Metformin-associated lactic acidosis after elective cervical spine fusion: a case report.

Study Design: A case of metformin-associated lactic acidosis after elective spinal surgery is reported.

Objective: To inform spinal surgeons of this potentially fatal side effect and make them aware that metformin should be stopped 48 hours before surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: Metformin is a commonly used oral hypoglycemic agent used in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Osteogenic growth peptide normally stimulated by blood loss and marrow ablation has local and systemic effects on fracture healing in rats.

Osteogenic growth peptide, a histone H4-related, 14-amino-acid peptide, is an active mediator of local, as well as systemic, osteogenic activity in response to marrow ablation, trauma, and blood loss. In this study, the effect of exogenous osteogenic growth peptide on the healing of femoral fractures in rats was investigated. A fracture at the midshaft of the femur was created in 50 rats.

Percutaneous posterolateral discectomy. Anatomy and mechanism.

The evacuation and decompression of the herniated lumbar disc through a sheath inserted dorsolaterally represents a new concept in the treatment of radiculopathy associated with disc herniation. Only a small portion of the spinal nerve before its decent and positioning anterior to the transverse process is subject to insult by an instrument introduced into the intervertebral disc through a posterolateral approach. The chance of injury to the spinal nerve is further minimized when the instruments are introduced a distance of approximately 9-10 cm from the midline, parallel to the vertebral plates, and penetrating the annulus at 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock.

Fracture healing in the rabbit fibula when subjected to various capacitively coupled electrical fields.

The effect of capacitively coupled electrical stimulation on the healing of midshaft transverse osteotomies of the rabbit fibula is assessed roentgenographically, mechanically, and histologically. The results show that a dose-response curve for capacitive coupling and fracture healing exists and that a 220 mV, 250 microA, 60 kHz applied electrical signal (0.33 V/cm internal electric field) is the most effective signal for fracture stimulation in this model.