Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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Conflict of interest (COI) as it applies to medical education and training has become a source of considerable interest, debate, and regulation in the last decade. Companies often pay surgeons as faculty for educational events and often sponsor and give financial support to major professional society meetings. Professional medical societies, industry, and legislators have attempted to regulate potential COI without consideration for public opinion. The practice of evidence-based medicine requires the inclusion of patient opinion along with best available evidence and expert opinion. The primary goal of this study was to assess the opinion of the general population regarding surgeon-industry COI for education-related events. ⋯ The vast majority of respondents in this study do not believe that the quality of their care will be diminished due to industry funding of educational events, for surgeon tuition, and/or travel expenses. The results of this study should help form the basis of policy and continued efforts at surgeon-industry COI management.
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The main aim of this study was to compare clinical and radiological outcomes after stabilization by a percutaneous transpedicular system and stabilization from the standard open approach for thoracolumbar spine injury. ⋯ This study confirms that the percutaneous transpedicular screw technique represents a viable option in the treatment of preselected thoracolumbar fractures. A significant reduction in blood loss, postoperative pain, and surgical time were the main advantages associated with this minimally invasive technique. Clinical, functional, and radiological results were at least the same as those achieved using the open technique after a 2-year follow-up. The short-term benefits of the percutaneous transpedicular screw technique are apparent, and long-term results have to be studied in other well-designed studies evaluating the theoretical benefit of the percutaneous technique and assessing whether the results of the latter are as durable as the ones achieved by open surgery.
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Several retrospective studies have demonstrated higher accuracy rates and increased safety for navigated pedicle screw placement than for free-hand techniques; however, the accuracy differences between navigation systems has not been extensively studied. In some instances, 3D fluoroscopic navigation methods have been reported to not be more accurate than 2D navigation methods for pedicle screw placement. The authors of this study endeavored to identify if 3D fluoroscopic navigation methods resulted in a higher placement accuracy of pedicle screws. ⋯ Three-dimensional fluoroscopic image guidance systems demonstrated a significantly higher pedicle screw placement accuracy than conventional fluoroscopy or 2D fluoroscopic image guidance methods.
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The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of adverse outcomes and inpatient mortality following resection of intramedullary spinal cord tumors by using the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database. The overall complication rate, length of the hospital stay, and the total cost of hospitalization were also analyzed from the database. ⋯ The independent predictors of adverse discharge disposition were as follows: elderly patients, female sex, black race, lower median household income, nonprivate insurance, higher comorbidity index, presence of complications, larger hospital size, Northeast region, and weekend and nonelective admissions. The predictors of higher cost incurred to the hospitals were as follows: young patients, higher median household income, nonprivate insurance, presence of complications, higher comorbidity index, hospitals with high volume and a large number of beds, West region, teaching hospitals, and weekend and nonelective admissions.