Percutaneous cervical discectomy (PCD) has been developed as an effective treatment option for soft cervical disc herniation. However, no prognostic study of this procedure has yet been made. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcome of PCD and to determine the factors predicting excellent outcome. A retrospective review was performed of 111 consecutive patients who underwent PCD with a mean follow-up period of 49.4 months (range, 29-64 months). Under local anesthesia, a percutaneous anterior approach was followed by discectomy with microforceps and endoscopic Ho:YAG laser. The surgical outcomes of the 111 patients based on the Macnab criteria were excellent in 52 patients (46.9%), good in 37 (33.3%), fair in 9 (8.1%), and poor in 13 (11.7%), thereby indicating a symptomatic improvement in 88.3% of the patients. In this study, the two major factors predicting an excellent long-term outcome were the symptom of radiating arm pain (P = 0.02) and the location of lateral disc herniation (P < 0.02). Proper patient selection remains critical for the success of this minimally invasive procedure.

A discogenic cervical headache is a subtype of cervicogenic headache (CEH) that arises from a degenerative cervical disc abnormality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of percutaneous endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD) for patients with chronic cervical headache due to soft cervical disc herniation. Seventeen patients underwent PECD for intractable headache. The inclusion criteria were soft disc herniation without segmental instability, proven by both local anesthesia and provocative discography for headache unresponsive to conservative treatment. The mean follow-up period was 37.6 months. Fifteen of the 17 patients (88.2%) showed successful outcomes based on the Macnab criteria. Pain scores on a visual analog scale (VAS) improved from a preoperative mean of 8.35 +/- 0.79 to 2.12 +/- 1.17, postoperatively (P < 0.01). The mean disc height decreased from 6.81 +/- 1.08 to 5.98 +/- 1.07 mm (P < 0.01). There was no newly developed segmental instability or spontaneous fusion on follow-up radiography. In conclusion, PECD appears to be effective for chronic severe discogenic cervical headache under strict inclusion criteria.

Objective. This study was aimed at comparing the plantar fasciitis treatment effect of a double air-cushioned shoe to that of physiotherapy combined with ESWT. Methods. Retrospective chart review of 40 patients diagnosed with plantar fasciitis was performed. Group 1 wore a double air-cushioned shoe for 2 months, and group 2 underwent physiotherapy with ESWT once/week over a 4-week period. The foot function index (FFI) score was obtained at the initial visit, 1 month, and 2 months. Results. There were 25 patients in group 1 and 15 patients in group 2. The pretreatment FFI was 62.6 for group 1 and 50 for group 2. The 1-month posttreatment FFI was 45.6 for group 1 and 35.7 for group 2. The 2-month posttreatment FFI was 35 for group 1 and 43.1 for group 2. In both groups 1 and 2, follow-up FFIs were significantly improved from the initial FFI (p<0.05) and there were no significant differences between two groups (p>0.05). Conclusions. The double air-cushioned shoe can be considered an alternative treatment option for noninvasive treatment of early-stage plantar fasciitis.

No abstract