-lateral position, a K-wire was advanced into the intervertebral space and a dilator and working cannula were introduced into the disc space step by step. ⋯ The values of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) on movement and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) dropped by more than 80 and 67.4%, respectively. Disk space heights averaging 9.0 mm before procedure were increased to 11.5 mm 1 month (a significant difference compared with preprocedure, P < 0.01) after surgery and stabilized at 10.8 mm upon final follow-up (a significant difference compared with preprocedure, P < 0.01). The results demonstrated that the percutaneous approach for posterior-lateral lumbar interbody fusion using expandable spinal system is a valuable micro-invasion method for the DDD patients and can achieve the same outcome as with other methods.