Substantial improvement in short-term pain following carpal tunnel surgery for patients with moderate preoperative electromyography findings is diminished with diabetes and smoking.

Purpose: Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common orthopedic diagnosis that often benefits from surgical intervention. There is limited published data analyzing the correlation of smoking and diabetes with the outcomes of open carpal tunnel release, specifically with pain perception and electrophysiology results. The purpose of this study is to determine if smoking and diabetes affect preoperative pain perception in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome when correlated with EMG findings and to determine the differences in pain relief obtained 2 weeks post-operatively in this population.

Intradural cervical herniated nucleus pulposus presentation and management: a case report.

Background: Intradural disc herniations (IDH) are uncommon and can be found in the cervical spine. It is commonly associated with Brown-Sequard syndrome (BSS). The case report describes cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings that assists in identifying IDH pre-operatively and discusses surgical management.

Comorbidities associated with cervical spine degenerative disc disease.

Determining important links between medical comorbidities and cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD) will help elucidate pathomechanisms of disc degeneration. Electronic medical records and magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate 799 patients assessed for cervical spine pathology. Bivariate analysis identified older age, diabetes, ASA class, cancer, COPD, depression, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Medicare status, peripheral vascular disease, history of previous cervical spine surgery, smoking, and lower median household income as having strong associations with increased cumulative grade of cervical spine DDD.

Responsiveness of routine diagnostic tests for vertebral osteomyelitis may be influenced by the infecting organism.

Background Context: Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) becomes increasingly more prevalent as people age, and it is a condition seen frequently by referral center spine surgeons. It can take as long as 6 months for a proper diagnosis to be made. Staphylococcus aureus (S.

Evaluation of Predictors and Outcomes of Bracing with Emphasis on the Immediate Effects of in-Brace Correction in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is defined as a lateral curvature of the spine of unknown etiology with a Cobb angle of greater than 10 degrees with vertebral rotation. Bracing, specifically with a rigid thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO), decreases the risk of curve progression to over 50 degrees, the threshold for surgical intervention. Some authors have suggested that 30-50% in-brace correction of the Cobb angles is required to prevent significant curve progression.

The Effect of Pain Relief on Daily Physical Activity: In-Home Objective Physical Activity Assessment in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients after Paravertebral Spinal Block.

This study evaluates the effect of paravertebral spinal injection (PSI), utilizing both subjective and objective assessments in chronic low back pain (LBP) associated with facet joint arthrosis over a one-month duration. Subjective questionnaires included the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, the Oswestry Disability Index, the Health Survey SF-12, and the short Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I). Objective assessments included in-clinic gait and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tests using wearable sensors, as well as 48 h daily physical activity (DPA) monitored using a chest-worn triaxial accelerometer.

Paravertebral spinal injection for the treatment of patients with degenerative facet osteoarthropathy: Evidence of motor performance improvements based on objective assessments.

Background: This study examined short- and long-term improvements in motor performance, quantified using wearable sensors, in response to facet spine injection in degenerative facet osteoarthropathy patients.

Methods: Adults with confirmed degenerative facet osteoarthropathy were recruited and were treated with medial or intermediate branch block injection. Self-report pain, health condition, and disability (Oswestry), as well as objective motor performance measures (gait, balance, and timed-up-and-go) were obtained in five sessions: pre-surgery (baseline), immediately after the injection, one-month, three-month, and 12-month follow-ups.

Postural Balance Parameters as Objective Surgical Assessments in Low Back Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Balance assessments could render useful objective performance measures to evaluate the efficacy of low back surgeries, yet these assessments have not been collectively examined to determine longitudinal sensitivity across surgical interventions. The purpose of this review was to determine sensitivity of balance measurements for disparate spinal disorders after surgical intervention. We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL.

Gait behaviors as an objective surgical outcome in low back disorders: A systematic review.

Background: Objective motor performance measures, especially gait assessment, could improve evaluation of low back disorder surgeries. However, no study has compared the relative effectiveness of gait parameters for assessing motor performance in low back disorders after surgery. The purpose of the current review was to determine the sensitive gait parameters that address physical improvements in each specific spinal disorder after surgical intervention.