Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare disease which is often rapidly progressive. Delayed diagnosis of SEA may lead to serious complications and the clinical findings of SEA are generally nonspecific. Paraspinal abscess should be considered in the presence of local low back tenderness, redness, and pain with fever, particularly in children. In case of delayed diagnosis and treatment, SEA may spread to the epidural space and may cause neurological deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remains the method of choice in the diagnosis of SEA. Treatment of SEA often consists of both medical and surgical therapy including drainage with percutaneous entry, corpectomy, and instrumentation.

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There was no association between MMC closure and development of infection. Since it carries a high risk for the development of meningitis, the EVD system should be avoided unless necessary. Routine prophylactic antibiotic use did not reduce the infection risk in MMC repair surgery. Thus, antibiotics should not be used if there are no risk factors predisposing to infection.

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BackgroundBecause loss of cervical lordosis leads to disrupted biomechanics, the natural lordotic curvature is considered to be an ideal posture for the cervical spine. The vertebral arteries proceed in the transverse foramen of each cervical vertebra. Considering that the vertebral arteries travel in close anatomical relationship to the cervical spine, we speculated that the loss of cervical lordosis may affect vertebral artery hemodynamics. The aim of this study was to compare the vertebral artery values between subjects with and without loss of cervical lordosis.Material/MethodsThirty patients with loss of cervical lordosis and 30 controls matched for age, sex, and body mass index were included in the study. Sixty vertebral arteries in patients with loss of cervical lordosis and 60 in controls without loss of cervical lordosis were evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography. Vertebral artery hemodynamics, including lumen diameter, flow volume, peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, and resistive index, were measured, and determined values were statistically compared between the patient and the control groups.ResultsThe means of diameter (p=0.003), flow volume (p=0.002), and peak systolic velocity (p=0.014) in patients were significantly lower as compared to controls. However, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of the end-diastolic velocity (p=0.276) and resistive index (p=0.536) parameters.ConclusionsThe present study revealed a significant association between loss of cervical lordosis and decreased vertebral artery hemodynamics, including diameter, flow volume, and peak systolic velocity. Further studies are required to confirm these findings and to investigate their possible clinical implications.

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BACKGROUND:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) on proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and TNF-α, and explore its healing effect after acute spinal cord injury.

BackgroundThe importance of the removal of spinal implants is known in the presence of infection. However, the benefits and/or risks of the removal of spinal implant for the management of back pain are not clear.MethodsIn this retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate the beneficial effects of the removal of spinal implants for back pain. Study included 25 patients with thoracolumbar instrumentation.ResultsSeventeen (68%) of them were male. Indications for spinal instrumentation were vertebra fracture (n = 9), iatrogenic instability due to multiple segment laminectomy (n = 12), and instrumentation after recurrent disk herniations (n = 4). Mean visual analog score (VAS) before the removal was 8.08. Mean VAS was 3.36 after the removal. Spinal instruments were removed after the observance of the presence of fusion. All patients were prescribed analgesics and muscle relaxants for 3 weeks before removal. Back pain did not decrease in five (20%) patients in total. Four of them had been instrumented due to recurrent lumbar disk herniation. None of the patients reported the complete relief of pain.ConclusionIn conclusion, patients should be cautioned that their back pain might not decrease after a successful removal of their instruments.