European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Are early MRI findings correlated with long-lasting symptoms following whiplash injury? A prospective trial with 1-year follow-up.
Neck pain is the cardinal symptom following whiplash injuries. The trauma mechanism could theoretically lead to both soft tissue and bone injury that could be visualised by means of MRI. From previous quite small trials it seems that MRI does not demonstrate significant tissue damage. ⋯ The population had no considerable neck trouble prior to the whiplash injury and the non-traumatic findings represent findings to be expected in the background population. Trauma-related MRI findings are rare in a whiplash population screened for serious injuries in the emergency unit and not related to a specific symptomatology. Also, pre-existing degeneration is not associated with prognosis.
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The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ-24) and the VAS spine score have been regularly used to measure functional outcome in patients with back pain. The RMDQ-24 is primarily used in degenerative disease of the spine and the VAS Spine is used in trauma patients. The aim of this study is to compare these scores and to see if there is a correlation in patients with a traumatic thoracolumbar spinal fracture. ⋯ Spearman's correlation test showed a significant correlation, in group one 0.83 and for the second group 0.87. RMDQ-24 and VAS Spine have a strong positive correlation in measuring disability in a group of patients with back pain because of a spinal fracture. In both non-operatively and operatively treated groups this correlation is significant.
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Clinical Trial
Balloon kyphoplasty in the treatment of metastatic disease of the spine: a 2-year prospective evaluation.
There is currently little data on the longer term efficacy and safety of balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) in patients with metastatic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). To prospectively assess the long-term efficacy and safety of BKP in treating thoracic and lumbar spinal metastatic fractures that result in pain or instability. Sixty-five patients (37 men, mean age: 66 years) underwent 99 BKP procedures. ⋯ No symptomatic cement leaks or serious adverse events were seen during the 24 months of follow up. BKP is a minimally invasive procedure that provides immediate and long-term pain relief and improvement in functional ability in selected patients with metastatic VCFs. The procedure appears to have good long-term safety.
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The nonsurgical treatment of thoracolumbar (TLB) and lumbar burst (LB) fractures remains to be of interest, though it is not costly and avoids surgical risks. However, a subset of distinct burst fracture patterns tend to go with a suboptimal radiographic and clinical long-term outcome. Detailed fracture pattern and treatment-related results in terms of validated outcome measures are still lacking. ⋯ But, the interdependence of spinopelvic parameters was not disrupted. The patients' spinal adaptability to compensate for the posttraumatic kyphotic deformity varied in the ranges dictated by pelvic geometry, in particular the pelvic incidence. The study substantiates the concept that surgical reconstruction and maintenance of a physiologically shaped spinal curve might be the appropriate treatment in the more severely crushed TLB and LB fractures.