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
-
Complications of the intrathecal route may cause potential toxicity related to the medical device and properties of the administered drug and/or excipient. A description of clinical and histological effects of polyethylene glycol and miripirium after Depo-Medrol injection, and the adverse reactions of particulate methylprednisolone acetate was conducted. The safety of the intrathecal route with excipients, label and off-label drugs is discussed. ⋯ Intrathecal methylprednisolone acetate (Depo-Medrol) therapy seems not fully safe due to reported adverse events. The use of other forms of corticosteroid therapy free from excipients should be emphasized such as soluble methylprednisolone sodium succinate.
-
Two-level cervical degenerative disc disease (cDDD) can be effectively treated by anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) similarly to single-level cDDD. Traditionally an anterior plate construct (APC) approach has been utilized, but ACDF without plate with a locking stand-alone cage (LSC) approach has emerged as an alternative option. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of LSC and APC in contiguous two-level ACDF used to treat cDDD the current literature. ⋯ Although significant radiological differences were most evident, the comparability between LSC and APC in contiguous two-level ACDF with respect to all other clinical outcomes does not implicate one approach as clearly superior to the other in two-level ACDF. Larger, randomized studies with longer follow-up are required to delineate outcomes further to validate the findings of this study. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.