Erythropoietin to Treat Spinal Cord Injury: Evaluation of Different Doses and Magnitudes of Trauma in Rats.

Study Design: Experimental spinal cord lesion study.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of erythropoietin at different doses on neural regeneration in rats undergoing spinal cord injury.

Methods: Anesthetized Wistar rats were submitted to standardized spinal cord injury and randomized into eight groups, receiving different magnitudes of trauma and single or repeated doses of intraperitoneal erythropoietin (500 or 5000 IU/kg of body weight).

Glutathione effect on functional and histological recovery after spinal cord injury in rats.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the GSH effect on functional and histological recovery after experimental spinal cord injury in rats.

Methods: Forty Wistar rats were subjected to spinal cord injury through the Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study (MASCIS) Impactor system. The rats were sorted and divided into four groups, as follows: Group 1 ‒ Laminectomy and spinal cord injury; Group 2 ‒ Laminectomy, spinal cord injury and Saline Solution (SS) 0.

Access to the Lumbosacral Spine: A Current View.

The surgical approach to the lumbosacral spine has been the subject of experimental and scientific anatomical studies since the Hippocratic era. However, it was in the 20th century that, with the evolution of asepsis and antibiotic therapy, spine surgery began to evolve at breakneck speed, and the various possibilities of access roads became objects of development and discussion. As a result, pathologies of the lumbosacral spine can be accessed in different ways and positions, from the traditional posterior approach in the prone position to the anterior, oblique, lateral, and endoscopic approaches.

Health-Related Predictive Factors of Brazilian Children With Early Onset Scoliosis Using the EOSQ-24 and CHQ-PF50 Questionnaires.

Background: Assessing the quality of life (QOL) of children with early onset scoliosis (EOS) has been discussed recently. Therefore, the study aimed to apply and correlate the 24-item Early Onset Scoliosis Questionnaire (EOSQ-24) with the 50-item Childhood Health Questionnaire (CHQ-PF50) to find predictive factors impacting QOL.

Methods: Cross-sectional study involving a population of caregivers of patients with EOS.

Evaluation of the effect of intrathecal GM1 in 24, 48, and 72 hours after acute spinal cord injury in rats.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the best timing and feasibility of intrathecal application of sodium monosialoganglioside (GM1) after spinal cord contusion in Wistar rats as an experimental model.

Methods: Forty Wistar rats were submitted to contusion spinal cord injury after laminectomy. The animals were randomized and divided into four groups: Group 1 - Intrathecal application of GM1 24 hours after contusion; Group 2 - Intrathecal application of GM1 48 hours after contusion; Group 3 - intrathecal application of GM1 72 hours after contusion; Group 4 - Sham, with laminectomy and intrathecal application of 0.

IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SPINE SURGERY IN A TERTIARY HEALTH CARE INSTITUTION.

Objectives: To assess postoperative complications, including COVID-19 infection, among patients undergoing surgeries at a tertiary institution during the pandemic, and to develop a local epidemiological profile of spine surgery patients.

Methods: Retrospective descriptive study of all patients who underwent spine surgery between March 2020 and 14 January 2021 in a tertiary institution in Latin America. All patients who underwent spine surgery were included, without age restrictions.

TOMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF C7, T1 AND T2 VERTEBRAE ANATOMY IN CHILDREN.

Objective: To evaluate and compare anatomical measurements of C7, T1 and T2 vertebrae in children from 3 to 12 years of age to provide useful epidemiological data for determining the safe anatomical margin for transpedicular and translaminar fixation with screws in this population.

Methods: This observational retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated 76 computed tomography scans obtained over 6 months, analyzing the following parameters: the angle of attack, length, thickness and diameter of the pedicle; and the angle of attack, length and thickness of the lamina.

Results: The lamina length and thickness, as well as pedicle length varied in size according to age.

Risk Factors Associated with Postoperative Infection in Cancer Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery.

Objectives: To determine the rate of and main risk factors for postoperative infection in cancer patients who underwent spine surgery in the last 5 years in order to determine whether there is an association between postoperative infection and increased mortality during hospitalization.

Methods: All cancer patients who underwent surgical procedures between January 2015 and December 2019 at a single hospital specializing in spine cancer surgery were analyzed. The primary outcome of interest was postoperative infection.

Standardization of an experimental model of intradural injection after spinal cord injury in rats.

Objectives: The intrathecal route has not yet been thoroughly standardized and evaluated in an experimental model of spinal cord injury (SCI) in Wistar rats. The objective of this study was to standardize and evaluate the effect of intradural injection in this animal model.

Method: The animals were divided into 6 groups: 1) laminectomy and intradural catheter; 2) laminectomy, intradural catheter and infusion; 3) only SCI; 4) SCI and intradural catheter; 5) SCI, intradural catheter and infusion; and 6) control (laminectomy only).

Adult Degenerative Scoliosis.

Populational aging increases the incidence of musculoskeletal degenerative processes, such as adult scoliosis (AS). Adult scoliosis is defined as a spinal deformity in the coronal plane with a Cobb angle > 10°. Adult scoliosis may be iatrogenic or result from a degenerative process (scoliosis ) or a pre-existing scoliosis.

Comparative tomographic study of the iliac screw and the S2-alar-iliac screw in children.

Objectives: The recent advancements in spine fixation aid in the treatment of complex spinal pathologies. Both the iliac screw (IS) and the S2-alar-iliac (S2AI) screw provide adequate stability in the fixation of complex lumbosacral spine pathologies, leading to a significant increased rate of using these techniques in the daily practice of the spine surgeons. This study aims to analyze, describe, and compare the insertion and positioning parameters of the S2AI screw and IS techniques in children without spinal deformities.

Assessment of the Accuracy of the AO Spine-TL Classification for Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures Using the AO Surgery Reference Mobile App.

Study Design: Cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the AO Surgery Reference mobile app in the diagnosis of thoracolumbar fractures of the spine according to the AO TL classification, and to discuss the usefulness of this app in the teaching and training of the resident physicians in orthopedics and traumatology area.

Methods: The 24 residents of Orthopedic and Traumatology program assessed 20 cases of thoracolumbar fractures selected from the hospital database on 2 different occasions, with a 30-day interval, and they classified these cases with and without using the AO Surgery Reference app.

Clinical and Radiological Results After Minimally Invasive Transpsoas Lateral Access Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Stenosis.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Objective: The lateral transpsoas access is a retroperitoneal approach for the lumbar spine to perform the lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF), an intersomatic arthrodesis performed with a cage placed on the lateral borders of the epiphyseal ring. The procedure can be used to provide indirect decompression of the nervous structures through the discectomy and restoration of the disc height.

Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy Versus Microdiscectomy for the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation: Pain, Disability, and Complication Rate-A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: The objective was to compare the traditional microdiscectomy with percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for the treatment of disc herniations regarding pain, disability, and complications.

Methods: Randomized clinical trial with 47 patients with disc herniations treated with 2 different surgical techniques: traditional microdiscectomy or percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy. Forty-seven patients were divided into 2 groups and monitored for 12 months.

Does Kyphectomy Improve the Quality of Life of Patients With Myelomeningocele?

Background: Lumbar kyphosis is a complex spinal deformity occurring in approximately 8% to 20% of patients with myelomeningocele. The resulting gibbosity may cause pressure ulcers, difficulty lying down in the supine position and sitting on the ischia without support, decreasing quality of life (QOL). Surgery is generally performed to correct kyphosis and maintain vertebral alignment, but high complication rates have been reported.

SPINE METASTASIS OF INTRACRANIAL HEMANGIOPERICYTOMA: CASE REPORT OF TWO TREATMENTS.

Objective: To report the use of two techniques (radiosurgery and vertebrectomy) on the same patient for the treatment of two metastases in different sites of the spine arising from intracranial hemangiopericytoma. Intracranial hemangiopericytomas are rare, comprising approximately 2.4% of meningeal tumors and <1% of all tumors of the central nervous system.

Evaluation of Alternative Halo Ring Positions in Children Using Tomography.

Objectives: The halo ring can be applied in children, through skeletal traction or a halo vest device, to treat many cervical spine pathologies, including traumatic injuries and pathologies related to deformities. However, the procedure is associated with various complications, such as infection, pin loosening, and respiratory and neurological problems. Although widely studied in adults, the best pin insertion site in children and the correlations of pin insertion sites with outcomes and complications have not been completely elucidated.

ROTATION ASSESSMENT IN ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS WITH ROD DEROTATION.

Objective: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is characterized by rotational and lateral deformity of the spine. The measurement of vertebral rotation is important for prognosis and treatment. Our objective was to evaluate whether the Nash-Moe method can be used to measure axial deformity correction with surgical treatment using the rod derotation maneuver at both the apex and extremities of the deformity in patients with AIS.

SURGICAL CORRECTION OF SEVERE AND FIXED CHIN-ON-CHEST DEFORMITY.

Objective: To describe a successful surgical treatment for the challenging severe and fixed chin-on-chest deformity due to isolated neck extensor myopathy (INEM).

Background Data: INEM is an idiopathic cause of dropped head syndrome (DHS) that results in severe cervicothoracic kyphosis, defined as chin-on-chest deformity. The existing literature on surgical management is limited, with outcomes ranging from poor to excellent.

COMPLICATED LUMBAR TUBERCULOUS SPONDYLODISCITIS IN DISSEMINATED TUBERCULOSIS, TREATED USING A NON-CONVENTIONAL ANTERIOR SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR HYDROSTATIC DISTRACTION: A CASE REPORT.

Objective: To describe a case of disseminated tuberculosis affecting the lumbar spine that was treated using a non-conventional anterior support system.

Background: Tuberculous spondylodiscitis is the most common and most severe form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Although antibiotic therapy is the most frequently used treatment, surgery is necessary in cases of neurological deficit, spinal instability, significant deformity, severe sepsis, paravertebral and epidural abscesses or in cases wherein clinical treatment has failed.