World Neurosurg
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The aim was to assess the effectiveness and safety of reconstructing a cranial bone defect after decompressive craniectomy using an autologous bone flap banked in a subcutaneous pocket in the patient's abdominal wall. ⋯ This preliminary and limited experience has led us to believe that the subcutaneous preservation of autologous bone flap is feasible. This method may be a very inexpensive option that preserves the viability of the bone flap, which can be ultimately responsible for the good cosmetic results and the very low infection rate.
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Instrumented circumferential fusion has been used as a primary and salvage procedure in lumbar spine fusion, especially for adult low-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. Recently, instrumented anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) has been shown to provide good clinical and radiologic results that are comparable with those attained with traditional lumbar fusion. However, there have been no reports available that compare instrumented circumferential fusion with instrumented ALIF. ⋯ According to the present clinical outcome, instrumented ALIF is at least as effective as instrumented circumferential fusion for the treatment of back pain in adult patients with low-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. Moreover, in terms of operative data including the duration of operation and hospital stay, as well as blood loss, instrumented ALIF demonstrates better results.
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Previous research has suggested that increases in length of stay and hospital cost in patients undergoing spine surgery can be due to comorbidities, especially diabetes mellitus. To study how endocrine comorbidities impact spine surgery cost, we conducted the further analysis. ⋯ HbA1c elevation and hypothyroidism have an additive effect on hospital cost in lumbar decompression and fusion female patients. The finding of a surge in hospital cost parameters in elderly female hypothyroid patients undergoing surgery on their cervical spine needs more investigation.
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Covered stents have recently become available for intracranial use, such as aneurysms, arterial dissections and carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs). However, there have been few reports of the successful application of covered stents for the treatment of traumatic CCFs (TCCFs). The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of endovascular treatment of TCCFs with covered stent. ⋯ Although larger sample and long-term follow-up are required, our series shows that covered stent is an effective, safe, and microinvasive method to treat TCCFs.