Treatment of Osteoporotic Compression Fractures at Thoracolumbar Spine With Neurodeficit: Short-Segment Stabilization With Cement-Augmented Fenestrated Pedicle Screws and Vertebroplasty by Minimally Invasive Percutaneous Technique.

Background: Osteoporotic compression fractures often progress to neurological impairment and severe pain, which results in restriction of mobility in elderly patients. Conventional open spinal decompression and stabilization in these patients have significant morbidities related to age, surgical approach, and blood loss. This case series evaluates the treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures at the thoracolumbar junction with short-segment stabilization with cement-augmented fenestrated pedicle screws and vertebroplasty using a minimally invasive percutaneous technique.

A Study of Critical Events That Lead to Spinal Cord Injury and the Importance of Rapid Reversal of Surgical Steps in Improving Neurological Outcomes: A Porcine Model.

Study Design: Porcine model.

Objective: To quantify critical vascular and mechanical events that occur before and during an evolving spinal cord injury.

Summary Of Background Data: Spinal cord injuries are one of the most devastating complications in spine surgery.

Endoscopic Decompression Can Be Effective for Diagnosing and Treating Tubercular Spondylodiskitis with Early Epidural Spinal Compression: A Retrospective Study of 18 Cases.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Purpose: In this study, we describe an endoscopic method of effectively treating tubercular lumbar spondylodiskitis with early onset epidural spinal cord compression in the lumbar spine on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Overview Of Literature: Percutaneous aspiration and biopsy of spondylodiskitis under ultrasonography and computer tomography scan invariably provides an inadequate diagnosis.

A bird's eye view of nanoparticles prepared by electrospraying: advancements in drug delivery field.

Recent analysis of the published data reveals the increasing importance of nanotechnology in the field of drug delivery, especially due to easy modulation of drug release and targeting effect. Various conventional methods including nanoprecipitation, spray drying, solvent evaporation, supercritical fluid extraction and ionotropic gelation are well-explored for lab-scale production of nanoparticles and present their own advantages and limitations. Electrospraying a variant of electrospinning is a method based on the processing of polymeric solutions/melt under high electrical voltage to produce particles of desired nature; post optimization of process parameters.

Postoperative Spine Infections.

Postoperative spinal wound infection increases the morbidity of the patient and the cost of healthcare. Despite the development of prophylactic antibiotics and advances in surgical technique and postoperative care, wound infection continues to compromise patient outcome after spinal surgery. Spinal instrumentation also has an important role in the development of postoperative infections.

Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

The lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) is a relatively new technique that allows the surgeon to access the intervertebral space from a direct lateral approach either anterior to or through the psoas muscle. This approach provides an alternative to anterior lumbar interbody fusion with instrumentation, posterior lumbar interbody fusion, and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for anterior column support. LLIF is minimally invasive, safe, better structural support from the apophyseal ring, potential for coronal plane deformity correction, and indirect decompression, which have has made this technique popular.

Combined Type II Odontoid Fracture with Jefferson's Fracture Treated with Temporary Internal Fixation.

An 18-year-old male presented after a motor vehicle rollover accident. Computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the diagnosis of Type II odontoid fracture. Considering the patient's young age and the limitations of C1-C2 fusion including significant loss of cervical rotation, temporary internal fixation with a lateral mass fixation of C1 and pedicle fixation of C2 without fusion was done.

Triggered EMG Potentials in Determining Neuroanatomical Safe Zone for Transpsoas Lumbar Approach: Are They Reliable?

Study Design: In vivo analysis in swine model.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of triggered EMG (t-EMG) and its reliability in lateral lumbar interbody fusions surgery. We also aim to document changes in psoas muscle produced during the approach.

A Comparative Study of Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion in Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis.

Study Design: Level 4 retrospective review.

Purpose: To compare the radiographic and clinical outcomes between posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) with posterior segmental spinal instrumentation (SSI) for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Overview Of Literature: Both PLIF and LLIF have been performed for degenerative spondylolisthesis with good results, but no study has directly compared these two techniques so far.

Antibiotic-coated nail for fusion of infected charcot ankles.

Background: Treating infected ankles in patients with neuropathy is difficult, and complications are frequently encountered. Eradication of infection and effective arthrodesis are required for a successful outcome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients with Charcot neuropathy whose infected ankles were treated with a retrograde, antibiotic-coated, locked intramedullary nail.

Access related complications during anterior exposure of the lumbar spine.

The new millennium has witnessed the emergence of minimally invasive, non-posterior based surgery of the lumbar spine, in particular via lateral based methodologies to discectomy and fusion. In contrast, and perhaps for a variety of reasons, anterior motion preservation (non-fusion) technologies are playing a comparatively lesser, though incompletely defined, role at present. Lateral based motion preservation technologies await definition of their eventual role in the armamentarium of minimally invasive surgical therapies of the lumbar spine.

Pulmonary complications after spine surgery.

Spine surgery is one of the fastest growing branches of orthopedic surgery. Patients often present with a relatively high acuity and, depending on surgical approach, morbidity and mortality can be comparatively high. Among the most prevalent and most frequently fatality-bound perioperative complications are those affecting the pulmonary system; evidence of clinical or subclinical lung injury triggered by spine surgical procedures is emerging.

Does humeral lengthening with a monolateral frame improve function?

Background: Humeral lengthening by distraction osteogenesis historically has relied on bulky circular external fixators. Advances in fixator technology have allowed for the use of monolateral frames. However, it is unclear whether and to what degree function is improved after humeral lengthening.

The evaluation of lumbosacral dysplasia in young patients with lumbosacral spondylolisthesis: comparison with controls and relationship with the severity of slip.

Introduction: Comparison of lumbosacral dysplasia between normal individuals and patients with low and high grade spondylolisthesis has not been done previously. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between lumbosacral dysplasia and severity of slip in young patients with lumbosacral spondylolisthesis.

Methods: Postero-anterior and lateral radiographs of 120 normal individuals and 131 patients with developmental spondylolisthesis (91 low and 40 high grades) were reviewed.

Rare metastatic adenocarcinoma to the spine infiltrating three adjacent foramen in lumbar vertebrae.

An 83-year-old man presented with severe back pain and worsening neurodeficit. Lateral radiographs showed the presence of compression fractures of the L1 to L2 vertebral bodies. Computed tomography (CT) scan showed an intravertebral vacuum sign suggestive of ischemic fracture.