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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Text neck is regarded as a global epidemic. Yet, there is a lack of consensus concerning the definitions of text neck which challenges researchers and clinicians alike. ⋯ This study showed that posture is the defining characteristic of text neck in the academic literature. For research purposes, it seems that text neck is a habit of texting on the smartphone in a flexed neck position. Since there is no scientific evidence linking text neck with neck pain regardless of the definition used, adjectives like inappropriate or incorrect should be avoided when intended to qualify posture.
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Review Meta Analysis
The optimal treatment of type II and III odontoid fractures in the elderly: an updated meta-analysis.
Odontoid fractures are the most common cervical spine fractures in the elderly, with a controversial optimal treatment. The objective of this review was to compare the outcome of surgical and conservative treatments in elderly (≥ 65 years), by updating a systematic review published by the authors in 2013. ⋯ While surgically treated patients showed higher union rates than conservatively treated patients, no clinically relevant differences were observed in NDI, VAS pain, and SWS scores and stability rates. These results need to be further confirmed in well-designed comparative studies with proper adjustment for confounding, such as age, fracture characteristics, and osteoporosis degree.
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Review Meta Analysis
C2 stentoplasty: an alternative to conventional vertebroplasty in the treatment of axis metastatic lesions: a systematic review with meta-analysis and case series.
Vertebroplasty has been recently described in the literature as a potential treatment for C2 metastatic lesions. Stentoplasty may represent a safest and equally alternative to the latter. ⋯ A systematic review of the literature demonstrated that C2 vertebroplasty can offer significant pain improvement with a low complication rate. At the same time, this is the first study to describe stentoplasty in a small cohort of patients, as an alternative for the treatment of C2 metastatic lesions in selected cases, offering adequate pain control and improving segmental stability with a high safety profile.
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Meta Analysis
Comparing two surgical approaches for treating multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy: A meta-analysis.
This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of anterior versus posterior surgical approaches for multisegment cervical spondylotic myelopathy (MCSM). ⋯ Bleeding was also less with the anterior surgical approach. The posterior approach provided a significantly higher range of motion of the cervical spine and showed fewer postoperative complications compared with the anterior approach. While both the surgical approaches have good clinical outcomes and show postoperative neurological function improvement, the meta-analysis shows that both anterior and posterior approaches have certain merits and shortcomings. A meta-analysis of a larger number of randomized controlled trials with longer follow-up can conclusively determine which of the surgical approaches is more beneficial in the treatment of MCSM.
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Multicenter Study
Rod angulation does not reflect sagittal curvature in adult spinal deformity surgery: comparison of lumbar lordosis and rod contouring.
A retrospective study. ⋯ Variations between spinal and rod curvatures were observed despite the linear regression correlation. The shape of the rod does not seem to be predictive of the shape of the spine in the sagittal plane in ASD long-construct surgeries. Several factors, other than rod contouring, are involved in explaining the postoperative shape of the spine. The observed variation calls into question the fundamentals of the ideal rod concept.