S. Sessa

Complications in lumbar spine surgery: A retrospective analysis

Background: Surgical treatment of adult lumbar spinal disorders is associated with a substantial risk of intraoperative and perioperative complications. There is no clearly defined medical literature on complication in lumbar spine surgery. Purpose of the study is to retrospectively evaluate intraoperative and perioperative complications who underwent various lumbar surgical procedures and to study the possible predisposing role of advanced age in increasing this rate. Materials and Methods: From 2007 to 2011 the number and type of complications were recorded and both univariate, (considering the patients’ age) and a multivariate statistical analysis was conducted in order to establish a possible predisposing role. 133 were lumbar disc hernia treated with microdiscetomy, 88 were lumbar stenosis, treated in 36 cases with only decompression, 52 with decompression and instrumentation with a maximum of 2 levels. 26 patients showed a lumbar fracture treated with percutaneous or open screw fixation. 12 showed a scoliotic or kyphotic deformity treated with decompression, fusion and osteotomies with a maximum of 7.3 levels of fusion (range 5-14). 70 were spondylolisthesis treated with 1 or more level of fusion. In 34 cases a fusion till S1 was performed. Results: Of the 338 patients who underwent surgery, 55 showed one or more complications. Type of surgical treatment (P = 0.004), open surgical approach (open P = 0.001) and operative time (P = 0.001) increased the relative risk (RR) of complication occurrence of 2.3, 3.8 and 5.1 respectively. Major complications are more often seen in complex surgical treatment for severe deformities, in revision surgery and in anterior approaches with an occurrence of 58.3%. Age greater than 65 years, despite an increased RR of perioperative complications (1.5), does not represent a predisposing risk factor to complications (P = 0.006). Conclusion: Surgical decision-making and exclusion of patients is not justified only by due to age. A systematic preoperative evaluation should always be performed in order to stratify risks and to guide decision-making for obtaining the best possible clinical results at lower risk, even for elderly patients.

Posterior percutaneous reduction and fixation of thoraco-lumbar burst fractures

BACKGROUND Treatment of A3 thoraco-lumbar and lumbar spinal fractures nowadays remains a controversial issue. Percutaneous techniques are becoming very popular in the last few years to reduce the approach-related morbidity associated with conventional techniques. HYPOTHESIS Purpose of the study was to analyze the clinical and radiological outcome of patients who underwent percutaneous posterior fixation without fusion for the treatment of thoraco-lumbar and lumbar A3 fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-three patients, having sustained a single-level thoraco-lumbar fracture, underwent short segment percutaneous instrumentation and were retrospectively analyzed. sagittal index (SI) was calculated in all patients. Clinical and functional outcome were evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Short Form General Health Status (SF-36). RESULTS Average operative blood loss was 82 mL (50-320). Mean pre-operative SI in the thoraco-lumbar segment was 13.3° decreased to 5.8° in the immediate postoperative with a mean deformity correction of 7.5. Mean pre-operative SI in the lumbar segment was 16.5° decreased to 11.3° in the immediate postoperative with a mean deformity correction of 5.2. Not statistically significant correction loss was registered at 1-year minimum follow-up. Constant clinical conditions improvement in the examined patients was observed. CONCLUSION Percutaneous pedicle screw fixation for A3 thoraco-lumbar and lumbar spinal fractures is a reliable and safe procedure. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level IV. Retrospective study.

Degenerative facet joint changes in lumbar percutaneous pedicle screw fixation without fusion

BACKGROUND Aim of the study was to evaluate degenerative lumbar facet-joints changes after percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (PPSF) in the treatment of lumbar fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty patients underwent short PPSF without fusion. CT-scan was performed in the pre- and post-operative time at four, eight and 12 months. The six zygapophyseal joints adjacent the fractures level were evaluated. RESULTS At four months patients showed no differences between pre- and post-operative joint radiographic aspect. At eight and 12 months, CT-scan demonstrated a progressive degeneration only in the middle joints respectively in 21.42% and in 76.92% of the cases. All 10 disrupted facet joints showed progressive degenerative changes at eight and 12 months. CONCLUSION Lumbar percutaneous fixation without fusion induces little degenerations essentially collocated in the middle joints close to fracture level at eight and 12 months. In the proximal and distal joints adjacent the screws degenerative changes can be seen only when associated to pedicle-screw encroachment.

Cervical myelopathy due to ossification of the transverse atlantal ligament: A Caucasian case report operated on and literature analysis.

One case of cervical myelopathy associated to ossification of transverse atlantal ligament (OTAL) and C1 posterior arch hypoplasia in a Caucasian adult female is reported. A 53-year-old female affected by cervical myelopathy was treated with C1 laminectomy and posterior arthrodesis. CT scan demonstrated that the distance between ossification of the ligament and anterior cortex of the posterior arch of atlas was 6,2mm leading to consistent space reduction for spinal cord at this level. Patient underwent spinal cord decompression and fixation with C1 poliaxial screws in lateral masses and two bilateral crossing C2 laminar screws with an improvement of neurological functions at 4-years follow-up. The association between OTAL and C1 hypoplasia was reported in very few cases. The treatment with C1 laminectomy without fusion is reported in medical literature with good clinical outcome. Our patient obtained a neurological improvement at midterm follow-up with spinal cord decompression and fusion.

Response to the letter by Minghui Peng, MD, Baohua Jiao, MD

Firstly, the authors would like to thank Dr Jiao for his interest in ur study and his interesting questions. The authors agree about the need of a CT scan exam in order to etect a burst fracture. All our patients underwent a CT scan exam t their hospital arrival in order to classify the fracture type and to ecide the appropriate treatment. Only when the authors identify n A3 fracture at CT scan, they decide to perform a percutaneous edicle screw fixation. The case reported in the Fig. 6 is surely a case of multilevel fracures. As said, all patients in our study underwent a preoperative T scan. In this case, the CT scan points out the fractures both in L1 nd L2, which are both A1.1 fractures and a single A 3.1 fracture in 3, which the authors decide to surgically treat. Exclusion criteria efer only to single A 3 fractures, without considering A1 fracture hich treatment is generally conservative. Exclusion criteria are lso represented by the association with more complex fractures n which a percutaneous pedicle screw fixation is an insufficient reatment.