Effect of continuous intra-incisional bupivacaine on postoperative pain in non-traumatic spinal fixation surgeries: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Continuous injection of local anesthetics by using surgical wound catheters for postoperative pain relief has gained acceptance in recent years. However, whether this method can be alternatively used instead of systemic opioids in different surgical procedures has not yet been elucidated.

Objectives: The aim was to investigate the effect of continuous injection of bupivacaine through a catheter inside the surgical wound on reducing the postoperative pain of lumbar spine fusion surgeries.

Iatrogenic L5 Nerve Injury Following Decortication of the Sacral Ala in Posterolateral Lumbosacral Fusion Surgery.

Study Design: Cadaver study.

Objectives: To investigate the risk of the L5 nerve injury following sacral ala decortication performed during lumbosacral posterolateral fusion surgery.

Methods: Fourteen fresh cadaver pelvises were dissected through an anterior approach and the L5 nerves on both sides were explored and macroscopically examined by direct observation.

Selective degeneration of a physiological subtype of spinal motor neuron in mice with SOD1-linked ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease) affects motor neurons (MNs) in the brain and spinal cord. Understanding the pathophysiology of this condition seems crucial for therapeutic design, yet few electrophysiological studies in actively degenerating animal models have been reported. Here, we report a novel preparation of acute slices from adult mouse spinal cord, allowing visualized whole cell patch-clamp recordings of fluorescent lumbar MN cell bodies from ChAT-eGFP or superoxide dismutase 1-yellow fluorescent protein (SOD1YFP) transgenic animals up to 6 mo of age.

Selective functional interactions between excitatory and inhibitory cortical neurons and differential contribution to persistent activity of the slow oscillation.

The neocortex depends upon a relative balance of recurrent excitation and inhibition for its operation. During spontaneous Up states, cortical pyramidal cells receive proportional barrages of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic potentials. Many of these synaptic potentials arise from the activity of nearby neurons, although the identity of these cells is relatively unknown, especially for those underlying the generation of inhibitory synaptic events.