Purpose The Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) is a short, multidimensional outcome scale validated for the use by patients with spinal disorders. It is a recommended instrument in the Spine Society of Europe Spine Tango Registry. The purpose of this study was to produce a crossculturally adapted and validated Polish COMI. Methods The cross-cultural adaptation was carried out using the established guidelines. One-hundred and sixtynine patients with chronic low back pain were enrolled, 89 took part in the reproducibility part of the study.Data quality, construct validity and reproducibility were assessed. Results The quality of data was very good with very few missing answers and modest floor effect. Reliability expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.90 (95 % CI 0.85-0.93) for the overall COMI score and for most of the individual core items. The minimum detectable change (MDC 95% ) was 1.79. Conclusions The Polish version of COMI showed a favorable reproducibility similar to that of previously tested language versions. The COMI scores correlated sufficiently with existing measures. This version of the COMI is a valuable instrument for the use by Polishspeaking patients with spinal disorders.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

Background and objectives: The course of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is still under analysis. The majority of complications arising from the infection are related to the respiratory system. The adverse effect of the viral infection on bone and joint tissue has also been observed. Materials and Methods: We present a group of 10 patients with degeneration of large joints and adjacent epiphyses of long bones and the spine, with a background of bone infarctions and avascular necrosis (AVN) immediately after infection with the COVID-19 virus. In MR imaging, changes in the characteristics of AVN were documented. Results: Observation of this group showed a clear correlation among the history of COVID-19 disease in the patients, moderately severe symptoms, high levels of IgG antibodies, and the time of occurrence of joint changes. No other clinically significant complications were observed following COVID-19 infection in the study group. No other risk factors for AVN or autoimmune or degenerative diseases were found in the study group. The group of patients responded well to empirical treatment with steroids, which normalized acute inflammatory symptoms and pain in the joints. Conclusions: During coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, there are complications in the locomotor system, such as microembolism and the formation of AVN; hence, more research is needed.

The results of this study indicate that the Polish version of the ODI is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of disability in Polish-speaking patients with lower back pain.

PurposePatient reported outcome measures play an increasingly important role in the outcomes research. The Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) is a short, multidimensional instrument initially developed for the use by patients with low back pain. This study is an evaluation of a Polish version of COMI adapted for neck pain.MethodsOne hundred twenty-three patients complaining of neck pain were enrolled. All of them completed a questionnaire booklet containing COMI-neck, Neck Disability Index and Likert-type questions regarding the frequency of use of pain medications and pain frequency. Ninety-eight patients returned the retest questionnaire. Data quality was also assessed. Assessment of psychometric properties included examination of data quality, construct validity, test–retest reliability and factor analysis.ResultsThe quality of data was good with no missing answers and a little floor effect. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a single-factor structure. Reliability expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.88 (95 % CI 0.84–0.92) for the overall COMI score and was generally good for most of individual core items. The minimum detectable change (MDC95%) was 1.97.ConclusionThis version of the COMI-neck is a valid and reliable instrument, with good psychometric properties. It can be recommended for Polish-speaking patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00586-013-3129-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transforaminal endoscopic disc removal in the L5-S1 motion segment of the lumbar spine creates a technical challenge due to anatomical reasons and individual variability. The majority of surgeons prefer a posterior classical or minimally invasive approach. There is only one foraminoplastic modification of the technique in the literature so far. In this paper we present a new technique with a foraminoplastic transfacet approach that may be suitable in older patients with advanced degenerative disease of the spine.