Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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With the costs related to the United States medical system constantly rising, efforts are being made to turn traditional inpatient procedures into outpatient same-day surgeries. In this study the authors looked at the various comorbidities and perioperative complications and their impact on readmission rates of patients undergoing outpatient versus inpatient 3- and 4-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). ⋯ This study demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of 3- and 4-level ACDF surgery, although various comorbidities and perioperative complications may lead to higher readmission rates. Patient selection for outpatient 3- and 4-level ACDF cases might play a role in the safety of performing these procedures in the ambulatory setting, but further studies are needed to accurately identify which factors are most pertinent for appropriate selection.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Postoperative structured rehabilitation in patients undergoing surgery for cervical radiculopathy: a 2-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.
Information about postoperative rehabilitation for cervical radiculopathy (CR) is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the additional benefits of structured postoperative rehabilitation (SPT), which was performed in all patients, compared with a pragmatic standard postoperative approach (SA), in which rehabilitation was used as needed and patients sought physiotherapy on their own without a referral, in patients with MRI evidence of disc herniation and concomitant clinical signs who underwent surgery for CR. ⋯ One can conclude that SPT offered no additional benefits over SA; however, patients tolerated postoperative neck exercises without any negative side effects. These findings are important for the development of future active and neck-specific postoperative rehabilitation interventions for patients with CR.Clinical trial registration no.: NCT01547611 (clinicaltrials.gov).
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Relocation of the apex is often found in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)-associated thoracolumbar/lumbar kyphosis after corrective surgery. This study evaluates the influence of different postoperative apex locations on surgical and clinical outcomes of osteotomy for patients with AS and thoracolumbar kyphosis. ⋯ AS patients with an apex located at T8 or above after surgery tended to have better SVA correction (within 47 mm) than those who had a more caudally located apical vertebra. For ideal postoperative apex relocation, a higher (closer to or at the preoperative apex) level of osteotomy is more likely to obtain the surgical goal.
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OBJECTIVEBone morphogenetic protein (BMP) is associated with reduced rates of pseudarthrosis and has the potential to decrease the need for revision surgery. There are limited data evaluating the cost-benefit of BMP for pseudarthrosis-related prevention surgery in adult spinal deformity. METHODSThe authors performed a single-center retrospective review of 200 consecutive patients with adult spinal deformity. ⋯ Using these data, the authors estimated a price point of $5663 in order for BMP to be cost-neutral. CONCLUSIONSUse of BMP was associated with a significant reduction in the rates of revision surgery for pseudarthrosis. At its current price, the direct in-hospital costs for BMP exceed the costs associated with revision surgery; however, this likely underestimates the true value of BMP when considering the savings associated with reductions in rehabilitation, therapy, medication, and additional outpatient costs.
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OBJECTIVEWith the advent of intraoperative electrophysiological neuromonitoring (IONM), surgical outcomes of various neurosurgical pathologies, such as brain tumors and spinal deformities, have improved. However, its diagnostic and therapeutic value in resecting intradural extramedullary (ID-EM) spinal tumors has not been well documented in the literature. The objective of this study was to summarize the clinical results of IONM in patients with ID-EM spinal tumors. ⋯ Including the present study, 5 articles encompassing 323 patients were eligible for this meta-analysis, and the overall pooled diagnostic value of IONM was a sensitivity of 77.9%, a specificity of 91.1%, PPV of 56.7%, and NPV of 95.7%. CONCLUSIONSIONM for the resection of ID-EM spinal tumors is a reasonable modality to predict new postoperative neurological deficits at the 6-month follow-up. Future prospective studies are warranted to further elucidate its diagnostic and therapeutic utility.