Surgeon perceptions of the complications and value of threaded fusion cages as a spine fusion technique: results of a consensus survey.

Background Context: Threaded cage technology has had a meteoric rise in usage. It has been touted as a procedure with low risk and minimal complications.

Purpose: To gauge the spine surgical community's general consensus regarding cage usage and its complications.

Evaluation of registration methods used in frameless stereotactic surgery for the lumbar and cervical regions of the spine.

Computer-assisted pedicle screw insertion is feasible but has proved to be problematic. The purpose of this study was to detail the accuracy of registration techniques and pedicle screw insertion using a frameless stereotactic system. Two registration techniques were evaluated on a model spine.

Relative effectiveness of electrically- vs mechanically-elicited EMGs in detecting pedicle wall perforation and surgically-induced nerve root damage.

Electrical stimulation of a pedicle hole and screw with recording EMGs from the lower extremities has been used as an indicator in detecting perforations of the pedicle. Mechanically-elicited EMGs are reported to be sensitive to mechanical irritation of nerve roots. This study analyzed the sensitivity of the data elicited by two EMG monitoring methods in the presence of a neurologic deficit caused by a malpositioned screw to determine the relative effectiveness of electrically- vs mechanically-elicited EMGs in detecting pedicle wall perforations and nerve root damage in patients undergoing spinal surgery utilizing transpedicular instrumentation.

Pseudarthrosis repair. Autogenous iliac crest versus femoral ring allograft.

Pseudarthrosis repair in the lumbar spine is one of the most challenging problems faced by spine surgeons. Historically high failure rates with posterior repair have led to the use of anterior lumbar interbody fusion with tricortical iliac crest autograft in these difficult cases. More recently, femoral ring allografts packed with autograft bone have been advocated as another method that would decrease donor site morbidity.

Functional outcome of plate fusions for disorders of the occipitocervical junction.

Twenty-eight patients with average followup of 27 months (range, 12-51 months) required occipitocervical fusion with plates. A 1992 to 1996 consecutive case series enrolled patients prospectively from two institutions. Five surgeons participated.