Bone scintigraphy with SPECT/CT in paediatric patients with neck and back pain in comparison with other imaging modalities: the experience of a tertiary paediatric referral centre.

Objective: Retrospective review of the additional clinical value provided by single photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography (SPECT/CT) in children and adolescents with back pain.

Methods: A total of 207 consecutive paediatric patients (94 males, 113 females, age range 5-17 years, median age 14 years) were reviewed after referral to the spinal surgery clinic of a paediatric teaching hospital between November 2009 and February 2021. All patients had either only whole spine X-rays or whole spine x-rays and MRI, along with bone scan with planar whole-body images and SPECT/CT (with spot views of painful area).

Systematic Review of Cost-Effectiveness Analyses Comparing Open and Minimally Invasive Lumbar Spinal Surgery.

Background: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has benefits over open surgery for lumbar decompression and/or fusion. Published literature on its cost-effectiveness vs open techniques is mixed.

Objective: Systematically review the cost-effectiveness of minimally invasive vs open lumbar spinal surgical decompression, fusion, or discectomy using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Mortality in Patients with Proximal Femoral Fracture During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A U.K. Hospital's Experience.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic, with a case mortality ratio of approximately 6.4% at the time of writing (May 2020). Mortality increases in elderly patients with comorbidities.