Anesthesia for Acute Spinal Cord Injury.

The spinal cord extends from the base of the skull to the first lumbar vertebrae from which it continues as cauda equina. Injuries to the spinal cord can lead to significant short- and long-term morbidities. Depending on the level of injury, morbidities may include acute hemodynamic changes, weakness of respiratory muscles and ventilator dependence, and loss of bowel and bladder function.

Cauda equina compression in metastatic prostate cancer.

A 67-year-old man presented to his general practitioner with intermittent episodes of unilateral sciatica over a 2-month period for which he was referred for an outpatient MRI of his spine. This evidenced a significant lumbar vertebral mass that showed tight canal stenosis and compression of the cauda equina. The patient was sent to the emergency department for management by orthopaedic surgeons.

Acute Spinal Extradural Hematoma and Cord Compression: Case Report and a Literature Review.

A 50-year-old Asian male presented to the emergency department with sudden onset of bilateral lower limb weakness preceded by lower back pain, which developed after lifting a moderately heavyweight. As the pain increased in intensity, the patient was transferred by ambulance to the emergency department, and en-route lost complete motor (0/5 power and absent reflexes) and sensory control over his lower limbs. The patient's medical history was significant for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and coronary artery disease with percutaneous coronary intervention in 2018 and 2019.

Oblique Lateral Retroperitoneal Lumbar Pre-Psoas Approach for Vertebrectomy in Cancer Patients: Surgical Technique.

Due to the longer survival of cancer patients secondary to improved systemic treatments, there has been a recent increase in the incidence of spinal metastases. Metastatic disease involves the anterior vertebral body in 80% of cases. Progressive osseous invasion may result in pathologic vertebral fractures and neural structure compression.

Metastatic epidural spinal column compression due to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma causing subacute Cauda equina syndrome: A case report.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common pancreatic malignancy, which rarely metastasizes to the spine.

Case Description: Here, we present a lytic lumbar metastatic PDAC resulting in severe epidural spinal cord compression (ESCC) with instability. The lesion required preoperative particle embolization, surgical decompression, and fusion.

Cauda Equina Syndrome in Neurosarcoidosis.

Neurosarcoidosis (NS) is a mimicker of many infectious, neoplastic, and inflammatory diseases. It most commonly involves the cranial nerves followed by meninges, ventricles, hypothalamic-pituitary axis, spinal cord, and brainstem/cerebellum. While NS myelopathy has been increasingly recognized, pathophysiological/prognostic and management principles in NS-mediated cauda equina (CE) and conus medullaris (CM) syndromes, which constitute a small and rare minority of this subset, remain elusive.

Delayed symptomatic spinal adhesive arachnoiditis after surgery for thoracolumbar flexion-distraction injury: A case report.

Background: Adhesive arachnoiditis is an uncommon lesion caused by an inflammatory reaction in spinal nerves. Reports of substantial symptomatic thoracolumbar (TL) adhesive arachnoiditis after spinal surgery are rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first presentation of delayed adhesive arachnoiditis with cauda equina syndrome after decompression and fusion for a traumatic TL flexion-distraction injury.

Adapting Policy Guidelines for Spine Surgeries During COVID-19 Pandemic in View of Evolving Evidences: An Early Experience From a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital.

Introduction The recent novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. This outbreak not only affected healthcare systems but the resultant economic losses were also enormous. COVID-19 has demanded that the health care systems globally evolve, develop new strategies, identify new models of functioning, and at times, fall back on the old conservative methods of orthopedic care to decrease the risk of disease transmission.

Dorsal migration of lumbar disc fragments causing cauda equina syndromes: A three case series and literature review.

Background: Dorsal migration of an intervertebral lumbar disc fragment is exceedingly rare and may result in spinal cord or cauda equina compression. Radiologically, these lesions may be misdiagnosed as extradural masses or epidural hematomas.

Case Description: We present three cases involving dorsal migration of sequestered lumbar disc fragments resulting in cauda equina syndromes.

Radiological Risk Factors for Neurological Deficits After Traumatic Mid and Low Lumbar Fractures.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Objective: We identified radiological risk factors for neurological deficits in mid and low lumbar spinal fractures.

Summary Of Background Data: Although numerous studies have focused on radiological risk factors for neurological deficits in spinal cord injury or thoracolumbar junction area fractures, few have examined mid and low lumbar fractures at the cauda equina level.

An Asymptomatic Case of Radiologically Active Neurocysticercosis.

The case describes an 82-year-old right-handed Hispanic male with multiple chronic comorbidities complaining of upper and lower extremity weakness as well as paresthesias that had been worsening over the last two weeks. He had bilateral upper and lower extremity weakness that was worse on the right and he complained of not being able to walk on his own with several falls preceding admission because of this. There were no overt signs of spinal cord compression or cauda equina syndrome.

[Malignant Spinal Cord Compression].

Malignant spinal cord compression(MSCC)is defined as a compression of the spinal cord or cauda equina with neuropathy caused by tumor spreading to the vertebral body. The common symptoms of MSCC are back pain, neck pain, muscle weakness, sensory reduction, bladder and rectal disturbance. The risk of MSCC is relatively high in patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

Expression of Nogo-A in dorsal root ganglion in rats with cauda equina injury.

Objective: To investigate the expression of Nogo-A in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in rats with cauda equina injury and the therapeutic effects of blocking Nogo-A and its receptor.

Methods And Materials: Fifty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into either the sham operation group (n = 24) or the cauda equina compression (CEC) control group (n = 34). Behavioral, histological, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) analyses were conducted to assess the establishment of the model.

Major Radiologic and Clinical Outcomes of Total Spine MRI Performed in the Emergency Department at a Major Academic Medical Center.

Background And Purpose: Total spine MRIs are requested by the emergency department when focused imaging can not be ordered on the basis of history or clinical findings. However, their efficacy is not known. We assessed the following: 1) major radiologic and clinical outcomes of total spine MR imaging performed by the emergency department, and 2) whether the presence of a high-risk clinical profile and/or neurologic findings impacts the clinical outcomes.

Recovery after traumatic thoracic- and lumbar spinal cord injury: the neurological level of injury matters.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective cohort.

Objective: To discern neurological- and functional recovery in patients with a traumatic thoracic spinal cord injury (TSCI), conus medullaris syndrome (CMS), and cauda equina syndrome (CES).

Setting: Specialized spinal cord injury centers in Europe.

Spinal Epidural Hematoma After Attempted Catheter Thrombectomy of a Large Iliofemoral Deep Venous Thrombosis: A Case Report.

The authors report the case of an 82-year-old woman with a spinal epidural hematoma following attempted catheter-directed thrombolysis of a large femoral- popliteal deep venous thrombosis. The patient rapidly developed acute motor and sensory paralysis below the level of T7 within hours of the thrombectomy procedure. Computed tomography imaging revealed that the catheter had perforated the wall of the right inferior vena cava and magnetic resonance imaging subsequently demonstrated an extensive T1-S1 dorsal epidural hematoma with compression of the thoracic spinal cord, conus medullaris, and cauda equina.

Metastatic spinal cord compression.

Metastatic spinal cord compression is compression of the spinal cord or cauda equina as a result of metastatic deposits in the spinal column. It affects approximately 4000 cases per year in England and Wales. Prompt identification and treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression is necessary to prevent irreversible neurological injury, treat pain and maintain patients' mobility, function and independence.

Posterior and anterior epidural and intradural migration of the sequestered intervertebral disc: Three cases and review of the literature.

Dorsal migration of the sequestered lumbar intervertebral disc is an unusual and underrecognized pattern of lumbar disc herniation associated with pain and neurological deficit. Three patients presented with lower limb- and low back pain. MR imaging showed intracanalicular mass lesions with compression of the spinal cord and allowed precise localization of lesions in the extradural or intradural space.

Full Endoscopic Lumbar Diskectomy for Lumbar Disk Herniation in the Presence of a Low-Lying Cord.

Background: The distal extent of the spinal cord is most often at the level of the L1 or L2 vertebral body. In rare cases, a low-lying cord extends more distally. In this scenario, pathology that normally causes radiculopathy may cause myelopathy due to compression of the cord rather than nerve roots of the cauda equina.

Traumatic intradural ruptured lumbar disc with a spinal compression fracture: A case report.

Rationale: We present a rare case of a traumatic intradural ruptured disc associated with a mild vertebral body compression fracture along with a review of the relevant medical literature. An intradural ruptured disc often occurs due to chronic degenerative diseases and is rarely due to trauma. It can cause irreversible neurological complications if the appropriate treatment is not planned.

Two cases of paralysis secondary to aneurysmal bone cysts with complete neurologic recovery.

Design: Case report (retrospective).

Objective: These two cases of paralysis secondary to aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) demonstrated complete neurologic recovery following decompression and posterior spinal fusion. Although neurologic injury from ABCs has been described, information about the prognosis in the pediatric population is limited.

Spinal Sparganosis Coexisting with Acquired Arteriovenous Fistula of the Filum Terminale.

Background: Spinal sparganosis associated with filum terminale arteriovenous fistula (FTAVF) has not been reported in the literature. In previous studies, these 2 rare diseases were usually reported separately. We report the first case of spinal sparganosis with concomitant FTAVF.

Progressive myelopathy associated with spinal epidural lipomatosis in three non-obese patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare condition defined as pathological overgrowth of the normally present epidural fat within the spinal canal. SEL is associated with Cushing disease, obesity and chronic corticosteroid therapy. Diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) has not known to be a risk factor for SEL.

Spinal Epidural Abscess.

Audience: The aim of this simulation case is to educate senior medical students, resident physicians, and advanced practice providers on the recognition, diagnosis, and management of spinal epidural abscesses. This scenario is most applicable to the emergency medicine setting but can be applied to the outpatient office or urgent care settings.

Introduction: Spinal epidural abscess is an infection leading to an epidural collection of purulent material.