Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate bone grafts consisting of rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge with a ceramic composite bulking agent, rhBMP-2, directly on a ceramic-collagen sponge carrier or iliac crest bone graft (ICBG) in combination with local bone graft to effect fusion in a multisegmental instrumented ovine lumbar intertransverse process fusion model. METHODS Thirty-six sheep had a single treatment at 3 spinal levels in both the right and left intertransverse process spaces. Group 1 sheep were treated with 7.5 cm3 of autograft consisting of ICBG plus local bone for each intertransverse process space. ⋯ A majority (35/36) of the levels in Group 4 were rated as bilateral histological fusions, with 1 level showing a unilateral fusion. CONCLUSIONS In the ovine multilevel instrumented intertransverse process fusion model, rhBMP-2 was able to consistently achieve CT, radiographic, biomechanical, and histological fusion. Compared with ICBG, the gold standard for bone grafting, rhBMP-2 was statistically superior at achieving radiographic and histological fusion.
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OBJECTIVE Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is widely used to treat various human diseases. Low-energy ESWT increases expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cultured endothelial cells. The VEGF stimulates not only endothelial cells to promote angiogenesis but also neural cells to induce neuroprotective effects. ⋯ CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggested that low-energy ESWT promotes VEGF expression in various neural cells and enhances angiogenesis in damaged neural tissue after SCI. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effect of VEGF induced by low-energy ESWT can suppress cell death and axonal damage and consequently improve locomotor and sensory functions after SCI. Thus, low-energy ESWT can be a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of SCI.
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OBJECTIVE Lateral interbody fusion (LIF) with percutaneous screw fixation can treat adult spinal deformity (ASD) in the coronal plane, but sagittal correction is limited. The authors combined LIF with open posterior (OP) surgery using facet osteotomies and a rod-cantilever technique to enhance lumbar lordosis (LL). It is unclear how this hybrid strategy compares to OP surgery alone. ⋯ LL restoration was 22° ± 13°, intermediately between OP-only with facet osteotomies (11° ± 7°, p < 0.001) and pedicle subtraction osteotomy (29° ± 10°, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS LIF+OP is an effective strategy for ASD of moderate severity. Compared with the authors' OP-only operations, LIF+OP was associated with faster recovery, fewer complications, and greater relief of pain and disability.
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OBJECTIVE Resection significantly improves the clinical symptoms and functional outcomes of patients with intradural extramedullary tumors. However, patient quality of life following resection has not been adequately investigated. The aim in this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected quality of life outcomes is to analyze the efficacy of resection of intradural extramedullary spinal tumors in terms of quality of life markers. ⋯ EQ-5D pain and discomfort significantly improved at all follow-up points. EQ-5D anxiety and depression significantly improved at 1- to 3-month and 3- to 12-month follow-ups. CONCLUSIONS Resection of intradural extramedullary spine tumors appears to significantly improve patient quality of life by decreasing patient disability and pain and by improving each of the EQ-5D domains.
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OBJECTIVE The relief of leg symptoms by surgical decompression for lumbar stenosis is well supported by the literature. Less is known about the effect on back pain. Some surgeons believe that the relief of back pain should not be an expected outcome of decompression and that substantial back pain may be a contraindication to decompression only; therefore, stabilization may be recommended for patients with substantial preoperative back pain even in the absence of well-accepted indications for stabilization such as spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, or sagittal malalignment. ⋯ The vast majority of discharges (88%) were routine home discharges. At 3 and 12 months postoperatively, there were significant improvements from baseline for back pain (7.62 to 3.19 to 3.66), leg pain (7.23 to 2.85 to 3.07), EQ-5D (0.55 to 0.76 to 0.75), and ODI (49.11 to 27.20 to 26.38). CONCLUSIONS Through the 1st postoperative year, patients with lumbar stenosis-without spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, or sagittal malalignment-and clinically significant back pain improved after decompression-only surgery.