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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Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common disorder among adults with degenerated lumbar intervertebral discs. However, its occurrence in childhood and adolescence is much less frequent mostly because children and adolescents tend to have a healthier lumbar spine as compared with adults. This difference indicates that children and adolescents are far from being just little adults. ⋯ It was found that pediatric patients responded less favorably to conservative treatment as compared with adults. In addition, the outcome of surgery remained to be satisfactory for at least 10 years after the initial operation, even though it appeared to deteriorate slightly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first literature review focusing on the treatment of pediatric LDH.
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Comparative Study
Multifidus muscle changes and clinical effects of one-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion: minimally invasive procedure versus conventional open approach.
We set out to determine whether a minimally invasive approach for one-level instrumented posterior lumbar interbody fusion reduced undesirable changes in the multifidus muscle, compared to a conventional open approach. We also investigated associations between muscle injury during surgery (creatinine kinase levels), clinical outcome and changes in the multifidus at follow-up. We studied 59 patients treated by one team of surgeons at a single institution (minimally invasive approach in 28 and conventional open approach in 31, voluntarily chosen by patients). ⋯ The minimally invasive approach caused less change in multifidus, less postoperative back pain and functional disability than conventional open approach. Muscle damage during surgery was significantly correlated with long-term multifidus muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration. Furthermore these degenerative changes of multifidus were also significantly correlated with long-term clinical outcome.