Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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We present a detailed description of the surgical technique and the preliminary results of an endoscopic denervation for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) originating from the facet joints (FJ). Endoscopic denervation of the medial branches of the dorsal rami supplying the FJ has recently been appraised as providing excellent intraoperative visualization and long term pain relief for these patients. Conventional endoscopic rhizotomy has been expanded to include a the precise localization of 3D navigation. ⋯ The patient without persisting relief had previously sustained a lumbar disc prolapse and only achieved minor pain relief with preoperative FJ infiltration, compared to the significant relief that was seen in the other patients. In contrast to conventional rhizotomy, 3DNER enables the surgeon to ablate more precisely and extensively, which is especially useful if scar tissue is present from previous injuries or surgeries. When successful, this technique may provide long lasting pain relief, especially if the preoperative FJ infiltrations are followed by a substantial pain reduction.
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Surgical site infection (SSI) represents a significant complication after instrumented fixation in spine trauma. Institutional practice changes have emphasized early fracture correction, shortened intraoperative times, early ambulation, and prompt nutritional supplementation. This retrospective study evaluates the senior author's experience of instrumented spinal trauma SSI occurring at a single Level I trauma center over two equal and contiguous time periods, 2005-2007 (before nutritional supplementation was added to the institutional protocol) and 2008-2010 (after nutritional supplementation was added). ⋯ Presence of comorbidities (p=0.03) and time to surgery >3days (p=0.006) were predictors of developing SSI. Benefit is shown from early surgical correction of spinal trauma patients in the reduction of postoperative SSI. Nutritional supplementation may provide a small reduction in infections in the spine trauma population.
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Case Reports
Intra-operative N-butyl cyanoacrylate embolization arrest of uncontrollable hemorrhage during meningioma resection.
During the surgical resection of a convexity meningioma in a 63-year-old woman, an uncontrollable active hemorrhage from the operative bed was arrested with microcatheter N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) embolization after superselective angiography. To date, an uncontrollable neurosurgical intraprocedural hemorrhage terminated by NBCA embolization has not been previously reported. The embolization risk relative to the benefit needs to be carefully considered prior to the surgical removal of a meningioma. This report emphasizes the potential value of embolization with NBCA for arresting active bleeding intraoperatively.
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Case Reports
Interhemispheric approach for endoscopic ligation of an anterior cranial fossa dural arteriovenous fistula.
We describe the endoscopic ligation of an anterior cranial fossa (ACF) dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) through an interhemispheric approach. Intracranial DAVF of the ACF are rare and associated with an aggressive natural history, due to their ubiquitous direct cortical venous drainage and frequent coincidence of venous ectasia. Although surgical ligation is the preferred treatment for ACF DAVF, the role of endoscopy in the surgical management of DAVF is undefined. ⋯ After dissecting along the draining vein to the point of fistulization, the proximal portion of the draining vein was ligated. Intraoperative angiography confirmed complete obliteration of the DAVF, and the patient was asymptomatic at the 6 week postoperative follow-up. Endoscopy provides excellent visualization of ACF DAVF and can safely facilitate surgical treatment in appropriately selected patients with these lesions.
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The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for postoperative infection after spinal surgery, in order to prevent its occurrence. We searched the Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases, and identified 25 case-control studies. ⋯ Our analyses suggest strategies to prevent surgical site infection. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of heterogeneity amongst the included studies.