New Technologies in Pediatric Spine Surgery.

Spinal fusion in young children for treatment of early onset scoliosis is not optimal because it limits growth and contributes to long-term lung compromise. Various types of growth-friendly spinal implants and newer technologies have been introduced in the past few years. Similarly, in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, fusion decreases spinal mobility and may lead to development of adjacent level disc degeneration.

The "Skipped Segment Screw" Construct: An Alternative to Conventional Lateral Mass Fixation-Biomechanical Analysis in a Porcine Cervical Spine Model.

Study Design: Cadaveric biomechanical study.

Purpose: We compared the "skipped segment screw" (SSS) construct with the conventional "all segment screw" (ASS) construct for cervical spine fixation in six degrees of freedom in terms of the range of motion (ROM).

Overview Of Literature: Currently, no clear guidelines are available in the literature for the configuration of lateral mass (LM) screwrod fixation for cervical spine stabilization.

'Munchausen syndrome': a forgotten diagnosis in the spine.

Purpose: To present the case of a patient with Munchausen's syndrome who underwent multiple surgeries in the spine before the diagnosis was made and, therefore, to highlight the importance of this obscure condition that can result in unnecessary surgical treatment.

Methods: A 44-year-old businesswoman presented with multiple episodes of low back pain and weakness in both lower limbs over past 11 years. Past history consisted of multiple hospitalizations, and three surgeries on her lumbar spine at different hospitals, with dramatic improvement in symptoms being reported each time after surgery.