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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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A 3D motion analysis study comparing the effectiveness of cervical spine orthoses at restricting spinal motion through physiological ranges.
To compare the effectiveness of the Aspen, Aspen Vista, Philadelphia, Miami-J and Miami-J Advanced collars at restricting cervical spine movement in the sagittal, coronal and axial planes. ⋯ Our motion analysis study found the Aspen collar to be superior to the other collars when measuring restriction of movement of the cervical spine in all planes, particularly the sagittal and transverse planes, while the Aspen Vista was the least effective collar.
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Placement of pedicle screws within the thoracic and lumbar spine has become the "state of the art" for the treatment of spinal deformities. Newly trained surgeons are often trained only with the placement of pedicle screws within the thoracic and lumbar spine and not with hooks or other means of fixation. However, if the benefits of pedicle screw instrumentation in terms of correction ability cannot be questioned on some issues pertaining to their safety, their rationale for all situations as well as their long-term adverse consequence and or early or late complications start to arise. ⋯ To answer our provocative title "Pedicle screw instrumentation have we gone too far?" Definitively we can answer that for some spinal deformities instrumented with all-pedicle-screw instrumentation, we have observed cases where the surgeons have gone way too far; in other cases, where such instrumentation was used in a comprehensive and rational manner, the answer to "Have we gone too far" is no, and such use of pedicle screw has improved outcome with minimum complications.
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Patients with neuromuscular scoliosis are at increased risk of neurological deficit post-operatively, but are a difficult population on whom to perform neurophysiological monitoring. We look here at a 7-year sample of our practice in the monitoring of neuromuscular patients. ⋯ The two patients with observable deficit had their instrumentation left in situ after discussion with them and/or parents. Spinal cord monitoring in this population is possible but potentially unreliable. Surgeons will need to carefully consider the use of monitoring in their management of this challenging population.
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We performed a retrospective analysis of all cases of lumbo-sacral or sacral metastases presenting with compression of the cauda equina who underwent urgent surgery at our institution. Our objective was to report our experience on the clinical presentation, management and finally the surgical outcome of this cohort of patients. ⋯ Surgical intervention for MSCC involving the lumbo-sacral junction or sacral spine has a high but acceptable complication rate (6/20, 30 %), and can be important in restoring/preserving neurological function, assisting with ambulatory function and allowing patients to return to their previous residence.
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The aim of this study was to explore the operative technique and effectiveness of triangular osteosynthesis for vertically unstable sacral fractures. ⋯ Triangular osteosynthesis is a relatively new fixation for vertical unstable sacral fractures, the fixation is rigid, permits early full weight-bearing, and nerve decompression can be performed, which facilitates function recovery.