Spine
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Review of studies on sciatica prevalence and synthesis of available evidence. ⋯ Sciatica prevalence estimates vary considerably between studies. This may be due to differences in definitions, methods of data collection and perhaps populations studied. Suggestions are made on how to improve accuracy of capturing sciatica in epidemiological studies.
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Case Reports
Unusual association of tethered cord, filum terminale lipoma, and myxopapillary ependymoma.
Case report. ⋯ The coexistence of filum terminale lipoma and ependymoma is rare. Patients with relevant symptoms may be referred for an MRI study; however, especially patients with known filar lipomas causing tethered cord may be missed. Therefore, including these patients, a contrast-enhanced lumbar MRI must be performed to exclude any coexistence of filum terminale lipoma and ependymoma in the early course of the disease which can also help the surgeon in guiding the appropriate treatment.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Education of patients after whiplash injury: is oral advice any better than a pamphlet?
Randomized parallel-group trial with 1-year follow-up. ⋯ Prognosis did not differ between patients who received personal education and those who got a pamphlet. However, a systematic tendency toward better outcome with personal communicated information was observed and the question how patients should be educated to reduce the risk of chronicity after whiplash is worth further investigation, since no treatment have been proven to prevent long-lasting symptoms, and all forms of advice or educational therapy are so cheap that even a modest effect justifies its use.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Therapeutic effect of intrathecal morphine after posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery: a prospective, double-blind, randomized study.
Prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. ⋯ We demonstrated the efficacy of 0.4 mg intrathecal morphine after PLIF-surgery as indicated by a significantly lower cumulative piritramide requirement without any serious increase of opioid associated side effects. Therefore, morphine in a dose of 0.4 mg administered intrathecally seems to be a viable alternative therapeutic option to provide postoperative analgesia with PLIF-surgery.
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Comparative Study
The distribution of tissue damage in the spinal cord is influenced by the contusion velocity.
A rat model of thoracic spinal cord contusion was used to examine the effect of velocity on the primary injury. ⋯ We conclude that contusion velocity has an effect on the magnitude of injury within the white matter during spinal cord injury and the amount of neuronal damage in the gray matter. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of including high impact velocity as a variable in models of spinal cord injury.