World Neurosurg
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Meta Analysis
Pharmacoprophylaxis for Venous Thromboembolism in Spinal Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant contributor to postoperative morbidity and mortality. Prophylactic regimens for VTE involve mechanical prophylaxis and pharmacoprophylaxis. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of pharmacoprophylaxis in comparison with any nonpharmacoprophylaxis regimen for the prevention of postoperative VTE in patients undergoing spinal surgery. ⋯ This systematic review and meta-analysis found a potential benefit with pharmacoprophylaxis post spinal surgery in the prevention of deep venous thrombosis. However, there is a need for future randomized controlled trials to investigate the efficacy and safety of pharmacoprophylaxis in spinal surgery across various spinal procedures.
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Spontaneous spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is a condition that commonly presents with debilitating positional headaches. Often, the cause of the leak is located in the spine. ⋯ Treatment similarly involves multiple options, including targeted epidural blood and/or fibrin patching as well as surgical closure. In this article, we review the current literature regarding this challenging condition and present an algorithm for management.
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Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains the single most important preventable cause of morbidity and mortality following neurosurgical procedures, with an incidence of approximately 16%. In the absence of stringent guidelines, the variation in current practice patterns could be considerable and was the underlying basis for this study. ⋯ This study highlights the variation in practice between neurosurgeons in managing postoperative VTE prophylaxis after elective spine and cranial surgeries. In lieu of this variation, our results showed that most neurosurgeons are comfortable starting chemical prophylaxis as soon as postoperative day 1 following both types of procedures.
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Facial nerve (FN) function preservation is the primary goal during vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection. Many factors are linked to postoperative FN outcomes. In the present study, we evaluated the association between FN length and VS surgical outcomes. ⋯ The rFN length is important for predicting surgical outcomes. An rFN length >36.6 mm might indicate difficulty in achieving GTR with preservation of FN function. Therefore, the rFN length could become an objective indicator for neurosurgeons to predict the difficulty of GTR to preserve FN function.
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We sought to evaluate the efficacy and complications of percutaneous vertebroplasty with different viscosities and volumes of bone cement in treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). ⋯ In summary, when treating single thoracolumbar level OVCFs, the recommended volume of low-viscosity bone cement is 4-6 mL while the optimal volume of high-viscosity bone cement is 6-8 mL.