The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Injuries to the lumbar plexus during lateral approaches to the spine are not uncommon and may result in permanent deficits. However, the literature contains few studies that provide landmarks for avoiding the branches of the lumbar plexus. ⋯ The findings of our cadaveric study provide surgeons who approach the lateral lumbar spine with data that could decrease injuries to the branches of the lumbar plexus, thus lessening patient morbidity.
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Little is known about the effect of rod stiffness as a risk factor of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) after adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. ⋯ Increasing the rod stiffness by the use of cobalt chrome rod and can prevent rod breakage but adversely affects the occurrence and the time of PJK.
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The relationship between sedentary lifestyle and low back pain (LBP) remains unclear and previous research has not accounted for genetic and early environmental factors. ⋯ Sedentary behavior is associated with concurrent LBP. However, this association is weak; it only appears in females and decreases when accounting for genetics. Future studies using a twin design with larger samples should be conducted to further test these findings.
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Osteoporosis adversely affects disc degeneration cascades, and prophylactic alendronate (ALN) helps delay intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. However, there remains no information regarding whether ALN affects IDD with bone loss. ⋯ ALN has favorable effects on disc degeneration with bone loss and helps to alleviate IDD while enhancing the biological and mechanical properties of vertebrae and end plates.
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Patient satisfaction is becoming an increasing common proxy for surgical quality; however, the correlation between patient satisfaction and surgical outcomes 2 and 5 years after anterior cervical surgery has not been evaluated. ⋯ In patients undergoing one- and two-level anterior cervical spine surgery, between 2 and 5 years postoperatively, patient satisfaction is significantly predicted by PROs, including the VAS neck score and the NDI.