Correlation between pedicle size and the rate of pedicle screw misplacement in the treatment of thoracic fractures: Can we predict how difficult the task will be?

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Objective: To correlate the incidence of pedicle-screw (PS) misplacement with the dimensions of the pedicles in the treatment of thoracic spine fractures.

Summary Of Background Data: The technical challenge of internal fixation with PS in the thoracic spine has been well documented in the literature.

The epidemiology of assault-related hospital in-patient admissions and ED attendances.

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology and impact of serious assault warranting in-patient care over six years and its impact on ED attendances in a large teaching hospital in Dublin over 2 years. There were 16,079 emergency assault-related inpatient hospital discharges reducing from 60.1 per 100,000 population in 2005 to 50.

The arterial supply of the cervical and thoracic spinal muscles and overlying skin: Anatomical study with implications for surgical wound complications.

Postoperative spinal wound dehiscence is a significant complication following the posterior midline approach. It is postulated that this approach disrupts the vasculature supplying the paraspinal muscles and overlying skin. Although the spinal vasculature has been investigated previously, the smaller arterioles have not been described in the context of the posterior midline approach.

Trends in the incidence of lower extremity amputations in people with and without diabetes over a five-year period in the Republic of Ireland.

Aims: To describe trends in the incidence of non-traumatic amputations among people with and without diabetes and estimate the relative risk of an individual with diabetes undergoing a lower extremity amputation compared to an individual without diabetes in the Republic of Ireland.

Methods: All adults who underwent a nontraumatic amputation during 2005 to 2009 were identified using HIPE (Hospital In-patient Enquiry) data. Participants were classified as having diabetes or not having diabetes.

The economic cost of chronic noncancer pain in Ireland: results from the PRIME study, part 2.

Unlabelled: To assess the economic cost of chronic pain in Ireland, information was gathered from 140 people with chronic pain. Direct and indirect costs attributable to chronic pain and medical conditions of which chronic pain was a feature were recorded retrospectively for 12 months. Mean cost per chronic pain patient was estimated at €5,665 per year across all grades of pain, with mean costs increasing according to the severity of pain.