World Neurosurg
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Review Meta Analysis
The use of vancomycin powder in modern spine surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical evidence.
Surgical-site infections (SSIs) can lead to greater postoperative morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Despite current prophylactic measures, rates of SSIs have been reported in up to 15% of patients undergoing spine surgery. The adjunctive local application of vancomycin powder in spine surgery is a low-cost strategy to help reduce SSIs. Vancomycin is active against skin pathogens that can potentially contaminate the wound during spinal surgery. The local application of vancomycin in its powder form ensures adequate surgical-site concentrations while minimizing adverse effects caused by undetectable systemic distribution. However, clinical studies have produced conflicting results, and the clinical evidence behind the use of vancomycin powder in modern spinal surgery practices is not clear. ⋯ Numerous clinical studies have confirmed the safety of using vancomycin powder in the surgical site. The pooled clinical data supports the use of vancomycin to prevent SSIs in adult spine surgeries. The majority of the supporting literature is class III evidence. Existing studies use different definitions for surgical site infections and different pre-, peri-, and postoperative antibiotic regimens. Further high-quality investigations should use standardized protocols to confirm these findings.
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Review Meta Analysis
The role of adjuvant radiotherapy after gross total resection of atypical meningiomas.
Atypical meningiomas (AMs) frequently recur after gross total resection (GTR). ⋯ Postoperative RT for AMs may decrease risk for relapse of disease and improve local control, although most tumors are salvageable with surgery or radiation. Although the data suggest little or no impact of postoperative RT on survival, further investigation regarding the long-term efficacy and toxicity of radiation is warranted.
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Many efforts have been made to create new diagnostic technologies for use in the diagnosis of central nervous system injury. However, there is still no consensus for the use of biomarkers in clinical acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The aims of this review are (1) to evaluate the current status of neurochemical biomarkers and (2) to discuss their potential acute diagnostic role in SCI by reviewing the literature. ⋯ Currently, there still are not many reports focused on diagnostic biomarkers in SCI. This fact warranted the need for greater efforts to innovate sensitive and reliable biomarkers for SCI.
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To report our experiences in microsurgical clipping of unruptured middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcation aneurysms and to evaluate the incidence of and risk factors for procedure-related complications. ⋯ When performing clipping of unruptured MCA bifurcation aneurysms, the procedure-related complication rate was 3.6%. Patients with MCA bifurcation aneurysms with posteroinferior projection, shorter Dt, and larger horizontal angle may be at a higher risk of procedure-related complications when performing microsurgical clipping.