Evaluation of the resection efficiency and safety of an enhanced power plasma generator using cadaveric intervertebral discs.

Plasma energy has been used to provide minimally invasive interventional treatment for spinal problems. However, this procedure has been used for limited indications mainly because of its small resection range. To overcome this problem, we designed the enhanced power plasma device.

Optimal placement for needle electromyography of the supinator muscle: Cadaveric studies.

Introduction/aims: The existing methods for needle electromyography are confusing as to which is the safest and most effective. Our aim was to identify the optimal and safest needle electromyographic insertion site in the supinator muscle.

Methods: We performed a two-step cadaveric dissection of the supinator muscle and related neurovascular structures.

An Updated Overview of Low Back Pain Management.

We aimed to determine the recommendation level for the treatment of acute and chronic low back pain (LBP). A systematic review (SR) of the literature was performed and all English-language articles that discuss acute and chronic LBP, including MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, were searched. Of the 873 searched literature reports, 259 articles, including 131 clinical trials, 115 SRs, nine meta-analyses, and four clinical guidelines were analyzed.

Two-year clinical outcomes of radiofrequency focal ablation using a navigable plasma disc decompression device in patients with lumbar disc herniation: efficacy and complications.

Purpose: To report on the 2-year clinical outcomes of focal ablation using a navigable plasma disc decompression device in patients with lumbar herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP).

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective, single-cohort study conducted in a clinical center. A total of 170 patients with lumbar HNP were assessed for pain intensity using the visual analog scale (VAS), for disability level using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODI), for health-related quality of life using the short form-36 version 2 of the bodily pain scale (SF-36 BP), and for the angles of passive straight leg raise (SLR) test.

Optimal Parameters for Intervertebral Disk Resection Using Aqua-Plasma Beams.

Objective:  A minimally invasive procedure for intervertebral disk resection using plasma beams has been developed. Conventional parameters for the plasma procedure such as voltage and tip speed mainly rely on the surgeon's personal experience, without adequate evidence from experiments. Our objective was to determine the optimal parameters for plasma disk resection.

Foot drop caused by a movable cystic mass during knee motion.

Background: Nerve injury due to a movable cystic mass during knee motion is a rare neuropathy, which can be diagnosed precisely using a dynamic ultrasonogram.

Objective: To present a case with foot drop and common peroneal neuropathy that involved a movable cystic mass during knee flexion adjacent to the proximal tibiofibular joint.

Methods: Case report.

Feasibility of Navigable Percutaneous Disk Decompressor (L'DISQ-C) for Cervical Disk Herniation.

Objective:  To assess the procedural efficacy and safety of a Navigable Percutaneous Disk Decompressor (L'DISQ-C) for cervical disk herniation.

Methods:  We performed intradiskal decompression on cervical spine specimens from five human cadavers using the L'DISQ-C under C-arm fluoroscopic guidance. We evaluated our success for positioning the navigable wand tip into the target region and recorded temperature variation at various distances from the wand tip in the cervical nucleus pulposus.

Clinical Efficacy of Selective Focal Ablation by Navigable Percutaneous Disc Decompression Device in Patients With Cervical Herniated Nucleus Pulposus.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety following percutaneous disc decompression, using navigable disc decompression device for cervical herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP).

Methods: Twenty subjects diagnosed with cervical HNP and refractory to conservative management were enrolled for the study. The herniated discs were decompressed under fluoroscopic guidance, using radiofrequency ablation device with navigable wand.

The Factors Associated With the Successful Outcomes of Percutaneous Disc Decompression in Patients With Lumbar Herniated Nucleus Pulposus.

Objective: To determine clinical and radiological factors that predict the successful outcome of percutaneous disc decompression (PDD) in patients with lumbar herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological features of patients who underwent lumbar PDD from April 2009 to March 2013. Sixty-nine patients with lumbar HNP were studied.

Effectiveness of a new navigable percutaneous disc decompression device (L'DISQ) in patients with lumbar discogenic pain.

Objective: This study is a pilot study to assess the clinical outcomes of percutaneous disc decompression using the L'DISQ in patients with lumbar discogenic pain.

Study Design: An institutional, prospective clinical data analysis.

Methods: We ablated the torn annulus using L'DISQ on 20 patients with axial low back pain for at least 3 months (average 29 months) unresponsive to conservative management.

Percutaneous transforaminal epidural injection method in an experimental rat: minimally invasive drug delivery method to spinal epidural space.

Objective: To compare a newly developed minimally-invasive method for percutaneous transforaminal epidural injection (INJ group) with the existing method for lumbar epidural catheterization (CATH group).

Method: Through anatomical review of experimental rats, the cephalic one fourth of the neural foramen was selected as the target point for drug delivery. After the rats had undergone lumbar epidural catheterization, lidocaine, and 1% methylene blue were injected through the unilateral or bilateral L5/6 neural foramen in the INJ group, and through an epidural catheter in the CATH group.

An assessment of a new navigatable percutaneous disc decompression device (l'DISQ) through histologic evaluation and thermo-mapping in human cadaveric discs.

Study Design: This is an in vitro experimental study of the technical capability and safety study of a navigable percutaneous disc decompression device named L'DISQ.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine if L'DISQ could adequately reach certain target zones in the disc and to measure the distribution of rises in temperature in the surrounding tissue when the device was used to ablate the disc.

Methods: Placement of the wand of L'DISQ was attempted into the posterior annulus of the discs of four fresh human cadavers.

Ulnar neuropathy at the wrist in a patient with carpal tunnel syndrome after open carpal tunnel release.

Ulnar neuropathy at the wrist is rarely reported as complications of carpal tunnel release. Since it can sometimes be confused with recurrent median neuropathy at the wrist or ulnar neuropathy at the elbow, an electrodiagnostic study is useful for detecting the lesion in detail. We present a case of a 51-year-old woman with a two-week history of right ulnar palm and 5(th) digit tingling sensation that began 3 months after open carpal tunnel release surgery of the right hand.

Efficacy of a new navigable percutaneous disc decompression device (L'DISQ) in patients with herniated nucleus pulposus related to radicular pain.

Study Design: An institutional, prospective clinical data analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new navigable percutaneous disc decompression device (L'DISQ) in patients with lumbar disc herniation with radicular pain.

Methods And Outcome Measures: We performed disc decompressions using L'DISQ on 27 patients with persistent disabling back and leg pain for 1 month or longer (average 6.