Here are 20 articles on spine surgery study findings within the last month.
1. Researchers compared 90 female patients undergoing posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with two different methods of incision closure — a surgical zipper or a 4-0 absorbable subcuticular suture — and their results were published in Spine. The incisions was evaluated and compared and findings included that incision closure using the zipper took less time than the subcuticular suture.
2. A new study published in Spine examines whether the surgical first assistant's level of training matters in scoliosis outcomes. For adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients, the level of training did not matter. However, among patients with neuromuscular scoliosis, the group that had orthopedic fellows assisting rather than junior orthopedic residents had shorter operating times.
3. A group of researchers recently examined 54 patients undergoing L4/5 posterior lumbar interbody fusion to identify the risk factor for adjacent segment disease and efficacy of simultaneous decompression for symptomatic ASD and the results were published in the Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques. Of the patients, 37 were treated simultaneously with decompression surgery at L3/4. Seven patients had symptomatic ASD — six in the decompression group and one in the PLIF-only group.
4. Researchers examined 253 adult deformity correction patients to examine whether preoperative narcotics use had an impact on surgical outcomes and complications. Their findings were published in The Spine Journal. There were 85 patients taking narcotics and 168 patients who were not taking any pain medication preoperatively. At the most recent two-year follow-up, around 88 percent of the non-narcotics group was still not taking narcotics; 61 percent of the narcotic patients were off narcotics.
5. A study recently published in The Spine Journal examined the cost and quality of life for patients with C5 palsy after posterior cervical decompression and fusion. Those who had C5 palsy were also at reduced capacity for self-care in the immediate postoperative period and long-term. And the C5 palsy group incurred greater cost for physical and occupational therapy.
6. A new study published in The Spine Journal evaluates the accuracy of intraoperative fluoroscopy to place pedicle screws. Around 2 percent of the screws breached the pedicle and 3.6 percent of the breached screws were inserted with the assistance of lateral fluoroscopy.
7. An article published in The Spine Journal compared revision one- and two-level cervical total disc replacement with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. The researchers found greater costs and perioperative wound infection among the TDR revisions, but no difference in mortality.
8. A study published in the April issue of Spine examines the "July Effect" in elective spine surgery. The researchers found similar adverse event rates among cases with and without resident involvement for all four academic quarters, however serious adverse event rate was 1.9 times higher among cases with resident involvement.
9. A study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Disease examines the burden of low back pain due to occupational exposure and ergonomic risk factors. Among the findings were that low back pain from ergonomic exposure at work caused around 21.7 million disability-adjusted life years in 2010.
10. A retrospective study of Medicare claim-level data examined the cost of care for patients who were treated non-surgically for sacroiliitis and published their findings in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. The cumulative five-year cost was $63,913±$46,870 per patient among the subgroup of patients who underwent lumbar spinal fusion and $16,769±$25,753 per patient among those who did not undergo fusion.
11. Only 10 percent of orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons follow professional guidelines recommending routine psychological screenings of patients about to undergo major surgery for severe back and leg pain, which may pose a risk to the patients' surgical recovery, according to a study published in the Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques. The lack of pre-surgical psychological screening assessments may affect patient recovery.
12. A study published in Spine examines whether anchor density is associated with curve correction and patient-reported outcomes in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery. The researchers found high-anchor density was associated with increased percent curve correction in Lenke 1 curves at one year after surgery when compared with low-anchor density.
13. Surgeons affiliated with the Scoliosis Research Society extracted data from the society's registry on morbidity and mortality to compare two different surgical approaches for deformity cases — simplified and detailed data collection — and published their results in Spine. The researchers found greater surgeon compliance as well as more deformity cases per reporting surgeon per year among the simplified system.
14. A study published in Spine shows routine full-length spine radiographs during the first six months after posterior spinal fusion for adolescent scoliosis rarely detect abnormalities that require a meaningful clinical management change. Eighty patients had implant-related or non-implant related radiographical abnormalities.
15. A study published in the April 2014 issue of The Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques examines incidence of pedicle screw placement close to vital structures to identify characteristics that increased the risk of screw misplacement. Researchers found that all of the misplaced screws were in the thoracic spine, and 50 percent were misplaced laterally. Also, half of the misplaced screws were 35 mm long and 57.5 percent were in pedicles with normal morphology.
16. Researchers recently examined factors associated with surgical decision-making for adult spinal deformity patients and published their findings in Spine Deformity: The Official Journal of the Scoliosis Research Society. The highest recommendation for the benefits of surgical management for adult deformity was found for cases with severe deformities and cases with neurology. Also, balance was the most important decision-making factor in severe deformity cases.
17. In a prospective, double-blind, randomized control trial, researchers examined the postoperative pain and long term functional outcomes for spine surgery patients who received gabapentin and pregabalin and published the results in Spine. The patients who received pregabalin consistently showed reduced static and dynamic pain and required less rescue drug during the postoperative period.
18. An article published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine compares surgical and non-surgical treatment of unilateral, nondisplaced, subaxial cervical spine facet fractures without evidence of spinal cord injury. Nine patients in the non-surgical group and one in the surgical group did not have successful management.
19. Over the past decade, the allogeneic blood transfusion rate increased, whereas the predonated autologous blood transfusion rate decreased in patients who underwent spinal fusion in U.S. hospitals, according to a new study in Spine.
20. A recent study in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine identified the rate of infection following posterior lumbar spinal fusion for degenerative spine disease as well as the factors associated with an increased risk of infection after the procedure. Of the 817 patients, 37 — or 4.5 percent — developed postoperative spine infection.
More Articles on Spine:
Hospital for Special Surgery Names Dr. Todd Albert Surgeon-in-Chief
Costs for SI Joint Disruption, Sacroiliitis About $270M Over 5 Years
The Robotic Difference: How New Technology Could Impact Spine