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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Review Meta Analysis
The clinical course of pain and disability following surgery for spinal stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
The aim of this study was to assess the clinical course of pain and disability in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis following surgery. ⋯ Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis experience rapid symptom reduction after surgery, but should still expect to experience mild-to-moderate pain and disability 60 months later.
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Review Meta Analysis
Particulate and non-particulate steroids in spinal epidurals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Steroids in transforaminal epidural injections are widely used to ease radicular pain in both cervical and lumbar radiculopathy. Concerns have been articulated about the use of particulate steroids for this intervention, as a number of case reports have been published linking them with post procedural paralysis, possibly due to spinal ischaemia secondary to a steroid particulate embolism. Non-particulate, or soluble steroids, are mooted as an alternative; however, their effectiveness relative to particulate steroids has not been conclusively proven. ⋯ Particulate steroids are not demonstrably better in relieving pain compared to their non-particulate counterparts. In view of the concerns over the safety profile of particulate steroids, it may be prudent to switch to non particulates, or at the very least the dangers and alternatives should be flagged with the patient group as part of a shared decision making process.
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Multicenter Study
Degenerative lumbar spinal canal stenosis: intra- and inter-reader agreement for magnetic resonance imaging parameters.
To assess the inter- and intra-reader agreement of commonly used quantitative and qualitative image parameters for the assessment of degenerative lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ⋯ The inter- and intra-reader agreement of commonly used quantitative and qualitative image parameters for the assessment of LSS showed quite a variability with previously defined core parameters having good to excellent inter- and intra-reader agreements.
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To compare MRI-defined back muscle volume between AS patients and age, and spinopelvic alignment matched control patients with chronic back pain. ⋯ AS patients without deformity already have decreased paraspinal muscle volume compared with age and spinopelvic alignment matched non-AS patients with chronic back pain. Such decrease in paraspinal muscle volume was significantly associated with kyphotic deformity of AS patients even after multivariate adjustment. Although the result of our study supports the causal relationship between muscle degeneration and kyphotic deformity in AS patients, further study is required to prove the causality.