Pregabalin and gabapentin for chronic low back pain without radiculopathy: a systematic review.

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a global health problem, and gabapentin and pregabalin are often used in the treatment of patients without associated radiculopathy or neuropathy. Therefore, determining their efficacy and safety is of enormous value.

Objective: To examine the efficacy and safety of using gabapentin and pregabalin for CLBP without radiculopathy or neuropathy.

Minimally invasive swine spine surgery training: technical aspects, benefits, and anatomical limitations.

Objective: To describe the technical specificities and feasibility of simulation of minimally invasive spine surgery in live pigs, as well as similarities and differences in comparison to surgery in humans.

Methods: A total of 22 Large White class swine models, weighing between 60 and 80kg, were submitted to surgical simulations, performed during theoretical-practical courses for training surgical techniques (microsurgical and endoscopic lumbar decompression; percutaneous pedicular instrumentation; lateral access to the thoracic spine, and anterior and retroperitoneal to the lumbar spine, and management of complications) by 86 spine surgeons. For each surgical technique, porcine anatomy (similarities and differences in relation to human anatomy), access route, and dimensions of the instruments and implants used were evaluated.

Prognostic factors in low back pain individuals undergoing steroid and anaesthetic intra-articular facet joint infiltration: a protocol for a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study.

Introduction: Lumbar pain of facet origin is a common problem worldwide. For those patients not responding to traditional treatment, one approach may be intra-articular infiltration of corticoid and anaesthetic. However, despite the increasing demand for this procedure, no consensus exists regarding its therapeutic value.

Interspinous process devices for treatment of degenerative lumbar spine stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis is a condition related to aging in which structural changes cause narrowing of the central canal and intervertebral foramen. It is currently the leading cause for spinal surgery in patients over 65 years. Interspinous process devices (IPDs) were introduced as a less invasive surgical alternative, but questions regarding safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness are still unanswered.

Radiofrequency denervation for facet joint low back pain: a systematic review.

Study Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: To assess treatment effects (benefits and harms) of radiofrequency denervation for patients with facet joint-related chronic low back pain.

Summary Of Background Data: There is no consensus regarding the treatment efficacy of facet joint radiofrequency denervation (FJRD) and how it compares with nerve blockades and joint infiltration with anesthetics and/or corticosteroids.

Para-muscular and trans-muscular approaches to the lumbar inter-vertebral foramen: an anatomical comparison.

Foraminal and extra-foraminal disc herniations comprise up to 11.7% of all lumbar disc herniations. Facetectomy, which had been the classic approach, is now recognized as cause of pain and instability after surgery.