Purpose: To evaluate the complications and postoperative outcomes of implant removal after posterior fixation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients who underwent implant removal after posterior corrective fixation for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis between 2002 and 2014. Complications were evaluated in the 116 patients who underwent implant removal at their choice.
Background: We evaluated the clinical, functional, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes of surgical treatment of thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (T-OPLL).
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 51 patients followed for ≥10 years after posterior decompression and corrective fusion surgery for T-OPLL. The data collected included demographics, comorbidities, and pre- and postoperative symptoms.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage or trauma to the spinal cord, which often results in loss of function, sensation, or mobility below the injury site. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and affordable brain stimulation technique used to modulate neuronal circuits, which changes the morphology and activity of microglia in the cerebral cortex. However, whether similar morphological changes can be observed in the spinal cord remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate changes in postoperative mobility status in patients with ASD, and the determining factors that influence these changes and their impact on clinical outcomes, including the rate of home discharge and long-term mobility.
Methods: A total of 299 patients with ASD who underwent multi-segment posterior spinal fusion were registered in a multi-center database were investigated. Patient mobility status was assessed using walking aids and classified into five levels (1: independent, 2: cane, 3: walker, 4: assisted, and 5: wheelchair) preoperatively, at discharge, and after 2 years.
Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the relation between global spinal alignment and the necessity of walking aid use in patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) and to investigate the impact of spinal fixation on mobility status after surgery.
Methods: In total, 456 older patients with ASD who had multi-segment spinal fixation surgery and were registered in a multi-center database were investigated. Patients under 60 years of age and those unable to walk preoperatively were excluded.
Purpose: To determine the most valid bone health parameter to predict mechanical complications (MCs) following surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD).
Methods: This multicenter study retrospectively examined the records of patients who had undergone fusion of three or more motion segments, including the pelvis, with a minimum two-year follow-up period. Patients with moderate and severe global alignment and proportion scores were included in the study and divided into two groups: those who developed MCs and those who did not.
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the involvement of whole-body compensatory alignment in different conditions of spinopelvic sagittal balance (compensated/decompensated).
Methods: We enrolled 330 individuals who underwent medical checkups and divided them according to sagittal vertical axis (SVA): for the compensated group, this was <4 cm, (group C) and for the decompensated group, it was ≥4 cm, (group D). The correlation between the lack of ideal lumbar lordosis (iLL), which was calculated by using the Schwab formula, and the compensatory radiographic parameters in each group was analyzed.
Background: The current study aimed to investigate the anatomical position of the gonadal veins (GVs) from the viewpoint of spine surgery and the risk factors associated with lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF).
Methods: This retrospective study included 99 consecutive patients. The GV locations were divided into the ventral (V), dorsal medial (DM), and dorsal lateral (DL) sides based on lumbar disk levels on axial contrast-enhanced computed tomography images.
Background: This study aimed to characterize the anatomical relationship between the spine, the celiac artery (CA), and the median arcuate ligament using preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images of patients with spinal deformity who underwent surgical correction.
Methods: This retrospective study included 81 consecutive patients (34 males, 47 females; average age: 70.2 years).
Introduction: The importance of lower-limb compensation in patients with spinal malalignment due to spinal pathologies has been emphasized. The latest whole-body X-ray images (WBX) have enabled evaluations of whole-body alignment from head to toe. However, WBX is still not commonly available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Lumbar fusion combined with lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) and percutaneous pedicle screws (PPS) is a widely used, minimally invasive surgical treatment, but studies on incidence and risk factors for subsequent adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) are limited. This study was aimed at investigating midterm incidence and reoperation rate of ASD after indirect decompression (IDD) with LLIF and PPS and at clarifying the impact of preexisting adjacent facet osteoarthritis on development of ASD after IDD.
Methods: Forty-one patients who underwent short-segment (1- or 2-level) lumbar fusion with LLIF and PPS with a minimum 5-year follow-up were analyzed.