Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is proven to effectively relieve chronic neuropathic pain. However, some implanted patients may face loss of efficacy (LoE) over time, and conversion to more recent devices may rescue SCS therapy. Recent SCS systems offer novel stimulation capabilities, such as temporal modulation and spatial neural targeting, and can be used to replace previous neurostimulators without changing existing leads.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Since 2002, France has adopted the Patients' Rights Law, an alternative malpractice scheme creating a faster, less expensive out-of-court settlement ensuring compensation even in the absence of fault. We aimed to describe the implications of this system by analyzing 5 years of claims for infections related to spinal surgeries collected by the main insurer of French spine surgeons.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 98 anonymized malpractice claims from 2015 to 2019 (20% of overall claims), including anonymized medical records of the patients, reports of the independent experts, final judgments, and entities supporting the compensation if any.
Given the differing mechanisms thought to underlie therapeutic sub- and supra-perception-based neurostimulative modalities, Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) systems designed for combined delivery of these approaches may help improve analgesic outcomes and quality of life, and reduce treatment failures. This multicenter, observational case-series evaluated 188 patients with chronic back and/or leg pain implanted with an SCS device capable of sequential or simultaneous delivery of sub-perception and supra-perception stimulation programming (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Spine surgery is one of the specialties with the highest medicolegal risk, with a legal action initiated every 17 months per practitioner. One of the most dreaded complications is an epidural hematoma with postoperative deficit. The treatment of this complication is still being debated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Spinal surgeries carry risks of malpractice litigation due to the random nature of their functional results, which may not meet patient expectations, and the hazards associated with these complex procedures. Claims are frequent and costly. In France, since 2002, a new law, the Patients' Rights Law of March 4, 2002, has created an alternative, out-of-court scheme, which established a simplified, rapid, free-of-charge procedure (Commission for Conciliation and Compensation [CCI]).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To obtain real-life data on the most common practices used for management of incidental durotomy (ID) in France.
Methods: Data were collected from spinal surgeons using a practice-based online questionnaire. The survey comprised 31 questions on the current management of ID in France.
Background: The judicialization of medicine can lead to professional disenchantment and defensive attitudes among surgeons. Some quantitative studies have investigated this topic in spine surgery, but none has provided direct thematic feedback from physicians. This qualitative study aimed to identify the impact of this phenomenon in the practice of spine neurosurgeons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExperiments in animals have shown that the temporal pole and the amygdala are involved in auditory processing. Comparable data are scarce in humans. It is only known that after temporal lobectomy, hearing may be impaired and dichotic listening scores reduced on the ear contralateral to the operated temporal lobe.
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