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 Case Reports
Hypoglossal nerve injury as a complication of anterior surgery to the upper cervical spine.
Injury to the hypoglossal nerve is a recognised complication after soft tissue surgery in the upper part of the anterior aspect of the neck, e.g. branchial cyst or carotid body tumour excision. However, this complication has been rarely reported following surgery of the upper cervical spine. We report the case of a 35-year-old woman with tuberculosis of C2-3. ⋯ The hypoglossal palsy persisted, although with minimal functional disability. The only other reported case of hypoglossal lesion after anterior cervical spine surgery in the literature also failed to recover. It is concluded that hypoglossal nerve palsy following anterior cervical spine surgery is unlikely to recover spontaneously and it should be carefully identified.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane for the prevention of peridural fibrosis after spinal surgery: a clinical study.
Peridural fibrosis developing after laminectomy may cause pain that can necessitate reoperation. Many materials have been used as a barrier to invasion of fibrous tissue into the vertebral canal, but the ideal material has not been found. Various studies in animals have achieved favourable results with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane. ⋯ Significantly more seromas occurred in the ePTFE group (P = 0.0002). There were no infections or other complications in either group. The results showed that placement of an ePTFE spinal membrane over the laminectomy defect produced by lumbar spine surgery provided a physical barrier to invasion of fibrous tissue into the vertebral canal, and patients with the membrane had less postoperative radicular pain.
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There continues to be controversy surrounding the management of thoracolumbar burst fractures. Numerous methods of fixation have been described for this injury, but to our knowledge, spinal fusion has always been part of the stabilising procedure, whether this involves an anterior or a posterior approach. Apart from an earlier publication from this centre, there have been no reports on the use of internal fixation without fusion for this type of fracture. ⋯ The only significant factor affecting outcome was the influence of a compensation claim (P < 0.05). The implant failure rate (14% of patients) and the clinical outcome was similar to that from series where fusion had been performed in addition to pedicle screw fixation. The results of this study support the view that posterolateral bone grafting is not necessary when managing patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures by short segment pedicle screw fixation.
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The authors present their experience in the operative treatment of unstable lesions at the cervicothoracic junction. Ten patients, six men and four women, underwent operative procedures at the cervicothoracic junction (C7-T1) between 1990 and 1997. Six patients had sustained fracture-dislocations, three patients had metastases and one patient had a primary malignant lesion. ⋯ Five patients were submitted to a posterior operation only, and the other five to bilateral procedures. In four of these a one-stage operation was performed and in the last case a two-stage procedure. The anatomic and biomechanical characteristics of the cervicothoracic junction require a precise pre-operative analysis of the local anatomy and the selection of the proper implants for anterior and posterior stabilization.