Aims

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the type of cervical disc herniation influences the severity of symptoms at the time of presentation, and the outcome after surgical treatment.

Recent surveys have shown that idiopathic structural scoliosis of mild degree is generally not progressive. We will propose a mechanism which may be responsible for deterioration in the few. It has been observed that the spinal cord, although displaced towards the concavity, does not rotate in company with the vertebrae, thus exposing the emerging nerve roots to the effects of traction and possibly of entrapment. We suggest that progression occurs when the neuraxis is unable to adjust to the change in the anatomy of vertebral column. Our proposition is based upon our findings in a complete spinal column obtained from a baby with structural scoliosis. Support is provided by intercostal angiography, and by observations upon normal anatomy, the pathological anatomy of mature scoliotic spines and the anatomy of contrived scoliosis in normal spines. Although our histological and electrophysiological investigations are incomplete we can demonstrate a significant increase in degenerate cells in the dorsal root ganglia at the apex on the convex side. Lack of suitable necropsy material prevents us from confirming our observations so that our report is inevitably preliminary. We enter a plea that careful examination of the neuraxis be undertaken whenever a specimen of a scoliotic spine becomes available

The development of spinal deformity in children with underlying neurodisability can affect their ability to function and impact on their quality of life, as well as compromise provision of nursing care. Patients with neuromuscular spinal deformity are among the most challenging due to the number and complexity of medical comorbidities that increase the risk for severe intraoperative or postoperative complications. A multidisciplinary approach is mandatory at every stage to ensure that all nonoperative measures have been applied, and that the treatment goals have been clearly defined and agreed with the family. This will involve input from multiple specialities, including allied healthcare professionals, such as physiotherapists and wheelchair services. Surgery should be considered when there is significant impact on the patients’ quality of life, which is usually due to poor sitting balance, back or costo-pelvic pain, respiratory complications, or problems with self-care and feeding. Meticulous preoperative assessment is required, along with careful consideration of the nature of the deformity and the problems that it is causing. Surgery can achieve good curve correction and results in high levels of satisfaction from the patients and their caregivers. Modern modular posterior instrumentation systems allow an effective deformity correction. However, the risks of surgery remain high, and involvement of the family at all stages of decision-making is required in order to balance the risks and anticipated gains of the procedure, and to select those patients who can mostly benefit from spinal correction.

1. Fifty-one cases of fracture of the odontoid have been analysed. Forty were reported by other surgeons; eleven were new cases first reported by us. 2. Fracture of the odontoid in young children is an epiphysial separation. It occurs up to the age of seven years. As in epiphysial separations elsewhere, it unites readily, and remodelling occurs when reduction has been incomplete, so that normal anatomy is restored. 3. In adults forward displacement is twice as common as backward displacement. 4. Immediate paralysis is commoner if backward displacement occurs, but late neurological disorders are seen only after fractures with forward displacement. 5. Failure of bony healing is not dangerous if treatment has resulted in firm fibrous union, for there is neither excessive abnormal mobility nor progressive subluxation, either of which could injure the spinal cord or medulla. Neurological disorders developing after the fracture are the result of mobility from inadequate early treatment. It is the results of inadequate early treatment which have given this fracture a sinister reputation. 6. The fracture should be reduced by skeletal traction through a skull caliper. The reduction should be maintained for six weeks by continuous traction, and this should be followed by a period of six weeks in a plaster. 7. The increasing definition of the fracture-line seen in the radiographs of some patients indicates non-union

Aims

To describe the clinical, radiological, and functional outcomes in patients with isolated congenital thoracolumbar kyphosis who were treated with three-column osteotomy by posterior-only approach.

Aims

To report the outcome of spinal deformity correction through anterior spinal fusion in wheelchair-bound patients with myelomeningocele.

Aims

To determine the value of scoliosis surgery, it is necessary to evaluate outcomes in domains that matter to patients. Since randomized trials on adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) are scarce, prospective cohort studies with comparable outcome measures are important. To enhance comparison, a core set of patient-related outcome measures is available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of AIS fusion surgery at two-year follow-up using the core outcomes set.

Bilateral interlocking of the articular facets of the cervical spinal column results from excessive flexion. Unilateral interlocking (hemiluxation) results from simultaneous excessive flexion and rotation. Patients with hemiluxation of the cervical spine often have only mild complaints and the clinical signs may be slight. The diagnosis is made radiologically, but it is often overlooked. Various forms of treatment may give good results. In recent hemiluxation, reduction is advisable to promote recovery of radicular symptoms. The effect of reduction on spinal cord symptoms is uncertain. Manual reduction under general anaesthesia is usually successful, with the possible exception of some cases of interlocking at C.6-C.7, or C.7-T.1. Skull traction with weights of 5 to 10 kilograms even when prolonged is hardly ever successful; with weights of 10 kilograms or more there is a chance of success. Surgical reduction is not always necessary. A hemiluxation of more than two weeks' standing may still be reduced but non-operative methods offer little chance of success. In this series there has been no aggravation of the neurological deficit after reduction. Although hemiluxation shows a tendency to spontaneous stabilisation it is wise in our opinion to apply some form of fixation. The selection of the method of fixation depends on the neurological picture and on the estimated degree of instability. The latter depends on the presence or absence of additional damage to the interlocked and adjacent vertebrae. Manual reduction by means of traction in the longitudinal axis of the cervical spine under general anaesthesia with muscle relaxation, followed by immobilisation in a plaster jacket (Minerva type) for three months is successful in many cases. If surgical stabilisation is considered necessary an attempt at manual reduction should be made before operation so that when the patient is placed on the table the cervical spinal canal has regained its normal shape. In general, sufficient stability will have been achieved after approximately three months, so that for hemiluxations of more than three months duration surgical treatment will only rarely be necessary. Figure 11 shows the methods of treatment that we advise

1. Ectopic ossification is commonest in, but not confined to, traumatic paraplegia. It occurs also in many other neurological disorders which have in common a gross disturbance of spinal cord reflex activity. It is a true ossification and must be distinguished from calcification. 2. The neurological lesion may lie anywhere from the cerebral cortex to the mixed peripheral nerve. It may involve motor tracts, sensory tracts or a mixture of both. 3. The ossification is localised and self-limiting. It occurs mainly in the lower limbs and is restricted to certain muscles or muscle groups, the nerve supply of which is always below the level of the central neurological lesion. 4. The blood chemistry is usually normal. 5. A true arthropathy is rare except as part of a secondary suppurative arthritis. 6. The resemblance to myositis ossificans progressiva or to ossifying haematoma is only superficial, although the pathological process at cellular level may be the same. 7. The period of onset after paraplegia is variable. The earliest recorded example is in one of our own cases in which ossification occurred nineteen days after injury. Other patients have developed ossification after several years. 8. The condition is commonest in acquired nervous disease rather than in congenital disorders, and so far as we know it has not been described in the myopathies. The presence of muscular spasticity or flaccidity is relevant only in that it indicates a disturbance of reflex activity. 9. Soft-tissue ulceration appears to be frequently associated with ectopic ossification. The type of new bone formation associated with large chronic ulcers is not to be compared with the new bone formation in the muscles of a paraplegic patient in otherwise good general condition. 10. The occurrence of urinary tract infections with calculi and generalised sepsis is not specifically related to the onset of new bone formation. 11. Localised soft-tissue oedema often precedes the formation of new bone. Its appearance is undoubtedly important, but the mechanism of its origin is obscure. 12. It is not yet known what initiates ectopic ossification, what limits its spread and what finally causes it to stop. 13. We have described 100 examples of ectopic ossification in 603 paraplegic patients. 14. Surgery has been required in only eight patients. The only indication for surgery is bony ankylosis of the hip in an unacceptable position

Aims

To evaluate the perioperative complications associated with total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) in patients with spinal tumours, based on the extent and level of tumour resection.

Aims

The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the correction achieved using a convex pedicle screw technique and a low implant density achieved using periapical concave-sided screws and a high implant density. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in outcome between the two techniques.

Aims

With resumption of elective spine surgery services in the UK following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a multicentre British Association of Spine Surgeons (BASS) collaborative study to examine the complications and deaths due to COVID-19 at the recovery phase of the pandemic. The aim was to analyze the safety of elective spinal surgery during the pandemic.

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To assess the characteristic clinical features, management, and outcome of patients who present to orthopaedic surgeons with functional dystonia affecting the foot and ankle.

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Cauda equina syndrome (CES) can be associated with chronic severe lower back pain and long-term autonomic dysfunction. This study assesses the recently defined core outcome set for CES in a cohort of patients using validated questionnaires.

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This study, using a surgeon-maintained database, aimed to explore the risk factors for surgery-related complications in patients undergoing primary cervical spine surgery for degenerative diseases.