Spine
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Feasibility of ultrasound examination in posterior ligament complex injury of thoracolumbar spine fracture.
A prospective study of 12 patients with thoracolumbar spinal fractures was conducted. ⋯ This study demonstrated the excellent diagnostic ability of ultrasound to detect the status of the supraspinous and interspinous ligaments, especially in patients who undergo surgery. Although ultrasound examination appears to be less sensitive than MRI in predicting ligament status, the cost effectiveness of ultrasound and its use as an alternative to MRI in special situations (i.e., patients with pacemaker, ferromagnetic implant, or severe claustrophobia) should be emphasized. More clinical data concerning the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ultrasound examination should be addressed in future studies.
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Review Case Reports
Paraplegia as a complication of percutaneous vertebroplasty with polymethylmethacrylate: a case report.
A case report and review of the literature are presented. ⋯ Percutaneous vertebroplasty with polymethylmethacrylate is not as simple and risk free as advocated in the literature. Careful safeguards and modifications are needed for the procedure, and new and physiologic material could be substituted for polymethylmethacrylate.
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A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze a convenience sample of patients seeking treatment for cervical spine conditions. ⋯ The Cervical Spine Outcomes Questionnaire is a comprehensive, disease-specific instrument for assessing complaints of neck pain and evaluating the outcomes of treatments for these complaints. It provides information on demographics, pain severity, functional disability, psychological distress, physical symptoms, health care utilization, and satisfaction. It appears to be acceptable to patients, easy to administer, highly reliable, valid, and responsive. It should be considered for use in monitoring patients with cervical spine conditions and in studies of cervical spine disorders and their treatments.
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A 2-year follow-up study was conducted to investigate new patients who sought care for low back pain from all the caregivers in a specific region with a population of approximately 17,000 men and women ages 20 to 59 years. ⋯ In a general working population in Sweden ages 20-59 years, approximately 5% sought care because of a new low back pain episode during a 3-year period. Few of the care seekers became pain-free during the follow-up period. This study strengthens the hypothesis that low back pain often becomes chronic even when sick leave is rare.
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A retrospective radiographic study was conducted to analyze 50 consecutive adolescents with thoracolumbar-lumbar scoliosis treated with single solid-rod anterior instrumentation and either rib strut or morsellized interbody bone grafting technique. ⋯ Although the rib strut grafting technique improves the pseudarthrosis rate, as compared with morsellized graft, it did not affect the maintenance of correction or sagittal alignment. Adjunctive measures to provide truly structural interbody support (fusion cages, allograft rings, two-rod construct) appear to be required to address the shortcomings of anterior single-rod instrumentation.