A new method for calculating the desired laminoplasty opening size based on the target sagittal canal diameter before single-door cervical laminoplasty.

PURPOSE: To build a mathematical model which could calculate the desired laminoplasty opening size (LOS) based on the target sagittal canal diameter (SCD) before single-door cervical laminoplasty (SDCL) when taking the effects of surgery drill into consideration. METHODS: The model was based on geometric analysis on deformation of spinal canal; the formula was derived and characterized as: y (mm) = 2 [Formula: see text] × sin(ß/2) = c - d (y is the size of LOS, [Formula: see text] the size of transverse canal diameter, ß the size of laminoplasty opening size, c the size of mini-plate and d the diameter of the drill bit used during the surgery operation). The parameters of pre- and postoperative computed tomography scans of 20 patients who had undergone SDCL were measured by the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) software and a new instrument named as Lei's ruler, respectively. RESULTS: The effects of surgery SDCL were very significant; for each patient, the SCD was enlarged dramatically after the surgery (P < 0.01). The differences between the data obtained by PACS and Lei's ruler were no statistically significant (P > 0.05). According to the derived formula, the 95% confidence intervals of SCD after the surgery were within the range of 14 mm and 14.5 mm. CONCLUSION: Applying the mathematical model and derived formula, the desired LOS could be calculated according to the target SCD which could help the surgeon select an optimum mini-plate before SDCL. At the same time, a new measuring device named Lei's ruler is designed for the convenience of the derived formula. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

[Umbilical therapy combined with moxibustion for autumn diarrhea in children].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy differences between moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy and oral administration of montmorillonite powder (smecta) on diarrhea symptoms in children of different ages. METHODS: A total of 120 children were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 60 cases in each group. In the observation group, the children aged under 3 years old were treated with moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8), Zhongwan (CV 12) and Tianshu (ST 25), and each acupoint was treated for less than 3 min, and the total treatment duration was no more than 10 min; the children aged between 3 to 7 years old were treated with moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8), Zhongwan (CV 12), Tianshu (ST 25), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zusanli (ST 36), Pishu (BL 20), Shenshu (BL 23) and Dachangshu (BL 25), each acupoint was treated for less than 3 min, and the total treatment duration was no more than 20 min. After moxibustion, traditional Chinese medicine patch (clove, cinnamon, rhizoma zingiberis, fructus evodiae, hawthorn, rhizoma atractylodis) was applied at Shenque (CV 8). For the children under 1 year old, the medical bag with 30 g powder was heated to 50 ℃ and used for about 30 min; for children over 1 year old, 2-5 g powder was mixed with vinegar and used for 4-8 h each time. The treatment was given once a day, three times as a course of treatment, and a total of one course of treatment was given. The children in the control group were treated with oral administration of montmorillonite powder, 3 g per day for children under 1 year old, 3-6 g per day for children aged 1-2 years old and 6-9 g per day for children over 2 years old. The montmorillonite powder was taken three times a day for 3 days. The diarrhea symptom scores before and after treatment were observed and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. From the first treatment, the recovery cases and recovery time in the two groups were recorded, the recovery cases and recovery time in acute and chronic stages were compared between different age groups. The recurrence was observed 3 months after treatment. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the diarrhea symptom score after treatment was decreased in the observation group (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference before and after treatment in the control group (P>0.05). After treatment, the score of diarrhea symptoms in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 95.0% (57/60) in the observation group, which was superior to 76.7% (46/60) in the control group (P<0.05). The recovery cases of acute stage aged ≤ 1 year old and 5-7 years old, and chronic stage of different age stages in the observation group was insignificantly higher than that in the control group (P>0.05). The recovery time of different age stages and average recovery time in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group (P<0.05). The recovery time of children in acute stage>1 year old and ≤5 years old and average recovery time in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the average recovery time of children in chronic stage in the observation group was shorter than that in the control group (P<0.05). Three months after treatment, the recurrence rate was 0% (0/36) in acute phase and 4.8% (1/21) in chronic phase in the observation group, which were superior to 9.7% (3/31) in acute phase and 46.7% (7/15) in chronic phase in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The umbilical therapy combined with moxibustion could improve the symptoms of diarrhea and shorten the recovery time in children of different ages with autumn diarrhea, which have better efficacy than montmorillonite powder.