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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Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are integral to the assessment of treatment success, but loss to follow-up (attrition) may lead to bias in the results reported. We sought to evaluate the extent, nature and implications of attrition in a long-established, single-centre spine registry. ⋯ Although attrition in this cohort was relatively low, 12-month non-responders displayed distinctive characteristics and their early outcomes were significantly worse than those of 12-month responders. If loss to follow-up is not addressed, treatment success will likely be overestimated, with erroneously optimistic results being reported.
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To investigate the imaging characteristics of thoracic ossification of ligamentum flavum (OLF) combined with dural ossification (DO) and the clinical efficacy of zoning laminectomy. ⋯ The Zoning laminectomy described here is both safe and effective.
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Longer hospital length of stay (LOS) has been associated with worse outcomes and increased resource utilization. However, diagnostic and patient-level factors associated with LOS have not been well studied on a large scale. The goal was to identify patient, surgical and organizational factors associated with longer patient LOS for adult patients at a high-volume quaternary spinal care center. ⋯ This large-scale study taking into account diagnostic categories identified several factors associated with patient LOS. Future interventions should target modifiable factors to minimize LOS and guide hospital resource allocation thereby improving patient outcomes and quality of care and decreasing healthcare-associated costs.
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To utilize natural language processing (NLP) of MRI reports and various clinical variables to develop a preliminary model predictive of the need for surgery in patients with low back and neck pain. Such a model would be beneficial for informing clinical practice decisions and help reduce the number of unnecessary surgical referrals, streamlining the surgical process. ⋯ A logistic regression model was created to predict which patients may require spine surgery. Simple clinical variables appeared more predictive than variables created using NLP. However, additional research with more data samples is needed to validate this model and fully evaluate the usefulness of NLP for this task.
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Review Meta Analysis
How effective are physiotherapy interventions in treating people with sciatica? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Physiotherapy interventions are prescribed as first-line treatment for people with sciatica; however, their effectiveness remains controversial. The purpose of this systematic review was to establish the short-, medium- and long-term effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions compared to control interventions for people with clinically diagnosed sciatica. ⋯ Based on currently available, mostly high risk of bias and highly heterogeneous data, there is inadequate evidence to make clinical recommendations on the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for people with clinically diagnosed sciatica. Future studies should aim to reduce clinical heterogeneity and to use contemporary physiotherapy interventions.