Outcomes Following Penetrating Brain Injuries in Military Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: While neurosurgeons are experienced in treating penetrating brain injuries (PBIs) in civilian settings, much less is known about management and outcomes of PBIs in military settings.

Methods: A systematic review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data extracted included surgical management, age, gender, location/type of injury, initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and outcomes.

Timing and risks of chemoprophylaxis after spinal surgery: a single-center experience with 6869 consecutive patients.

OBJECTIVE Venous thromboembolism (VTE) after spinal surgery is a major cause of morbidity, but chemoprophylactic anticoagulation can prevent it. However, there is variability in the timing and use of chemoprophylactic anticoagulation after spine surgery, particularly given surgeons' concerns for spinal epidural hematomas. The goal of this study was to provide insight into the safety, efficacy, and timing of anticoagulation therapy after spinal surgery.

Thirty-Day Readmission Risk Factors Following Single-Level Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF) for 4992 Patients From the ACS-NSQIP Database.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To describe the readmission rate and identify risk factors associated with 30-day readmission after transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery.

Methods: Patients who underwent elective single level TLIF surgery from 2011 to 2013 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database.

Assessment of Paraspinal Muscle Cross-sectional Area After Lumbar Decompression: Minimally Invasive Versus Open Approaches.

Study Design: A retrospective, blinded analysis of imaging studies.

Summary Of Background Data: To evaluate changes in paraspinal muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) after surgical treatment for lumbar stenosis and to compare these changes between minimally invasive and standard open approaches. The open approach to lumbar stenosis is effective, but it involves retraction and resection of muscle from the spinous process, which can result in ischemia and denervation of paraspinal musculature and may lead to muscle atrophy and pain.

Comparing Short-term Complications of Inpatient Versus Outpatient Single-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: An Analysis of 6940 Patients Using the ACS-NSQIP Database.

Study Design: Multicenter propensity score-adjusted retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine baseline 30-day complication rates for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and compare clinical complications for patients undergoing single-level ACDFs between inpatient and outpatient settings.

Summary Of Background Data: ACDF remains the most common procedure in the treatment of a variety of cervical disc pathologies, making it a focus of quality improvement initiatives.

Predictors for Airway Complications Following Single- and Multilevel Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

Study Design: A retrospective, multivariate analyses of a prospectively collected multicenter database.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for postoperative airway complications following single- and multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF).

Summary Of Background Data: Airway compromise following ACDF may result in catastrophic outcome.

Market-Based Health Care in Specialty Surgery: Finding Patient-Centered Shared Value.

: The US health care system is struggling with rising costs, poor outcomes, waste, and inefficiency. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents a substantial effort to improve access and emphasizes value-based care. Value in health care has been defined as health outcomes for the patient per dollar spent.

Predictors of unplanned readmission in patients undergoing lumbar decompression: multi-institutional analysis of 7016 patients.

Object: Unplanned hospital readmission represents a large financial burden on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, commercial insurance payers, hospitals, and individual patients, and is a principal target for cost reduction. A large-scale, multi-institutional study that evaluates risk factors for readmission has not been previously performed in patients undergoing lumbar decompression procedures. The goal of this multicenter retrospective study was to find preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative predictive factors that result in unplanned readmission (UR) after lumbar decompression surgery.

Predictors of thirty-day readmission after anterior cervical fusion.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine the incidence of and factors predicting 30-day readmission after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF).

Summary Of Background Data: ACDF is being performed on an increasing basis on a wider population of patients, which is accompanied by rising costs.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in spine surgery: indications, efficacy, and role of the preoperative checklist.

Spine surgery carries an inherent risk of damage to critical neural structures. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is frequently used to improve the safety of spine surgery by providing real-time assessment of neural structures at risk. Evidence-based guidelines for safe and efficacious use of IONM are lacking and its use is largely driven by surgeon preference and medicolegal issues.

Sir Victor Horsley's contributions to the study and treatment of gunshot wounds of the head.

Sir Victor Horsley'S many contributions to neurological surgery include experimental and clinical studies of gunshot wounds (GSW) of the head. Horsley's publications from 1894 to 1897 and 1914 to 1915 on GSWs were reviewed. Horsley described GSWs in animal and clay models, illustrating characteristics of the primary missile tract and secondary cavitation.