Responses to the Letter: Cervical Foraminal and Discal Height after Dynamic Rotational Plating in the Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

No abstract available.

Efficacy of Antibiotics Sprayed into Surgical Site for Prevention of the Contamination in the Spinal Surgery

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of intraoperative wound application of vancomycin on preventing surgical wound contamination during instrumented lumbar spinal surgery. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Postoperative infection is the one of the most devastating complications of lumbar surgery. There are a few reports showing the benefits of intraoperative wound application of vancomycin during spinal surgery. However, there is no report about the effectiveness of local vancomycin instillation in prevention of surgical wound contamination. METHODS: Eighty-six patients underwent instrumented lumbar spinal surgery. Mean patient age was 65.19 years (range, 23-83 years). There were 67 females and 19 males. During surgery, vancomycin powder was applied into the surgical site before closure in 43 patients (antibiotic group) and vancomycin powder was not applied into the surgical site before closure in 43 patients (control group). The tip of the surgical drain was cultured to evaluate surgical wound contamination. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured on the first, third, seventh, and fourteenth day after the operation. RESULTS: We found two patients with a positive culture from the tip of surgical drains in the antibiotic group, and one patient with a positive culture from the tip of the surgical drain in the control group. Postoperative ESR and CRP levels did not show significant differences between the two groups. On the third postoperative day, ESR in patients of the antibiotic group was more significantly decreased than that in patients of the control group, while CRP level did not show a significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence to suggest that intraoperative vancomycin application is effective in decreasing the risk of postoperative wound infection after instrumented posterior lumbar fusion surgery.

Outcome and Complications in Surgical Treatment of Lumbar Stenosis or Spondylolisthesis in Geriatric Patients

Development of anesthesiology and improvement of surgical instruments enabled aggressive surgical treatment even in elderly patients, who require more active physical activities than they were in the past. However, there are controversies about the clinical outcome of spinal surgery in elderly patients with spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis. The purpose of this study is to review the clinical outcome of spinal surgery in elderly patients with spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis. MEDLINE search on English-language articles was performed. There were 39685 articles from 1967 to 2013 regarding spinal disease, among which 70 dealt with geriatric lumbar surgery. Eighteen out of 70 articles dealt with geriatric lumbar surgery under the diagnosis of spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis. One was non-randomized prospective, and other seventeen reports were retrospective. One non-randomized prospective and twelve out of seventeen retrospective studies showed that old ages did not affect the clinical outcomes. One non-randomized prospective and ten of seventeen retrospective studies elucidated postoperative complications: some reports showed that postoperative complications increased in elderly patients, whereas the other reports showed that they did not increase. Nevertheless, most complications were minor. There were two retrospective studies regarding the mortality. Mortality which was unrelated to surgical procedure increased, but surgical procedure-related mortality did not increase. Surgery as a treatment option in the elderly patients with the spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis may be reasonable. However, there is insufficient evidence to make strong recommendations regarding spinal surgery for geriatric patients with spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis.

The Prevalence of Idiopathic Scoliosis in Eleven Year-Old Korean Adolescents: A 3 Year Epidemiological Study

PURPOSE: School screening allows for early detection and early treatment of scoliosis, with the purpose of reducing the number of patients requiring surgical treatment. Children between 10 and 14 years old are considered as good candidates for school screening tests of scoliosis. The purpose of the present study was to assess the epidemiological findings of idiopathic scoliosis in 11-year-old Korean adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 37856 11-year-old adolescents were screened for scoliosis. There were 17110 girls and 20746 boys. Adolescents who were abnormal by Moire topography were subsequently assessed by standardized clinical and radiological examinations. A scoliotic curve was defined as 10degrees or more. RESULTS: The prevalence of scoliosis was 0.19% and most of the curves were small (10degrees to 19degrees). The ratio of boys to girls was 1:5.5 overall. Sixty adolescents (84.5%) exhibited single curvature. Thoracolumbar curves were the most common type of curve identified, followed by thoracic and lumbar curves. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis among 11-year-old Korean adolescents was 0.19%.

Cervical Foraminal and Discal Height after Dynamic Rotational Plating in the Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the dynamic rotational plate to the intervertebral foraminal and discal height after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: There is no report regarding the changes of foraminal and discal height following cervical dynamic rotational plating. METHODS: We reviewed the outcomes of 30 patients (36 levels), who were followed-up for an average of 15 months (range, 12-57 months) after undergoing fusions with anterior cervical dynamic rotational plating for cervical radiculopathy, from March 2005 to February 2009. The changes of foraminal and intervertebral discal height of the operated levels were observed on oblique and lateral radiographs obtained at the preoperative, postoperative and follow-up examinations. RESULTS: The foraminal and discal height increased sufficiently, immediately following the operation. However, follow-up results showed gradual decrease in the foraminal and discal height. After 6 months of the surgery, they showed little difference compared with the preoperative heights. However, clinically, patients showed improvements in radiating pain during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior cervical dynamic rotational plating was an effective treatment modality for cervical radiculopathy without the deterioration of the foraminal and intervertebral discal height.

Loss of Lordosis and Clinical Outcomes after Anterior Cervical Fusion with Dynamic Rotational Plates

PURPOSE: The cervical dynamic rotational plating system may induce bone graft subsidence, so it may cause loss of cervical lordosis. However there were few studies for alignments of cervical spines influencing the clinical results after using dynamic rotational plates. The purpose is to evaluate the effect of graft subsidence on cervical alignments due to the dynamic rotational cervical plates and correlating it with the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing anterior cervical fusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three patients with disease or fracture underwent anterior cervical decompression and fusion using a dynamic rotational plate. The presence and extent of implant complications, graft subsidence, loss of lordosis were identified and Visual Analog Scale score (VAS score), Japanese Orthopaedic Association score (JOA score), clinical outcomes based on Odom's criteria were recorded. RESULTS: Fusion was achieved without implant complications in all cases. The mean graft subsidence at 6 months after the surgery was 1.46 mm. The lordotic changes in local cervical angles were 5.85degrees which was obtained postoperatively. VAS score for radicular pain was improved by 5.19 and the JOA score was improved by 3. Clinical outcomes based on Odom's criteria showed sixteen excellent, ten good and two satisfactory results. There was no significant relationship between clinical outcomes and changes in the cervical angles. CONCLUSION: Dynamic rotational anterior cervical plating provides comparable clinical outcomes to that of the reports of former static cervical platings. The loss of lordosis is related to the amount of graft settling but it is not related to the clinical outcomes.

Delayed Paraplegia after Successful Percutaneous Vertebroplasty in a Patient with Osteoporotic Compression Fracture: A Case Report

STUDY DESIGN: A case report. OBJECTIVES: We report a case of a female patient initially diagnosed as osteoporotic vertebral fracture without any noticeable injuries to posterior ligament complex, who later developed with incomplete paraplegia resulting from an unrecognized trauma after vertebroplasty. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Vertebroplasty remains a safe and effective procedure for osteoporotic vertebral fracture. However, there have been many reports regarding neural injury associated with cement leakage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An 81-year old woman with a sudden motor weakness and a sensory loss on her lower extremities after an unrecognized trauma was admitted to our clinic. She had undergone a vertebroplasty twelve days before the admission. At the time of vertebroplasty, Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed a compression fracture at T10 vertebra without any posterior ligament complex (PLC) injury. Follow up MR imaging was taken 12 days after vertebroplasty, and it revealed posterior shift of T10 body with a fracture of spinous process, tear of left facet joint capsule, partial tear of interspinous ligament of T10-11 with retrolisthesis, and narrowing of spinal canal at T10-11 by T11 lamina. RESULTS: Immediate surgical treatment was performed to decompress the neural structures, and to stabilize the spinal column. However, neurological recovery was unsatisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: Spinal surgeons should be aware of the possibility of the development of any neurologic deterioration, even if successful vertebroplasty is performed.