Patients who require multilevel lumbar procedures and/or have a preoperative coagulopathy are at a significantly higher risk for developing a postoperative epidural hematoma.

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The likelihood that a complication occurred was significantly related to Harrington classifications demonstrating significant neurologic deficits and the use of preoperative radiation therapy. In general, Harrington classifications with neurologic deficits and lower Frankel grades before and after surgery were associated with an increased risk of complication. Overall, the major complication rate was relatively low, and minor complications were successfully treated with minimal morbidity. The relatively long survival time after spinal surgery in this group of patients justifies surgical treatment for metastatic disease. Most complications occurred in a small percentage of patients. To minimize complications, patients must be carefully selected based on expected length of survival, the use of radiation therapy, presence of neurologic deficit, and impending spinal instability or collapse caused by bone destruction.

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00000410.

Patients treated with RF ablation of the BVN for CLBP exhibited significantly greater improvement in ODI at 3 months and a higher responder rate than sham treated controls. BVN ablation represents a potential minimally invasive treatment for the relief of chronic low back pain. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

fees for product development and royalties for cervical spine implants and femoral ring allograft; Dr. Albert reports receiving reimbursement for attending a symposium, fees for speaking, organizing education, and consulting, and funds for research from DePuy Spine; he has also worked as an independent contractor for DePuy Spine, lecturing on spine topics related to surgery with or without instrumental and molecular biology of the disc. He has received royalties and/ or holds patents for instrumentation that he has designed. He manages his conflicts through transparency and by avoiding when possible inclusion of products he's specifically designed and by being generic in his discussions. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript Spine (Phila Pa 1976 AbstractStudy Design-Concurrent prospective randomized and observational cohort study.Objectives-To assess the 4-year outcomes of surgery vs. non-operative care.Background-Although randomized trials have demonstrated small short-term differences in favor of surgery, long-term outcomes comparing surgical to non-operative treatment remain controversial.

In patients undergoing single-level posterolateral fusion for degenerative spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis, the use of pedicle screws may lead to a higher fusion rate, but clinical outcome shows no improvement in pain in the back and lower limbs.

No abstract