Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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Minimally invasive (MI) transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) has been demonstrated in previous studies to offer improvement in pain and function comparable to those provided by the open surgical approach. However, comparative studies in the obese population are scarce, and it is possible that obese patients may respond differently to these two approaches. In this study, the authors compared the clinical benefit of open and MI TLIF in obese patients. ⋯ Obese patients experienced clinically and statistically significant improvement in both pain and function after undergoing either open or MI TLIF. Patients achieved similar clinical benefit whether they underwent an open or MI approach. However, patients in the MI group experienced significantly decreased operative blood loss and complications than their counterparts in the open group.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Neuromonitoring with pulse-train stimulation for implantation of thoracic pedicle screws: a blinded and randomized clinical study. Part 1. Methods and alarm criteria.
Reports of the accuracy of existing neuromonitoring methods for detecting or preventing medial malpositioning of thoracic pedicle screws have varied widely in their claimed effectiveness. The object of this study was to develop, test, and validate a novel neuromonitoring method for preventing medial malpositioning of pedicle screws in the thoracic spine during surgery. ⋯ This novel neuromonitoring approach accurately predicts medially malpositioned thoracic screws. The approach could be readily implemented within any surgical program that is already using contemporary neuromonitoring methods that include transcranial stimulation for monitoring motor evoked potentials.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Neuromonitoring with pulse-train stimulation for implantation of thoracic pedicle screws: a blinded and randomized clinical study. Part 2. The role of feedback.
The authors have reported in Part 1 of this study on a novel neuromonitoring test for the prevention of medial malpositioning of thoracic pedicle screws. In the present paper they examine the impact of providing the results of the test as intraoperative feedback to the surgical team. ⋯ This is the first blinded and randomized study to prove that implementing a novel neuromonitoring strategy during placement of thoracic pedicle screws can significantly reduce the incidence of clinically relevant thoracic pedicle screw medial malpositioning.
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Multicenter Study
Predictors of unplanned readmission in patients undergoing lumbar decompression: multi-institutional analysis of 7016 patients.
Unplanned hospital readmission represents a large financial burden on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, commercial insurance payers, hospitals, and individual patients, and is a principal target for cost reduction. A large-scale, multi-institutional study that evaluates risk factors for readmission has not been previously performed in patients undergoing lumbar decompression procedures. The goal of this multicenter retrospective study was to find preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative predictive factors that result in unplanned readmission (UR) after lumbar decompression surgery. ⋯ There were several risk factors for UR after lumbar spine decompression surgery. Identification of high-risk patients and appropriate allocation of resources to reduce postoperative incidence may reduce the readmission rate.
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Recent years have been marked by efforts to improve the quality and safety of pedicle screw placement in spinal instrumentation. The aim of the present study is to compare the accuracy of the SpineAssist robot system with conventional fluoroscopy-guided pedicle screw placement. ⋯ Robot-guided pedicle screw placement is a safe and useful tool for assisting spine surgeons in degenerative spine cases. Nonetheless, technical difficulties remain and fluoroscopy backup is advocated.