Spine
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Comparative Study
Dysphagia after anterior cervical spine surgery: a prospective study using the swallowing-quality of life questionnaire and analysis of patient comorbidities.
Prospective study of 29 patients who underwent anterior cervical (AC) or posterior lumbar (PL) spinal surgery. A validated measure of dysphagia, the Swallowing-Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) survey, was used to assess the degree of postoperative dysphagia. ⋯ Patients undergoing AC surgery had a significant increase in the degree of dysphagia 3 weeks after surgery compared with patients undergoing PL surgery. By final follow-up, swallowing in the AC group recovered to a level similar to preoperative and comparable to that in patients undergoing lumbar surgery at 1.5 years. Smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and female sex are possible factors in the development of postoperative dysphagia.
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A case report. ⋯ Diabetic myonecrosis is a reminder that aggressive diabetic control is essential in all patients to avoid end-organ damage. Diabetic myonecrosis may occur in paralumbar spinal muscle as well as thigh. When diabetic have severe back pain and tenderness with high signal intensity on T2 weighted MRI image, myonecrosis should be included in the differential diagnosis although one consider abscess or cellulitis primarily. The episode of myonecrosis in diabetic is marker of poor control and poor prognosis. Main strategy of treatment is pain control and immobilization, supportive care and diabetes control.
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Case Reports
Administration of sodium ibandronate in the treatment of complicated giant cell tumor of the spine.
Case study. ⋯ These case studies demonstrate the potential promise of using sodium ibandronate in the treatment of primary and recurrent giant cell tumors of the spine. Furthermore, clinical evaluation should be performed in future studies.
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Biography Historical Article
Harvey Cushing, the spine surgeon: the surgical treatment of Pott disease.
Review of historical archival records. ⋯ These cases provide a view of Cushing early in his career, pointing to the extraordinary degree of independence that he had during his residency under William Steward Halsted; these cases may have been important in the surgical upbringing both of Cushing and his coresident, William Stevenson Baer, who became the first professor of Orthopedics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the turn of the last century, Pott disease was primarily treated by immobilization with bed rest, braces, and plaster-of-paris jackets; some surgeons also employed gradual correction of the deformity by hyperextension. Patients who failed a trial of conservative therapy (of months to years) were treated with a laminectomy. However, the limitations of these strategies led to the development of techniques that form the basis of contemporary spine surgery-instrumentation and fusion.