Comparison between Balloon Kyphoplasty and Short Segmental Fixation Combined with Vertebroplasty in the Treatment of Kümmell's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Kümmell's disease is a clinical syndrome characterized by a minor spinal trauma with a symptom-free period from months to years, followed by progressive painful kyphosis. Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty have been introduced to treat Kümmell's disease, and obtained good clinical results. Recently, delayed cement displacement was reported for Kümmell's disease treated by cement augmentation alone. Some authors recommended internal fixation combined with cement injection for this particular condition. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy, especially the pain reduction, of 2 procedures (kyphoplasty alone versus short segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty) in the treatment of Kümmell's disease. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation and comparison of postoperative VAS scores and radiographic outcomes. SETTING: Single center inpatient population. METHODS: Two procedures, including conventional balloon kyphoplasty and short segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty, were utilized for 54 patients with Kümmell's disease. All patients were followed-up for 8-42 months. Visual analog scale (VAS), vertebral height, and local kyphotic angle were evaluated and compared for 2 groups before surgery, after surgery, and at final follow-up. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relationship between the decreased values of pain scores (VAS) and improvement of anterior vertebral height and local kyphotic angle. RESULTS: For the KP group, the VAS pain score decreased significantly from 7.8 ± 0.9 before surgery to 3.3 ± 1.0 after surgery (P < 0.01), and 2.9 ± 0.9 at final follow-up (P < 0.01). The mean height of the anterior vertebral body increased from 14.8 ± 2.4 mm before surgery to 19.3 ± 2.1 mm after surgery (P < 0.01). The mean local kyphotic angle decreased from 22.7 ± 6.9° before surgery to 14.5 ± 5.3° after surgery (P < 0.01). For SSF + VP group, the VAS pain score decreased significantly from 7.2 ± 1.6 before surgery to 4.7 ± 1.3 after surgery (P < 0.01), and 3.5 ± 1.2 at final follow-up (P < 0.01). The mean height of the anterior vertebral body increased from 13.6 ± 2.5mm before surgery to 17.3 ± 2.7 mm after surgery (P < 0.01). The mean local kyphotic angle decreased from 24.7 ± 9.2° before surgery to 15.5 ± 6.2° after surgery (P < 0.01). No significant loss of correction of vertebral height and kyphosis was observed at follow-up. Improvement of VAS score had no correlation with improvement of vertebral height or local kyphotic angle. Asymptomatic cement leakage occurred in both groups. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective study with a relatively small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that both balloon kyphoplasty alone and short segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty for Kümmell's disease were safe and effective. Improvement of VAS score had no correlation with improvement of vertebral height or local kyphotic angle. Comparatively, balloon kyphoplasty resulted in same the clinical outcomes with less complications.

Laminoplasty versus conservative treatment for acute cervical spinal cord injury caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament after minor trauma.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: No reports to date have accurately evaluated the management for acute spinal cord injury (SCI) caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) after minor trauma. PURPOSE: To assess whether outcomes of laminoplasty is better than conservative treatment. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A retrospective study. PATIENT SAMPLE: Thirty-one patients underwent surgery (L group) and 29 patients underwent conservative treatment (C group). OUTCOME MEASURES: Disability, muscle strength, sensation, and general health status. METHODS: Patients were managed according to routine clinical practice and the results between groups were compared. Clinical and radiographic outcomes were assessed at admission, discharge, 6 months and at the final visit. Causes for trauma, duration of hospital stay, and complication were also evaluated. RESULTS: Causes for trauma included falling, traffic accidents and sports. Mixed and segmental types were the most frequent cause of OPLL resulting into SCI. Duration of hospital stay and complications were less in the L group. Motor and sensory scores increased in the L group at discharge (p<.05) and at 6 months (p<.05), and maintained thereafter (p>.05); scores improved significantly in the C group at 6 months (p<.05), with a slight deterioration with time (p>.05); scores in the L group were higher than in the C group at each time point after surgery (p<.05). Bodily pain and mental health in SF-36 improved at discharge in the L group (p<.05); all scores improved at 6 months in both the groups (p<.05), with better improvements in the L group (p<.05). The canal diameter increased and occupation ratio decreased in the L group (p<.05), and maintained thereafter (p<.05); a slight increase of occupation ratio was observed in the C group (p>.05). Lordotic angle and range of motion were maintained in both the groups, with no significance between groups (p>.05). High-signal intensity decreased at 6 months (p<.05) in the L group; no significant change was found in the C group during the follow-up (p>.05); Significant difference was detected between the groups at 6 months and at the final visit (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the OPLL patients displayed as incomplete SCI after minor trauma. Although spontaneous improvement of SCI without surgery is often observed, laminoplasty has more satisfactory outcomes, prevents late compression of cord, and reduces perioperative complications, although with no significant benefit in cervical alignment and range of motion.

Pain reduction following vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy, especially the pain reduction, of vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). METHODS: Eighty-six patients with OVCFs were treated with vertebroplasty or balloon kyphoplasty. All patients were followed up for seven-36 months. Visual analog scale (VAS), vertebral height, and local kyphotic angle were evaluated at pre-operation, postoperation, and final follow-up. RESULTS: The VAS pain score decreased significantly after surgery in both kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty groups (p < 0.001), and the improvement of VAS score had no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.826). There was a significant difference in the improvement of vertebral height (p < 0.001) and local kyphotic angle (p < 0.001) between the two groups. Improvement of VAS score had no correlation with improvement of vertebral height (vertebroplasty: r = -0.029, p = 0.869; kyphoplasty: r = 0.175, p = 0.219) or local kyphotic angle (vertebroplasty: r = 0.159, p = 0.361; kyphoplasty: r = 0.144, p = 0.312) in either group. CONCLUSION: Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are effective procedures for the reduction of pain in OVCFs, and they have the same efficient effect on pain reduction. Correction of vertebral height and local kyphosis may have minimal effect on pain reduction.

Comparative study of kyphoplasty for chronic painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures via unipedicular versus bipedicular approach.

STUDY DESIGN: A comparative study of chronic painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs), which underwent kyphoplasty via unipedicular versus bipedicular approach. OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical and radiographical outcomes in treating chronic painful OVCFs compared by unipedicular and bipedicular kyphoplasty (KP). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: OVCFs commonly occur in aged people and as many as one-third of them progress to chronic pain. Our previous research has proved that unipedicular and bipedicular KP can achieve comparable radiographical and clinical results in early stage. To give a medium-term and long-term assessment, we completed the comparison of outcomes 6 months and 2 years after surgery. METHODS: Fifty patients with a total of 56 chronic painful OVCFs completed the follow-ups of 2 weeks, 6 months, and 2 years after surgery. Group I (n=27) were treated with unipedicular KP and group II (n=23) with bipedicular KP. Preoperative and postoperative visual analog scale and Oswestry disability index scores were compared within each group and between groups. The radiographic outcomes were evaluated by the restoration rate and vertebral height lost rate in the most compressed point of the vertebral bodies. RESULTS: Significant improvement on the visual analog scale and Oswestry disability index scores were noted in each group (P<0.001), and there was no significant difference between the 2 groups. Although the restoration rate in group II was higher than in group I (P=0.005) in early stage, the height lost ratio showed no significant differences 6 months or 2 years later (P=0.746, 0.627). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic painful OVCFs should be candidates for KP, and there was no difference in pain relief when treated with either unipedicular or bipedicular KP.Although the bipedicular KP is more efficacious in vertebral height restoration in early stage, the unipedicular KP can maintain the same degree of the restored vertebral height in the long run.

Use of an integrated anterior cervical plate and cage device (PCB) in cervical anterior fusion.

The aim of this study is to evaluate an integrated cage and plate device (the plate cage Benezech, PCB) filled with autogenous bone in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. The fused segment height, lordosis, and fusion were assessed by postoperative radiographic examination at different intervals. Patients were evaluated using Odom's criteria and the Short Form (SF)-36 Health Survey questionnaire. The mean follow-up duration was 4.1 years. Fusion was achieved in 90.0%, 96.0% and 100% of patients at 3 months, 6 months and at final visit, respectively. The fused segment height and lordosis were restored and maintained. Cage subsidence (3mm) occurred at one level and settling was observed at three levels. An excellent-to-good result was achieved in 81.8% of patients. The data from the SF-36 questionnaire revealed significant postoperative improvement (p<0.01) except for social function and mental health. This study suggests that patients instrumented with PCB can obtain good radiographic and clinical results and that PCB is a safe and effective device in cervical anterior fusion.

Surgery for thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum.

Between January 1996 and December 2003, our department treated 16 patients (10 men and 6 women; average age 57.5 years) by performing a laminectomy for thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF). We followed up all patients for 36 to 86 months (mean follow-up time, 57.3 months). The mean (+/-standard deviation) Japanese Orthopaedic Association score increased from 5.0+/-1.4 points before the operation to 7.7+/-1.9 points at the last follow-up (p<0.01). The average values for pre-operative and post-operative kyphosis of the involved vertebrae were 5.8 degrees +/-4.1 degrees and 8.8 degrees +/-6.0 degrees , respectively; the mean increase in kyphosis was only 3.0 degrees +/-2.4 degrees . An intraoperative dural tear was the main complication and none of the patients developed severe neurological complications. We conclude that laminectomy was both effective and safe in the treatment of thoracic OLF, but it must be performed with great care because of frequent dural adhesions to the OLF. The increase in kyphosis after the laminectomy was minimal when most of the facet joints were left intact and when the patient followed a back extensor exercise program post-operatively.

Efficacy of surgery and type of fusion in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.

Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) can be treated by several surgical procedures. However, the choice of procedure and use of instrumentation remain controversial. In this retrospective study of 81 patients with DLSS, 43 patients received decompression and posterolateral fusion without instrumentation, and the surgery for 38 patients was supplemented with posterior transpedicular screw fixation. Both surgeon-based (Fischgrund criteria) and patient-based (Medical Outcome Trust Short-Form 36 [SF-36] questionnaire) standards were used to assess the clinical outcomes. An excellent to good result was achieved in 71.6% of patients and there was no significant difference 6.2 years later between groups with or without instrumentation (Z=0.0358, p>0.05). SF-36 data revealed significant postoperative improvement (p<0.01), and there was no significant difference between the two groups (t=1.67, p>0.05). Successful fusion occurred in 87% of patients with instrumentation versus 67% of the patients without instrumentation (chi(2)=4.23, p<0.05). Thus, surgical treatment of DLSS generally results in satisfactory outcomes. Transpedicular screw fixation may not improve clinical outcomes and the use of posterior instrumentation should be adopted cautiously.

Improvement in respiratory function after vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.

Our objective was to study the changes in respiratory function of patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) after vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Thoracic kyphotic angle, local kyphotic angle, pain scores and pulmonary function parameters were measured in 38 older women with OVCFs before, three days after and three months after operation. Vital capacity, forced vital capacity and maximum voluntary ventilation significantly increased three days after operation (P < 0.01), but only maximum voluntary ventilation went on to improve three months later (P < 0.01); the thoracic kyphotic angle had a significantly negative correlation with vital capacity (vertebroplasty: r = -0.832; kyphoplasty: r = -0.546). In thoracic subgroups, the improvement of the local kyphotic angle and vital capacity had a remarkably positive correlation (vertebroplasty: r = 0.778; kyphoplasty: r = 0.637), and kyphoplasty could improve vital capacity more than vertebroplasty (P < 0.01). Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty improve the lung function impaired by OVCFs, and kyphoplasty has a better effect in improving vital capacity for thoracic OVCFs.