Espondilodiscitis por haemophilus parainfluenzae: un reporte de caso / Spondylodiscitis due to haemophilus parainfluenzae: a case report

INTRODUCCIÓN Haemophilus parainfluenzae (HP) es un cocobacilo gram negativo y un patógeno oportunista. Rara vez se asocia a infecciones vertebrales o musculoesqueléticas, y está muy poco reportado en la literatura. PRESENTACIÓN DELO CASO Una mujer de 45 años, sana, que presentaba un historial de dos semanas de lumbalgia progresiva, fiebre, coriza y congestión nasal, y que tenía discitis intervertebral causada por HP, confirmada por dos hemocultivos positivos y hallazgos progresivos de resonancia magnética (RM) de columna lumbar. Los hallazgos de la RM fueron atípicos, y consistían en un absceso del psoas y pequeñas colecciones de líquido epidural e intraespinal anterior asociadas con espondilodiscitis. El diagnóstico inicial se retrasó debido a que la RM inicial no reveló hallazgos que sugirieran un proceso infeccioso. El tratamiento consistió en un ciclo prolongado de administración intravenosa seguida de antibióticos orales, lo que finalmente produjo una buena respuesta clínica. DISCUSIÓN Y CONCLUSIÓN El HP es un patógeno muy raro en la espondilodiscitis. No obstante, debe tenerse en cuenta, especialmente en pacientes que presentan lumbalgia y fiebre y/o bacteriemia por microorganismos gram negativos. El estudio inicial debe incluir una RM de la columna con contraste. Aunque es poco común, la espondilodiscitis y un absceso del psoas pueden presentarse concomitantemente. Los antibióticos prolongados son el pilar del tratamiento.

INTRODUCTION Haemophilus parainfluenzae (HP) is a gram-negative coccobacillus and an opportunistic pathogen. It is rarely associated with spinal- and musculoskeletal-site infections, and very little reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION An otherwise healthy, 45-year-old woman who presented with a two-week history of progressive low back pain, fever, coryza and nasal congestion, was found to have intervertebral discitis caused by HP, confirmed by two positive blood cultures and progressive lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. The MRI findings were atypical, consisting of a psoas abscess and small anterior epidural and intraspinal fluid collections associated with spondylodiscitis. The initial diagnosis was delayed because the initial MRI failed to reveal findings suggestive of an infectious process. The treatment consisted of a long course of intravenous followed by oral antibiotics, ultimately yielding a good clinical response. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Haemophilus parainfluenzae is a very rare pathogen in spondylodiscitis. Nonetheless, it should be considered, especially in patients presenting with low back pain and fever and/or gram negative bacteremia. The initial work-up should include contrast-enhanced MRI of the spine. Although rare, spondylodiscitis and a psoas abscess can present concomitantly. Prolonged antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment.

Reliability Evaluation of the New AO Spine-DGOU Classification for Osteoporotic Thoracolumbar Fractures.

OBJECTIVES: To perform an interobserver and intraobserver agreement evaluation of the new AO Spine-DGOU classification system for osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures (OFc). METHODS: Complete imaging studies of 97 patients (radiographs, computed tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging) with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures were selected and classified using the OFc by 6 spine surgeons (3 senior surgeons with more than 15 years of experience and 3 surgeons with less than 15 years). After a 4-week interval, the same cases were presented to the same evaluators in a random sequence for a new classification assessment. The weighted kappa coefficient (wκ) was used to determine the interobserver and intraobserver agreement. RESULTS: The interobserver agreement was moderate, wκ = 0.59 (95% confidence interval 0.54-0.64). The intraobserver agreement was fair, wκ = 0.35 (95% confidence interval 0.29-0.40). Interobserver agreement slightly improved for junior staff between first and second evaluation, suggesting a learning effect. Better agreement was obtained by senior staff at the interobserver and intraobserver agreement. CONCLUSIONS: This independent assessment demonstrated that new OFc allows moderate interobserver agreement and fair intraobserver agreement. Further studies are necessary prior to its widespread adoption.

Spondylolysis Repair Using a Minimally Invasive Modified Buck Technique with Neuronavigation and Neuromonitoring in High School and Professional Athletes: Technical Notes, Case Series, and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Spondylolysis is a defect in the pars interarticularis of the vertebra that occurs frequently in high-performance young athletes. Although nonsurgical management is the mainstay of treatment, surgery is an option for patients with persistent symptoms despite multiple cycles of nonsurgical treatment. Performing a minimally invasive technique reduces complications, postsurgery pain, and hospitalization time and leads to a quick recovery. The aim of this study was to report the clinical results of a series of 3 patients treated with a modification of the Buck technique with a minimally invasive approach. METHODS: Three high-performance athletes between 17 and 18 years old who were managed nonsurgically for at least 6 months underwent a modified Buck technique repair with a minimally invasive approach using cannulated compression screws, with neuronavigation and neuromonitoring. Patients were followed at least 6 months with computed tomography scans to assess consolidation and fixation status. Following rehabilitation and in the absence of pain, all 3 athletes returned to their respective sports. No complications were reported. RESULTS: All patients presented with bilateral spondylolysis, at L3 in 1 case and at L5 in 2 cases. Patients received conservative management for 12-36 months before surgery. After surgery, consolidation was obtained at 4 months in all patients, who returned to their sports activities in <6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed technique shows the advantages of performing minimally invasive surgery in young high-performance athletes, ensuring consolidation and early return to sports activity without complications.

Management of lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy: Results of an Iberian-Latin American survey.

BACKGROUND: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH)/radiculopathy is the most frequent cause of lost workdays in people under 50 years of age. Although there is consensus about how to assess these patients, the optimal management strategy is still debated. METHODS: An online survey was sent to spine surgeons who are members of the Iberian-Latin American Spine Society to assess how they treat LDH with radiculopathy. RESULTS: There were 718 surgeons who answered the survey; 66% reported that 76-100% of their monthly clinic work was due to spine issues. The most frequently used conservative treatment modalities included non-opioid analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (90.5%), followed by physical therapy (55.2%) and pregabalin (41.4%). Notably, 40% of surgeons in the public sector believed that conservative treatment failed if symptoms persisted beyond 6-12 weeks, while 39% of private surgeons deemed conservative management insufficient if it had failed to provide symptomatic relief with 3-6 weeks. Of interest, 78% utilized epidural steroid injections (ESI); 51.7% preferred the transforaminal, 27.2% the interlaminar, and 7.5% the caudal approaches. The most frequent indications for surgery included: cauda equina syndrome, progressive neurological deficits, and intractable pain. Traditional microdiscectomy was the most common technique (68.5%) utilized, followed by 7.5% advocating endoscopic disc resection, and just 6.4% favoring the tubular discectomy. CONCLUSION: There is considerable heterogeneity among Iberian and Latin American spine surgeons in the treatment of LDH/radiculopathy. Although most begin with the utilization of NSAIDs and non-opioid analgesics, followed by ESI (88%), surgery was recommended for persistent symptoms/signs for those failing between 3 and 6 weeks (private sector) versus 6-12 weeks (public sector) of conservative therapy.

Pathological axis fracture secondary to a solitary bone plasmacytoma: Two cases and a literature review.

BACKGROUND: Solitay bone plasmocytoma (SBP) account for just 5-10% of all plasma cell neoplasms. They are infrequent in the cervical spine, especially involving the C0-C2 segment. In this article we conducted a literature review and present the diagnosis, management and long term course of two patients with SBP of C2 causing cervical instability. METHODS: We assessed the clinical records of two patients with SBP in C2 and cervical instability attributed to SP-B involving C2. Both patients presented with progressive, severe cervicalgia, and the "sensation" of skull instability. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an extensive, infiltrative lesion involving C2 vertebral body and lateral masses, consistent with a plasmacytoma. RESULTS: Both patients underwent emergency posterior surgical stabilization with craniocervical fixation; this was accompanied by a C2 transpedicular biopsy. Postoperatively, patients exhibited no focal neurological deficits and rapidly became pain free. They additional recieved 25 sessions of local conventional radiation therapy. Both patients are doing well as respective 2 and 7-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Although rare, unstable SBP may present atypical cervical location that readily responds to surgical descompression/fusion and radiotherapy.

Treatment strategies for managing cervical spine injuries in rugby players.

BACKGROUND: Cervical spine fractures are potentially catastrophic injuries in rugby players. Here, we reviewed seven patients who sustained rugby-related cervical spine fractures. Notably, three of seven fractures were missed on initial X-rays, but were ultimately documented on CT studies obtained an average of 10 days later. METHODS: Seven patients sustained cervical spine fracture attributed to rugby (2009-2016) and were followed an average of 52 posttrauma months. Most injuries occurred at the C6-C7 level, and six of seven patients required surgery. Further, only two of seven patients exhibited resultant neurological deficits (e.g., one myelopathy and one radiculopathy). RESULTS: Although the rugby injury was sufficiently documented on initial X-rays in four patients, three initial X-rays missed fractures, which were documented on the CT studies obtained an average of 10 days later. CONCLUSION: Rugby-related cervical fractures must be considered where players continue to complain of pain following trauma. Notably, routine X-rays may miss fractures in 3 of 7 cases (43%), thus warranting supplemental CT examinations to definitively rule out fractures.

Isolated transverse sacral fractures.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: The limited literature available about transverse sacral fractures describes two populations of patients: one with severe associated injuries and neurologic impairment and another with insufficiency fractures after low-energy trauma. Nevertheless, we have observed that isolated sacral fractures can occur in a third group of patients without the previously described features. PURPOSE: To describe the clinical features of a population of patients with isolated transverse sacral fractures and evaluate the results of their conservative treatment according to our experience. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PATIENT SAMPLE: Forty-two patients with isolated transverse sacral fractures with a mean follow-up of 22 months (range, 18-24 months). OUTCOMES MEASURES: Neurologic recovery, pain relief, time out of work, and disability. METHODS: We included all the patients admitted at our institution for an isolated transverse sacral fracture between 1996 and 2005. The information obtained from their medical records was analyzed using an electronic spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel for Mac v.2011; Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA). RESULTS: Thirty-four patients (80%) sustained a low-energy trauma, whereas only two (4.8%) presented transient neurologic impairment. Every fracture was confirmed with a sacrococcygeal computed tomography (CT) scan. All the patients referred no local pain 6 months after the accident and were able to return to their preinjury activity level. None of the patients required compensation for disability. CONCLUSION: Transverse sacral fractures should be suspected in patients referring local pain after sustaining low-energy trauma, even in the absence of risk factors for an insufficiency fracture. These injuries are difficult to detect in plain X-rays, so a sacrococcygeal CT scan is recommended. Conservative treatment is associated with excellent results in this population of patients.

Thoracic spine fractures: injury profile and outcomes of a surgically treated cohort.

There are only few reports in literature about the treatment of traumatic lesions of the thoracic spine. They have been grouped together with thoracolumbar fractures, ignoring the particular biomechanics of the thoracic segment. The objective of this retrospective cohort is to describe the clinical presentation and outcomes of surgically treated patients with these injuries. Data were obtained from the institutional database of medical registries, identifying all the patients who had been treated for thoracic spine fractures, from January 1, 1995 through December 31, 2005 in our institution. The study group included the 51 surgically treated patients. General and surgery-related complications were considered as clinical outcomes and injury-related disability was also assessed. Statistical analysis evaluating possible associations with timing and type of surgery, neurological impairment and associated injuries was carried out. Motor vehicle accident was the most frequent mechanism of injury. Six patients had an incomplete neurological deficit, whereas 22 had a complete lesion. Thirty-two patients presented at least one complication. Five of the neurologically intact patients, while 20 of those with neurological impairment presented general complications (p = 0.0001). None of the patients' neurological status deteriorated after surgery. All patients with complete spinal cord injury and those with incomplete cord injury with partial functional recovery received disability compensation. Short pedicle instrumentations should be used whenever possible, but also long instrumentations and mixed constructs may be necessary for the management of such unique fractures.

Speed hump spine fractures: injury mechanism and case series.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series. OBJECTIVES: To describe an injury mechanism and a series of patients with spine fractures after passing over speed humps in a motor vehicle. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The use of speed humps as an effective measure to reduce the rate of traffic accidents is still a matter of discussion. Furthermore, their use in mass transport routes may cause spine injuries among passengers in motor vehicles. METHODS: Review of the database in our medical records, identifying all the patients with spine fractures that occurred after passing over speed humps while in a motor vehicle, from January 1, 1997 to April 30, 2008 in the Hospital del Trabajador de Santiago, Chile. RESULTS: Of a sample of 46 patients with 52 fractures-none of them with neurologic impairment-37 female patients (80.4%) and 9 male patients (19.6%) with an average age of 48.5 years (16 to 70 y), 67.4% (31 of 46) presented comorbidities. Six patients presented 2 spine fractures, all of them at adjacent levels. Forty-four individuals (95.7%) were injured in a bus: 42 of 44 patients (95.5%) were seated on the last row, whereas the remaining 2 patients were bus drivers. All patients had type A Association for Osteosynthesis/Association for the Study of Internal Fixation fractures, 30/52 (57.7%) subtype A1 and 20/52 (38.5%) subtype A3. L1 was the most frequently fractured vertebra (23/52, 44.2%), followed by T12 (11/52, 21.2%). Ten patients (21.7%) required surgical treatment. The average time out of work was 104.3 days; 3 patients (6.5%) received workers' compensation for chronic lumbar pain. The mean follow-up time was 78.6 months (24 to 159). CONCLUSIONS: Seating in a motor vehicle, particularly on the last row in a bus, as it passes over a speed hump may cause severe traumatic spine injuries. These fractures occur more frequently at the thoracolumbar junction and treatment may require surgery.

Residual mobility of instrumented and non-fused segments in thoracolumbar spine fractures.

The surgical management of thoracolumbar fractures presents potential benefits. However, the surgery solve the instability by fusion of mobile segments. We incorporate in our treatment algorithms, the use of restricted arthrodesis at injured levels, regardless of longer instrumentations, as well as the use of non-fused transitory stabilizations, based on the conviction that in non-fused segments without traumatic disc injury, mobility persists once the instrumentation is removed. The goals of this study were to compare the mobility of non-fused segments after hardware removal to a normal range of motion and to find prognostic pre-op imaging patterns. We reviewed 21 consecutive patients who underwent surgery with preservation of mobile segments (non-fused segments included in the construction) in order to recover mobility after removal of instrumentation, performed between 1995 and 2001. All patients were treated by indirect reduction with posterior transpedicular instrumentation. Clinical and radiological outcome was analyzed after an average follow-up of 46.6 months. Satisfactory subjective outcome results were obtained in 94.7%. The dynamic radiological follow-up study showed 75% (21 segments) with normal or decreased range of motion (ROM) and 25% (7 segments) without mobility. The non-fused segments with hardware removal before 10 months of evolution presented a normal or decreased mobility in 83.2% while the segments with hardware removal after 10 months showed 68.8% of mobility. The intervertebral disc (IVD)'s with normal initial MRI morphology preserved their mobility in 81.9%. Complications occurred in four patients: two superficial wound infections and two patients presented a late fracture of one USS Schanz. The results of this study prove that in thoracolumbar fractures, non-fused spinal segments included in pedicular instrumentation maintained mobility in a high percentage once the hardware is removed. 75% of the segments presented a normal or decreased ROM.

Management of posttraumatic kyphosis: surgical technique to facilitate a combined approach.

This report describes a variation of the "posterior-anterior-posterior" surgical techniques to correct posttraumatic kyphosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine with the USS internal fixator. This modification is based on the use of "temporary screws" to mark the entrance of the pedicles in the first stage of the operation (posterior approach, with the patient in prone position). Approaching both columns of the spine simultaneously facilitates correction of the kyphotic defect and permits 360 reconstruction of the spine.

Seguimiento de pacientes operados de hernias discales: efectos de factores psicosociales a largo plazo / Following of operated patients with herniated lumbar disk: effects of psychosocial long-term factors

Introducción: Los factores psicosociales, a menudo interfieren la evolución y pronóstico de la patología lumbar. Este estudio evalúa la adaptación laboral y sociofamiliar a largo plazo en pacientes accidentados del trabajo, operados de HNP lumbares (hernias discales). Método: Estudio de Casos y Controles. De todos los pacientes operados de HNP lumbar en el Hospital del Trabajador entre 1991 y 1995 se seleccionaron aquellos de sexo masculino, residentes en Santiago y que fueran intervenidos por primera vez. Los Casos (47 pacientes) presentaban estresores psicosociales y alteraciones emocionales, detectados en el período pre-operatorio, por lo que fueron derivados a psiquiatría para su tratamiento. Los Controles (44 pac.) no presentaban alteraciones psicosociales. Se analizaron variables demográficas, evolución médica post-operatoria y se efectuó durante 1998, una entrevista psicosocial semiestructurada para evaluar adaptación al trabajo e impacto en la vida familiar y social. Resultados: Los datos demográficos fueron similares en ambos grupos. La edad promedio fue de 38,9 mas menos 8,6 años; 9,1 mas menos 3,5 años de escolaridad; 92 por ciento estaban casados y el 72 por ciento eran obreros. Para los Casos, el tiempo de reposo fue de 90,8 mas menos 74 días (M=72) y para los Controles 68,7 mas menos 32,6 días. No hubo diferencias estadísticas. Las complicaciones médicas post-operatorios (recidivas, fibrosis, infecciones) ocurrieron en 14 Casos (30 por ciento) y sólo en 5 Controles (11 por ciento ch2:p= 0,03). Actividad laboral: el tiempo de seguimiento fue de 4,3 años en promedio (3-7 años); 96 por ciento de los Casos (n=45) trabajaban al momento de la entrevista de seguimiento 28 pacientes (60 por ciento) en el mismo trabajo y 17 pacientes (36 por ciento) fueron reubicados, de los cuales 13, es decir 29 por ciento de los post-operatorios. En los Controles, el 100 por ciento trabaja, 25 pacientes (57 por ciento) se reubicaron y sólo 9, es decir el 20 por ciento de los Controles permanecen en un trabajo de menor esfuerzo. En relación al rendimiento laboral 15 (33 por ciento) pacientes del grupo de Casos refiere un rendimiento inferior. En los Controles sólo 3 pacientes (7 por ciento). Con respecto a la satisfacción laboral actual, no hay diferencias entre Casos y Controles. Impacto Psicosocial: el 17 por ciento de los Casos considera su nivel de vida de menor calidad que previo a la intervención, 11 por ciento refiere conflicto de pareja...