Spinal cord
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Study design:Disturbance of gastrointestinal motility following acute spinal cord injury complicated with paraplegia can lead to bacterial overgrowth in the gastrointestinal tract, and increase the incidence of bacterial translocation. Experiments in a New Zealand rabbit model of acute spinal cord injury were performed. Objective:This study was designed to determine if the electrical stimulation of the sacral nerve prevents gut-origin bacterial translocation and endotoxemia in an animal model of acute spinal cord injury. ⋯ Sacral nerve stimulation increased defecation, decreased endotoxin levels and bacterial translocation and improved the morphology of the organs. Conclusion:After acute spinal cord injury, stimulation of the sacral nerve reduced gut bacterial translocation and endotoxemia. Spinal Cord advance online publication, 6 April 2010; doi:10.1038/sc.2010.35.
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To evaluate the psychometric properties of a subset of International Spinal Cord Injury Basic Pain Data Set (ISCIBPDS) items that could be used as self-report measures in surveys, longitudinal studies and clinical trials. ⋯ The results support the utility and validity of the ISCIBPDS items and scales that measure pain interference, intensity, site(s), frequency, duration and timing (time of day of worst pain) in individuals with SCI and chronic pain. The results also provide psychometric information that can be used to select from among the ISCIBPDS items in settings that require even fewer items than are in the basic data set.
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Review Case Reports
Minimally invasive technique of triple anterior screw fixation for an acute combination atlas-axis fracture: case report and literature review.
A case report to describe the minimally invasive technique of treating C1-type II odontoid combination fractures. ⋯ In case of C1-type II odontoid fracture, the triple anterior screw fixation can be taken into consideration as an alternative because of its superiority of minimal invasion, stability and safety.
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Case Reports
Hardware failure and spinal pseudoarthrosis causing autonomic dysreflexia: a report of two cases.
Case report. ⋯ Owing to the failure of spine-stabilizing hardware, sitting upright may cause an afferent stimulus that triggers the onset and worsening of symptoms associated with autonomic dysreflexia. Therefore, in contrast to current acute treatment regimes, lying down may be preferred to sitting upright (to decrease blood pressure) as a means to relieve the afferent stimulus. Surgical correction and hardware replacement alleviated the symptoms in these two patients.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging in fracture healing after spinal injury.
Single-centre, prospective (comparative cohort) clinical study, with ethical approval and patient consent. ⋯ MRI correlates well with CT in identifying vertebral fracture union and non-union. We suggest that where imaging is indicated in the assessment of vertebral body fracture healing MRI can be used routinely with CT reserved for problematic or inconclusive cases.