Relationship Between Clinical Symptoms and Skin Autofluorescence in Hemodialysis Patients as a Measure of Advanced Glycation End-Product Accumulation.

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between skin autofluorescence (SAF), as a measure of advanced glycation end-product (AGE) accumulation and osteoporosis and clinical symptoms in hemodialysis patients. Methodology The study participants were 156 hemodialysis patients (97 males, 59 females, mean = 66.9 years, range = 25-92 years) who visited our hospital between October 2019 and March 2020.

The nature of osteoporotic low back pain without acute vertebral fracture: A prospective multicenter study on the analgesic effect of monthly minodronic acid hydrate.

Background: Patients with osteoporosis but no evidence of fracture can sometimes report low back pain. However, few studies have evaluated the nature of osteoporotic low back pain in a clinical situation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the nature of osteoporotic low back pain without fracture, and the analgesic effect of minodronic acid hydrate on such pain.

Efficacy of TachoSil, a Fibrin-Based Hemostat, for Anterior Lumbar Spine Surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Purpose: To examine the efficacy of TachoSil for vessel injury in 6 patients who underwent anterior lumbar fusion surgery (ALF).

Overview Of Literature: ALF for the lumbar spine has a high rate of success, although intraoperative concerns and iatrogenic complications are known, and injury of a major vessel is sometimes a complication.

Pregabalin for Refractory Radicular Leg Pain due to Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Preliminary Prospective Study.

We investigated the efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) for neuropathic leg pain in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients with disturbed activities of daily living (ADL)/quality of life (QOL) in a prospective observational study. Subjects were a total of 104 LSS patients with neuropathic pain (NeP) in leg and neurological intermittent claudication (IMC) refractory to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for at least a month. NeP was identified using screening tool, Pain DETECT questionnaire.

Perioperative Complications in 155 Patients Who Underwent Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion Surgery: Perspectives and Indications From a Retrospective, Multicenter Survey.

Study Design: A retrospective multicenter survey.

Objective: To investigate the perioperative complications of oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: OLIF has been widely performed to achieve minimally invasive, rigid lumbar lateral interbody fusion.

Miniopen oblique lateral L5-s1 interbody fusion: a report of 2 cases.

Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) has been widely used for minimally invasive anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), but an approach to L5-S1 is difficult because of the iliac crest. In the current study, we present 2 cases using minimally invasive oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) of L5-S1. The patients showed foraminal stenosis between L5 and S1 and severe low back and leg pain.

Incidence of nocturnal leg cramps in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis before and after conservative and surgical treatment.

Purpose: To examine the effects of conservative and surgical treatments for nocturnal leg cramps in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Nocturnal leg cramps is frequently observed in patients with peripheral neuropathy. However, there have been few reports on the relationship between nocturnal leg cramps and LSS, and it remains unknown whether conservative or surgical intervention has an impact on leg cramps in patients with LSS.

Conservative and surgical treatment improves pain and ankle-brachial index in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Purpose: The pathological mechanism of lumbar spinal stenosis is reduced blood flow in nerve roots and degeneration of nerve roots. Exercise and prostaglandin E1 is used for patients with peripheral arterial disease to increase capillary flow around the main artery and improve symptoms; however, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), an estimation of blood flow in the main artery in the leg, does not change after treatment. Lumbar spinal nerve roots contain somatosensory, somatomotor, and unmyelinated autonomic nerves.

Associations between proinflammatory cytokines in the synovial fluid and radiographic grading and pain-related scores in 47 consecutive patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Background: One of the sources of knee pain in osteoarthritis (OA) is believed to be related to local chronic inflammation of the knee joints, which involves the production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)-6, and nerve growth factor (NGF) in the synovial membrane, and these cytokines are believed to promote pathological OA. In the present study, correlations between proinflammatory cytokines in knee synovial fluid and radiographic changes and functional scores and pain scores among OA patients were examined.

Methods: Synovial fluid was harvested from the knees of 47 consecutive OA patients, and the levels of TNFα, IL-6, and NGF were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Evaluation of low back pain using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire for lumbar spinal disease in a multicenter study: differences in scores based on age, sex, and type of disease.

Background: The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) has investigated the JOA Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) to evaluate several aspects of low back pain in patients. The score includes five categories (25 items) selected from the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire and Short Form 36, and a visual analogue scale. Japanese physicians have recently used these scores to evaluate back pain; however, the efficacy has not been fully explored in large-scale studies.

The knee-spine syndrome. Association between lumbar lordosis and extension of the knee.

Degenerative changes of the knee often cause loss of extension. This may affect aspects of posture such as lumbar lordosis. A total of 366 patients underwent radiological examination of the lumbar spine in a standing position.

Osteochondroma in the lumbar spinal canal causing sciatic pain: report of two cases.

A search of the English-language medical literature found only two cases in which expansion of an osteochondroma into the lumbar spinal canal caused sciatica. We report another two cases of spinal nerve root compression by solitary lumbar spinal canal osteochondromas: in a 56-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman with no history of hereditary multiple exostoses. Osteochondromas compressing the spinal nerve root were seen at the inferior articular processes of the lumbar vertebrae by computed tomography (CT), three-dimensional reconstruction of CT scans, myelography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Changes in lumbar lordosis in young patients with low back pain during a 10-year period.

Height and muscle strength have reportedly changed among Japanese youth during the past 10 years. Height has increased, and the back muscles have become weaker than 10 years ago. We compared the lumbar lordosis of youth today (113 men and 76 women) and of 10 years ago (85 men and 62 women).

Changes in scoliotic curvature and lordotic angle during the early phase of degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

Study Design: Longitudinal radiographic measurements of the lumbar alignment in clinical cases were performed.

Objective: To clarify the progressive process of degenerative lumbar scoliosis during its early phase by conducting a longitudinal study.

Summary Of Background Data: Previous studies on the alignment changes of degenerative lumbar scoliosis have been conducted only on patients with seriously symptomatic lumber scoliosis, such as those who have undergone surgical treatment.