The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Ongoing research to understand the mechanism behind pain is heavily dependent on animal testing. However, unlike humans, animal subjects cannot directly communicate with researchers to express the degree of pain they are experiencing. Therefore, measuring the presence of pain in animal studies is based on behavioral tests. The use of arbitrary values for determining the presence of pain in animal studies is an oversimplification of a complex and cortically dependent process. ⋯ Interpretation of withdrawal latency times as a marker for thermal hyperalgesia must be based on an appreciation for the normal distribution of pain scores. Recognizing that withdrawal latency is normally distributed both before and after injury allows for rational assignment of animals to groups designated as hyperalgesic and nonhyperalgesic. Two point nine seconds faster than the mean latency time is a statistically reliable indicator of thermal hyperalgesia in Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to contusive SCI. Repeated testing of animals to establish the presence or absence of thermal hyperalgesia beyond 21 days is not necessary in the absence of intervention.
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In cases of possible cervical spine injury, medical professionals must be prepared to achieve rapid airway access while concurrently restricting cervical spine motion. Face mask removal (FMR), rather than helmet removal (HR), is recommended to achieve this. However, no studies have been reported that compare FMR directly with HR. ⋯ It is safer to remove the face mask in the prehospital setting for the potential spine-injured American football player than to remove the helmet, based on results from both a traditional and newer football helmet designs. Deflating the air bladder inside the helmet does not provide an advantage.
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Knowing the side of the dominant vertebral artery (VA) may be of utmost importance if the VAs are at risk during spine surgery. Determination of the size of VAs is obtained by using Doppler ultrasonography or angiography. Because VA is the main anatomic structure occupying the transverse foramina (TF), it may be assumed that size of TF and blood flow of VAs should be proportional. ⋯ There was strong correlation between TF diameters and VA blood volume. Our results suggest that TF diameter of C6 level can be used to predict the side of the dominant VA reliably.
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Psychological factors including fear avoidance beliefs are believed to influence the development of chronic low back pain (LBP). ⋯ Evidence suggests that fear avoidance beliefs are prognostic for poor outcome in subacute LBP, and thus early treatment, including interventions to reduce fear avoidance beliefs, may avoid delayed recovery and chronicity.