Anterior decompression and fusion versus laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy due to ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Both anterior decompression and fusion (ADF) and laminoplasty (LAMP) are frequently used for the treatment of cervical myelopathy due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). However, some controversies still remained in surgical options. We investigated whether ADF had better neurological outcome than LAMP in the treatment of cervical myelopathy due to OPLL. Secondary outcomes included operation time, blood loss, rate of complication and reoperation. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials database were searched to identify potential clinical studies compared ADF with LAMP for treatment of cervical myelopathy owing to OPLL. We also manually searched the reference lists of articles and reviews for possible relevant studies. Quality assessment was performed according to Cochrane Handbook and meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS: Nine studies involving 712 patients were finally included in this analysis. Compared with LAMP, ADF was associated with an increase of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score (WMD = 1.86, 95% CI 0.43 to 3.29, P = .011) and recovery JOA score at final follow-up (WMD = 30.94, 95% CI 20.56 to 41.33, P = .000). And, ADF was associated with a decrease of the late neurologic deterioration than LAMP group (RR = 0.34, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.92, P = .003). However, ADF was associated with an increase of the postoperative cervical lordosis (WMD = 4.47, 95% CI 1.58 to 7.36, P = .002) than LAMP. There was no significant difference between the complication, reoperation rate (P > .05). What's more, ADF was associated with an increase of the operation time than LAMP (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: ADF yields better neurological improvement, but higher cervical lordosis and longer operation time compared with LAMP for cervical myelopathy caused by OPLL. No significant difference was found in the complication and re-operation rate.

Comparison of the effectiveness and safety of topical versus intravenous tranexamic acid in primary total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to compare the effectiveness and safety of topical versus intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) in reducing blood loss in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), Wanfang Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Google Scholar were searched for randomized controlled studies (RCTs) that compared topical versus intravenous TXA in terms of reducing blood loss during TKA from their inception to September 2015. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA criteria. RESULTS: Twelve studies reporting 12 RCTs comprising 1130 patients were included. Compared with the intravenous administration of TXA, the topical administration of TXA showed no significant differences in total blood loss (MD 2.08, 95% CI -68.43 to 72.60, P = 0.95), blood loss in drainage (MD 18.49, 95% CI -40.01 to 76.98, P = 0.54), hidden blood loss (MD 4.75, 95% CI -337.94 to 347.44, P = 0.99), need for transfusion (RR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.67~1.25, P = 0.58), hemoglobin (Hb) decline (MD -0.42, 95% CI -0.89 to 0.05, P = 0.08), and DVT occurrence (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.55~2.50, P = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with intravenous administration TXA, topical administration TXA exhibits comparable effectiveness and safety in terms of reducing blood loss during TKA. Due to the poor quality of the included studies, more high-quality RCTs are needed to identify the optimal method and dose of TXA after TKA.

Effect of arthroscopic internal fixation and fusion for the treatment of patients with advanced ankle arthritis and the influence of AOFAS and VAS score / 中国内镜杂志

Objective To study the effect of arthroscopic internal fixation combined with arthrodesis on patients with advanced ankle arthritis and American Orthopedic Ankle Association Scoring System (AOFAS) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Methods 84 patients with advanced ankle arthritis from January 2012 to January 2015 were randomly divided into experimental group (42 cases) and control group (42 cases) by random number method. The patients in the control group were treated with traditional open ankle arthrodesis, the experimental group under the arthroscopic assisted internal fixation joint fusion. Then compare the time of surgery, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospitalization time and complication. The follow-up period was 12 to 36 months. Used the AOFAS score system to evaluate the curative effect. Use VAS to evaluate the degree of ankle pain. Results The operation time and intraoperative blood loss were significantly lower in the experimental group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The postoperative hospital stay and the time of joint fusion were lower in the experimental group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of complication (9.52%) in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (25.57%) (P < 0.05). The results of follow-up showed that the VAS and AOFAS scores of the experimental group were better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion The procedure of arthroscopic endoscopic fusion is short, the bleeding rate is low, the incidence of complications is low, the healing rate is high, and the follow-up effect is accurate. It is suitable for clinical use.

Inhibition of Peripheral Nerve Scarring by Calcium Antagonists, Also Known as Calcium Channel Blockers.

The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of calcium channel blockers (verapamil) on the formation of scars in the sciatic nerve anastomosis after peripheral nerve injury. One hundred twenty healthy, male Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and prepared with right sciatic nerve injury for this study. Samples were selected at the fourth and 12th weeks, respectively, after treatment and observations were made on the nerve anastomosis healing and diameter. Image analysis and statistical processing were carried out relating to the results of the study. The diameter of the anastomosis of the treatment group at weeks 4 and 12 was noticeably smaller than the control group (P < 0.05). In the treatment group at week 4, there were many vesicles observed in the fibroblasts' cytosol and in the control group, the fibroblasts exhibited high number of rough endoplasmic reticulum. The collagen content of the nerve scarring at week 12 in the treatment group was apparently less than the control group (P < 0.01). The calcium channel blocker (verapamil) reduced the axon resistance through the anastomosis during nerve regeneration. It can effectively inhibit the formation of scarring from nerve injury. It also provided an excellent microenvironment for the regeneration of nerve fibers.