The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Study of dural sac cross-sectional area in early and late phases after lumbar decompression surgery.
Lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early phase after lumbar decompression surgery sometimes reveals an absence in the expansion of the dural sac, regardless of the presence or absence of clinical symptoms; the reason for such a condition is often difficult to explain. There are some reports that compared the dural sac area between the preoperative and early postoperative phases; however, no report exists that compares the early and late phases after lumbar decompression surgery. ⋯ The dural sac area increased significantly between the early and late postoperative phases. No significant difference in the dural sac CSA between the early and late postoperative phases was observed with regard to age or the presence/absence of dural sac injury. A smaller preoperative dural sac CSA resulted in a smaller dural sac CSA in the early and late postoperative phases.
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In 2007, the Subaxial Cervical Spine Injury Classification (SLIC) system was introduced demonstrating moderate reliability in an internal validation study. ⋯ We found poor agreement on the morphologic injury characteristics of the SLIC system, and its treatment algorithm showed no improved agreement on treatment decisions among surgeons. The authors discuss that the reproducibility of the SLIC system is likely to improve when unambiguous true morphologic injury characteristics are being implemented.
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Although innumerable studies have analyzed the multiple aspects of osteoporotic vertebral fractures, no study has focused on the clinical features related to spine pain in patients with recent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). ⋯ Pain-related behavior evaluation of patients with osteoporotic VCF during their movements on the examining table may allow to suspect, or even diagnose, the presence of a fracture, particularly in the initial 4 to 6 weeks after the occurrence. Even orthopedic surgeons not particularly familiar with spine care may be able to suspect the injury during physical examination.
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Despite an increase in physician and public awareness and advances in infection control practices, surgical site infection (SSI) remains to be one of the most common complications after an operation. Surgical site infections have been shown to decrease health-related quality of life, double the risk of readmission, prolong the length of hospital stay, and increase hospital costs. ⋯ There is strong evidence in the literature that optimizing specific preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables can significantly lower the risk of developing an SSI.