The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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In degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis with scoliosis (DLS), many authors stated that nerve root compression is almost always seen on the concave side of the scoliosis, and L4 and L5 nerve roots are the most often involved. However, there are few reports on the relationship between nerve root compression and the pattern of scoliosis. ⋯ In the treatment of radiculopathy caused by DLS, it is important to bear in mind that L3 or L4 roots were more strongly compressed by foraminal or extraforaminal stenosis at the concave side of the curve, whereas L5 or S1 nerve roots were affected more by lateral recess stenosis at the convex side of the curve.
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Perioperative complications of lumbar instrumentation and fusion in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Prior studies have documented an increased complication rate in diabetics treated by lumbar decompression. Despite the assumption that this risk would be exacerbated in larger fusion procedures, a recent study found no such increased risk. ⋯ Patients with both IDDM and NIDDM have a significantly increased risk of perioperative complications as compared with controls when treated by lumbar instrumentation and fusion.
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Comparative Study
Spinal canal enlargement procedure by restorative laminoplasty for the treatment of lumbar canal stenosis.
Multilevel fenestration or laminectomy is generally performed to treat the patient with lumbar canal stenosis (LCS). However, in patients requiring laminectomy, little attention has been paid to the later development of lumbar pain possibly caused by a removal of the posterior elements of the spine. In general, spinal instrumentation and fusion has been generally performed when laminectomy might cause severe postoperative spinal instability. Surgical methods where osteotomized vertebral arches are repositioned rather than removed have long been performed. However, they have never become widespread, possibly because of the complicated surgical procedures and poor postoperative arch stability, which leads to a long period of postoperative immobilization. ⋯ Our surgical procedures of spinal canal enlargement using restorative laminoplasty produce complete decompression and anatomical reconstruction of the posterior elements, ligaments and muscles. Improvement in complaints of lumbago may be a consequence of the anatomical reconstruction of the posterior spinal elements. Overall, favorable results were obtained. The best results were obtained if surgery is performed within 2 years of the onset of LCS.
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Comparative Study
Correlation of clinical examination characteristics with three sources of chronic low back pain.
Research has demonstrated some progress in using a clinical examination to predict discogenic or sacroiliac (SI) joint sources of pain. No clear predictors of symptomatic lumbar zygapophysial joints have yet been demonstrated. ⋯ Significant correlations exist between clinical examination findings and symptomatic lumbar discs, zygapophysial and SI joints. The strongest relationships were seen between SI joint pain and three or more positive pain provocation tests, centralization of pain for symptomatic discs and absence of pain when rising from sitting for symptomatic lumbar zygapophysial joints.
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Comparative Study
Predicting outcomes of transforaminal epidural injections for sciatica.
Previous studies on epidural injections have focused on efficacy and have not evaluated factors predicting outcomes of epidural injections. ⋯ When controlled for SSDI/workers' compensation, lifting requirements at work, but not working status and radiculopathy, also were associated with outcomes but the association was not as strong. This paper brings into question the utility of offering epidural injections to patients who are on SSDI/workers' compensation and require heavy lifting at work.