Lumbar Spine Surgery

Low back surgery patients with previous THR have less pain reduction after surgery

June 7, 2017 VIENNA — Patients who had previously undergone total hip replacement experienced less reduction of pain 1 year after low back surgery compared to patients with no prior total hip replacement, according to a presentation scheduled to be presented during the Free Papers award session for orthopaedics at the 18th EFORT Annual Congress […]

BACK SURGERY:  Two Articles About A Professional Basketball Coach

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been dealing with off-and-on painful symptoms since he underwent back surgery in July 2015, and he is urging anyone with back issues to avoid making the same mistake he made. Read story 1 here, and story 2 here.

Medical Mystery: Why Is Back Surgery So Popular in Casper, Wyo.?

The New Health Care By AUSTIN FRAKT and JONATHAN SKINNER FEB. 13, 2017 You might think that once drugs, devices and medical procedures are shown to be effective, they quickly become available. You might also think that those shown not to work as well as alternatives are immediately discarded. Reasonable assumptions both, but you’d be […]

Morbid Obesity and Lumbar Fusion in Patients Older Than 65 Years: Complications, Readmissions, Costs, and Length of Stay

Spine: 15 January 2017 – Volume 42 – Issue 2 – p 122–127 doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000001692 Epidemiology Puvanesarajah, Varun MD; Werner, Brian C. MD; Cancienne, Jourdan M. MD; Jain, Amit MD; Pehlivan, Hakan MD; Shimer, Adam L. MD; Singla, Anuj MD; Shen, Francis MD; Hassanzadeh, Hamid MD Study Design. Retrospective database review. Objective. The aim of […]

Fat Thickness as a Risk Factor for Infection in Lumbar Spine Surgery

John J. Lee, MD Orthopedics Posted August 30, 2016 DOI: 10.3928/01477447-20160819-05 Abstract Body mass index does not account for body mass distribution. This study tested the hypothesis that subcutaneous fat thickness is a better indicator than body mass index of the risk of surgical site infection in lumbar spine procedures performed through a midline posterior […]

Patients with sciatica still experience pain and disability 5 years after surgery: A systematic review with meta-analysis of cohort studies

European Journal of Pain Volume 20, Issue 10 November 2016 Pages 1700–1709 G.C. Machad First published: 12 May 2016 Abstract Background and objective The clinical course of patients with sciatica is believed to be favourable, but there is conflicting evidence on the postoperative course of this condition. We aimed to investigate the clinical course of […]

Paraspinal Muscle Atrophy After Lumbar Spine Surgery

Sina Pourtaheri, MD Orthopedics March/April 2016 – Volume 39 · Issue 2: e209-e214 Posted March 31, 2016 Abstract Paraspinal muscles are commonly affected during spine surgery. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential factors that contribute to paraspinal muscle atrophy (PMA) after lumbar spine surgery. A comprehensive review of the available English […]

What level of pain are patients happy to live with after surgery for lumbar degenerative disorders?

The Spine Journal Volume 16, Issue 4, Supplement, April 2016, Pages S12–S18 Proceedings of the 2016 BritSpine Biennial Scientific Congress of the United Kingdom Spine Societies Tamas F. Fekete, MD, Daniel Haschtmann, MD, Frank S. Kleinstück, MD, François Porchet, MD, Dezsö Jeszenszky, MD, PhD, Anne F. Mannion, PhD Abstract Background Context A new approach to […]

Failed back surgery syndrome: review and new hypotheses

J Pain Res. 2016; 9: 17–22. Published online 2016 Jan 12. doi:  10.2147/JPR.S96754 PMCID: PMC4716715 Bruno Bordoni and Fabiola Marelli Abstract Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a term used to define an unsatisfactory outcome of a patient who underwent spinal surgery, irrespective of type or intervention area, with persistent pain in the lumbosacral region with […]

Morbidity and mortality of complex spine surgery – 2015 Outstanding Paper Winner: Surgical Science

The Spine Journal Volume 16, Issue 2, February 2016, Pages 146–153 2015 Outstanding Paper Winner: Surgical Science Morbidity and mortality of complex spine surgery: a prospective cohort study in 679 patients validating the Spine AdVerse Event Severity (SAVES) system in a European population Sven Karstensen, BSc Abstract Background Context Most literature on complications in spine […]

Chronic Opioid Therapy After Lumbar Fusion Surgery for Degenerative Disc Disease in a Workers’ Compensation Setting

Spine: November 2015 – Volume 40 – Issue 22 – p 1775–1784 Anderson, Joshua T. BS Abstract Study Design. Retrospective cohort study. Objective. To evaluate prescription opioid use after lumbar fusion for degenerative disc disease in a workers’ compensation (WC) setting. Summary of Background Data. Use of opioids for treating chronic low back pain has […]

Risk of Complications in Spine Surgery: A Prospective Study

Open Orthop J. 2015; 9: 20–25. Published online 2015 Jan 31. doi: 10.2174/1874325001509010020 PMCID: PMC4321205 PMID: 25674185 Rodolfo Casimiro Reis Abstract Purpose : Complications are the chief concern of patients and physicians when considering spine surgery. The authors seek to assess the incidence of complications in patients undergoing spine surgery and identify risk factors for […]

What Are Long-term Predictors of Outcomes for Lumbar Disc Herniation? A Randomized and Observational Study

Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015 Jun;473(6):1920-30. doi: 10.1007/s11999-014-3803-7. Kerr D, Zhao W, Lurie JD. Abstract BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have illustrated improvements in surgical cohorts for patients with intervertebral disc herniation, there are limited data on predictors of long-term outcomes comparing surgical and nonsurgical outcomes. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We assessed outcomes of operative and nonoperative treatment for […]

Sympathetic Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain and Failed Back Surgery Syndrome

Clinical Journal of Pain: Post Acceptance: May 08, 2015 doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000250 Sympathetic Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain and Failed Back Surgery Syndrome. El-Badawy, Mohja A. MD; El Mikkawy, Dalia M. E. MD Abstract Background: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is defined as pain that persists longer than 12 weeks and is often […]

Intradiscal Biacuplasty Bests Standard Back Pain Therapy

Nancy A. Melville March 26, 2015 NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — Intradiscal biacuplasty (IDB), a minimally invasive treatment for discogenic low back pain, provides reductions in pain and improvements in function superior to those seen with traditional measures of conventional therapy, according to a new study. “[While] intradiscal biacuplasty now has a robust body of literature supporting its […]

Early individualised manipulative rehabilitation following lumbar open laser microdiscectomy improves early post-operative functional disability

J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2015 Mar 19. [Epub ahead of print] Early individualised manipulative rehabilitation following lumbar open laser microdiscectomy improves early post-operative functional disability: A randomized, controlled pilot study. Kim BJ1, Ahn J2, Cho H3, Kim D3, Kim T1, Yoon BC4. Author information Abstract BACKGROUND: Lumbar open laser microdiscectomy has been shown to be an effective intervention and safe approach […]

The Impact of Obesity on Short- and Long-term Outcomes After Lumbar Fusion

De la Garza-Ramos Spine 01 January 2015 Vol. 40 – Issue 1: p 56–61 Study Design. Retrospective cohort study. Objective. To compare short- and long-term outcomes in obese versus nonobese patients undergoing instrumented posterolateral fusion of the lumbar spine. Summary of Background Data. Obesity is an important public health issue due to the negative effects […]

A structured physiotherapy treatment model can provide rapid relief to patients who qualify for lumbar disc surgery: a prospective cohort study

J Rehabil Med. 2014 Mar;46(3):233-40. doi: 10.2340/16501977-1255. Svensson GL, Wendt GK, Thomeé R. Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a structured physiotherapy treatment model in patients who qualify for lumbar disc surgery. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. PATIENTS: Forty-one patients with lumbar disc herniation, diagnosed by clinical assessments and magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: Patients followed a structured […]

Incidence and risk factors for perioperative visual loss after spinal fusion

Sreeharsha V. Nandyala, BA The Spine Journal Volume 14, Issue 9, 1 September 2014, Pages 1866–1872 Abstract Background context Perioperative visual loss (POVL) is a rare but devastating complication that may follow spinal surgeries. The incidence of POVL after spinal fusion is not well characterized during the past decade. Purpose A population-based database was analyzed […]

Problems Persist For High-Profile Back Surgery

Dallas Morning News 11:05 PM on Aug 23, 2014 Christine Harrison suffered from a chronically sore back. Watching Fox & Friends one morning, she saw an interview with a doctor who promised “excellent pain relief” for people like her. The doctor was promoting North American Spine, a high-profile Dallas company, and its trademark AccuraScope surgery. “The way […]