Are Randomized Trials Better? Comparison of Baseline Covariate Balance of a Propensity Score-Balanced Lumbar Spine IDE Trial and Comparable RCTs.

Study Design: Prospective Observational Propensity Score.

Objectives: Randomization may lead to bias when the treatment is unblinded and there is a strong patient preference for treatment arms (such as in spinal device trials). This report describes the rationale and methods utilized to develop a propensity score (PS) model for an investigational device exemption (IDE) trial (NCT03115983) to evaluate decompression and stabilization with an investigational dynamic sagittal tether (DST) vs decompression and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF) for patients with symptomatic grade I lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis.

Minimally Invasive vs Open Surgery for Thoracolumbar Fractures Treatment: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Prospective Studies.

Study Design: Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to pool the available data comparing MIS to open surgery for thoracolumbar fractures and provide a more comprehensive assessment on this topic.

Background: There remains a debate over whether minimally invasive surgery (MIS) or open fixation provides superior outcomes for patients with thoracolumbar fractures.

L4-L5 Facet Dislocation Treated in a Delayed Fashion with Excellent Early Clinical Results.

Introduction: Introduction: Lumbar facet fracture-dislocations are rare injuries that are generated from a significant trauma. Literature regarding these injuries is limited to case reports, and there are even more limited reports concerning whether the delay of operative intervention in neurologically intact patients can achieve good clinical results if concomitant injuries and/or medical issues preclude urgent operative intervention. There has been no consensus on which operative techniques are effective in achieving an anatomic reduction of these injuries.