Establishing mild, moderate and severe criteria for the myelopathy disability index in cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

AIM: Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM) is a disabling condition arising from arthritic compression and consequent injury of the cervical spinal cord. Stratification of CSM severity has been useful to inform clinical practice and research analysis. In the UK the Myelopathy Disability Index (MDI) is a popular assessment tool and has been adopted by the British Spinal Registry. However, no categories of severity exist. Therefore, the aim of this study was to define categories of mild, moderate and severe. METHOD: An anchor-based analysis was carried out on previously collected data from a prospective observational cohort (N = 404) of patients with CSM scheduled for surgery and assessed pre-operatively and at 3, 12, 24 and 60 months post-operatively. Outcomes collected included the SF-36 version-1 quality of life measure, visual analogue scales for neck/arm/hand pain, MDI and Neck Disability Index (NDI). A Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis, using the NDI for an anchor-based approach, was performed to identify MDI thresholds. RESULTS: Complete data was available for 404 patients (219 Men, 185 Women). The majority of patients underwent anterior surgery (284, 70.3%). ROC curves plotted to identify the thresholds from mild to moderate to severe disease, selected optimal thresholds of 4-5 (AUC 0.83) and 8-9 (AUC 0.87). These MDI categories were validated against domains of the SF36 and VAS scores with expected positive linear correlations. CONCLUSION: Categories of mild, moderate and severe CSM according to the MDI of 4-5 and 8-9 were established based on the NDI.

Can process mapping and a multisite Delphi of perioperative professionals inform our understanding of system-wide factors that may impact operative risk?

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether the use of process mapping and a multidisciplinary Delphi can identify potential contributors to perioperative risk. We hypothesised that this approach may identify factors not represented in common perioperative risk tools and give insights of use to future research in this area. DESIGN: Multidisciplinary, modified Delphi study. SETTING: Two centres (one tertiary, one secondary) in the UK during 2020 amidst coronavirus pressures. PARTICIPANTS: 91 stakeholders from 23 professional groups involved in the perioperative care of older patients. Key stakeholder groups were identified via process mapping of local perioperative care pathways. RESULTS: Response rate ranged from 51% in round 1 to 19% in round 3. After round 1, free text suggestions from the panel were combined with variables identified from perioperative risk scores. This yielded a total of 410 variables that were voted on in subsequent rounds. Including new suggestions from round two, 468/519 (90%) of the statements presented to the panel reached a consensus decision by the end of round 3. Identified risk factors included patient-level factors (such as ethnicity and socioeconomic status), and organisational or process factors related to the individual hospital (such as policies, staffing and organisational culture). 66/160 (41%) of the new suggestions did not feature in systematic reviews of perioperative risk scores or key process indicators. No factor categorised as 'organisational' is currently present in any perioperative risk score. CONCLUSIONS: Through process mapping and a modified Delphi we gained insights into additional factors that may contribute to perioperative risk. Many were absent from currently used risk stratification scores. These results enable an appreciation of the contextual limitations of currently used risk tools and could support future research into the generation of more holistic data sets for the development of perioperative risk assessment tools.

Critical thresholds for intracranial pressure vary over time in non-craniectomised traumatic brain injury patients.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial pressure (ICP)- and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP)-guided therapy is central to neurocritical care for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. We sought to identify time-dependent critical thresholds for mortality and unfavourable outcome for ICP and CPP in non-craniectomised TBI patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of 355 patients with moderate-to-severe TBI who received ICP monitoring and were managed without decompressive craniectomy in a tertiary hospital neurocritical care unit. Patients were grouped in 2 × 2 tables according to survival/death or favourable/unfavourable outcomes at 6 months and serial thresholds of mean ICP and CPP, using increments of 0.1 and 0.5 mmHg respectively. Sequential chi-square analysis was performed, and the thresholds yielding the highest chi-square test statistic were taken as having the best discriminative value for outcome. This process was repeated over monitoring periods of 1, 3, 5 and 7 days and for each day of recording to establish time-dependent thresholds. The same analysis was performed for age and sex subgroups. RESULTS: Global ICP thresholds were 21.3 and 20.5 mmHg for mortality and unfavourable outcome respectively (p < 0.001). After the first day of ICP monitoring, ICP thresholds fell to between 15 and 20 mmHg and remained significant (p < 0.05). Significant time-dependent CPP thresholds for mortality or unfavourable outcome were often not identified, and no identifiable trends were produced. CONCLUSION: Critical ICP thresholds in non-craniectomised TBI patients vary with time and fall below established ICP targets after the first day of monitoring.

Midline Shift is Unrelated to Subjective Pupillary Reactivity Assessment on Admission in Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to determine the relationship between pupillary reactivity, midline shift and basal cistern effacement on brain computed tomography (CT) in moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). All are important diagnostic and prognostic measures, but their relationship is unclear. METHODS: A total of 204 patients with moderate-to-severe TBI, documented pupillary reactivity, and archived neuroimaging were included. Extent of midline shift and basal cistern effacement were extracted from admission brain CT. Mean midline shift was calculated for each ordinal category of pupillary reactivity and basal cistern effacement. Sequential Chi-square analysis was used to calculate a threshold midline shift for pupillary abnormalities and basal cistern effacement. Univariable and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Pupils were bilaterally reactive in 163 patients, unilaterally reactive in 24, and bilaterally unreactive in 17, with mean midline shift (mm) of 1.96, 3.75, and 2.56, respectively (p = 0.14). Basal cisterns were normal in 118 patients, compressed in 45, and absent in 41, with mean midline shift (mm) of 0.64, 2.97, and 5.93, respectively (p < 0.001). Sequential Chi-square analysis identified a threshold for abnormal pupils at a midline shift of 7-7.25 mm (p = 0.032), compressed basal cisterns at 2 mm (p < 0.001), and completely effaced basal cisterns at 7.5 mm (p < 0.001). Logistic regression revealed no association between midline shift and pupillary reactivity. With effaced basal cisterns, the odds ratio for normal pupils was 0.22 (95% CI 0.08-0.56; p = 0.0016) and for at least one unreactive pupil was 0.061 (95% CI 0.012-0.24; p < 0.001). Basal cistern effacement strongly predicted midline shift (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.17-1.40; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Basal cistern effacement alone is associated with pupillary reactivity and is closely associated with midline shift. It may represent a uniquely useful neuroimaging marker to guide intervention in traumatic brain injury.

Long-term follow-up of patients undergoing tibialis posterior transfer: Is acquired pes planus a complication?

In this retrospective study, a series of 10 elective patients treated with transfer of the tibialis posterior (TP) tendon for pes cavus and drop foot are described. Since TP transfer completely subtracts the role of this tendon, this cohort of patients provides an opportunity to examine the consequences of tibialis posterior (TP) deficiency. After a mean follow up period of 44.7 months, only one patient showed evidence of strain in the spring ligament but none of the patients in this series developed clinical or radiological evidence of planovalgus deformity. The authors conclude that planovalgus deformity is not an inevitable sequelae of TP Tendon transfer and that established theory underestimates the role of static soft tissue restraints such as spring ligament in hindfoot stability.

Intracranial and Extracranial Injury Burden as Drivers of Impaired Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity has been associated with outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI), but it is unknown how it is affected by trauma severity. Thus, we aimed to explore the relationship between intracranial (IC) and extracranial (EC) injury burden and cerebrovascular reactivity in TBI patients. We retrospectively included critically ill TBI patients. IC injury burden included detailed lesion and computerized tomography (CT) scoring (i.e., Marshall, Rotterdam, Helsinki, and Stockholm Scores) on admission. EC injury burden was characterized using the injury severity score (ISS) and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score. Pressure reactivity index (PRx), pulse amplitude index (PAx), and RAC were used to assess autoregulation/cerebrovascular reactivity. We used univariate and multi-variate logistic regression techniques to explore relationships between IC and EC injury burden and autoregulation indices. A total of 358 patients were assessed. ISS and all IC CT scoring systems were poor predictors of impaired cerebrovascular reactivity. Only subdural hematomas and thickness of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH; p < 0.05, respectively) were consistently associated with dysfunctional cerebrovascular reactivity. High age (p < 0.01 for all) and admission APACHE II scores (p < 0.05 for all) were the two variables most strongly associated with abnormal cerebrovascular reactivity. In summary, diffuse IC injury markers (thickness of SAH and the presence of a subdural hematoma) and APACHE II were most associated with dysfunction in cerebrovascular reactivity after TBI. Standard CT scoring systems and evidence of macroscopic parenchymal damage are poor predictors, implicating potentially both microscopic injury patterns and host response as drivers of dysfunctional cerebrovascular reactivity. Age remains a major variable associated with cerebrovascular reactivity.