Spine
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Investigation of the effect of static compression and anisotropy on the apparent diffusivity of glucose in bovine annulus fibrosus (AF). OBJECTIVE. To determine the apparent glucose diffusivity in 2 directions (axial and radial) of bovine AF under 3 levels of compressive strain (0%, 10%, and 20%). ⋯ Diffusion of glucose in bovine AF is dependent on strain and the direction of diffusion.
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A conceptual study of the influence of the geometry of an articulated disc prosthesis at the cervical level using a 3-dimensional nonlinear finite element model. ⋯ Our data estimate the influence of the geometrical parameters of a ball-and-socket total disc replacement on kinematics and constraints at the cervical functional spinal unit. Under the experimental conditions, the facet forces were kept below their normal range in the case of the posterior center and a large radius.
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Literature review, expert panel, and a workshop during the "VIII International Forum on Primary Care Research on Low Back Pain" (Amsterdam, June 2006). ⋯ For a range of commonly used back pain outcome measures, a 30% change from baseline may be considered clinically meaningful improvement when comparing before and after measures for individual patients. It is hoped that these proposals facilitate the use of these measures in clinical practice and the comparability of future studies. The proposed MIC values are not the final answer but offer a common starting point for future research.
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Evaluation of medication ordering errors discovered on an orthopedic/spinal in-patient hospital unit and efforts initiated to reduce them. OBJECTIVE.: In this study the authors aimed to assess the frequency of medication ordering errors and to examine the impact of local measures set forth to reduce their occurrence. ⋯ Medication errors in ordering are common in orthopedics. We found in part 1 that a chart review and patient interview by the pharmacy team can detect and correct these before reaching the patient. Furthermore, we found in part 2 that the risk could be further reduced by the implementation of pharmacist-led: patient education, education of preoperative nursing personnel, improvement of forms used for data collection, and having the patients bring all of their medications on admission.
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Prospective clinical series. ⋯ Lumbar decompression surgery results in a 58% incidence of asymptomatic compressive postoperative epidural hematoma. Adjacent level compression by hematoma occurs in 28% of patients. Advanced age, multilevel procedures, and international normalized ratio are independently associated with postoperative hematoma volume.