The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Comparative Study
Minimally invasive compared with open lumbar laminotomy: no functional benefits at 6 or 24 months after surgery.
Comparative studies between open and minimally invasive surgical (MIS) approaches for the treatment of spinal stenosis have mainly investigated immediate postoperative parameters. ⋯ Compared with an open approach, MIS lumbar laminotomy gave no clear advantages in longer term functional or pain scores. The MIS group also had patients with inadvertent durotomies and reoperation within 2 years. In any lumbar decompressive surgery, the purported advantages of an MIS approach should be carefully weighed against potential complications. For a relatively simple surgery such as laminotomy, the open approach remains a safe and straightforward option.
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Although tuberculous and pyogenic spondylodiscitis are common causes of spinal infections, their protean manifestation complicates differential diagnosis. ⋯ This study provides guidance for clinicians to predict the causative organisms of spondylodiscitis in uncertain situations and before culture or pathologic examinations. Clinical data and single biomarkers combined can be useful for differential diagnoses between tuberculous and pyogenic spondylodiscitis.
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Short-segment pedicle screw instrumentation constructs for the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures gained popularity in the 1980s. The load-sharing classification (LSC) is a straightforward way to describe the extent of bony comminution, amount of fracture displacement, and amount of correction of kyphotic deformity in a spinal fracture. There are no studies evaluating the relevance of fracture comminution/traumatic kyphosis on the long-term radiologic outcome of burst fractures treated by short-segment instrumentation with screw insertion in the fractured level. ⋯ The six-screw construct is effective for treating thoracolumbar junction burst fractures. The medium-to-long-term loss of correction is affected by the amount of bony comminution of the fracture, objectified through the LSC score.
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Low back pain and disability are major public health problems and may be related to paraspinal muscle abnormalities, such as a reduction in muscle size and muscle fat content. ⋯ Paraspinal fat infiltration, but not muscle CSA, was associated with high-intensity pain/disability and structural abnormalities in the lumbar spine. Although cause and effect cannot be determined from this cross-sectional study, longitudinal data will help to determine whether disabling low back pain and structural abnormalities of the spine are a cause or result of fat replacement of paraspinal muscles.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
The comparison of pedicle screw and cortical screw in posterior lumbar interbody fusion: a prospective randomized noninferiority trial.
Pedicle screws (PS) offer great benefits in posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF), but several drawbacks of PS, including the risk of superior facet joint violation and muscle injury, have also pointed out. Recently, cortical screws (CS) were invented, which can be placed without the drawbacks associated with PS. However, whether CS in PLIF can provide similar or greater clinical and radiologic outcomes compared to those of PS has not been fully evaluated in clinical research studies. ⋯ CS in PLIF provides similar clinical and radiologic outcomes compared to PS in PLIF. On the basis of the present study, we suggest CS to be a reasonable alternative to PS in PLIF.