Durability of Endoscopes Used During Routine Lumbar Endoscopy: An Analysis of Use Patterns, Common Failure Modes, Impact on Patient Care, and Contingency Plans.

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation of endoscopic spinal surgery programs hinges on reliable performance and case cost similar to traditional decompression surgeries of the lumbar spine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To improve the statistical power of studying the durability of endoscopes with routine lumbar endoscopy, the authors performed a retrospective survey study among endoscopic spine surgeons by email and chat groups on social media networks WhatsApp and WeChat. Descriptive and correlative statistics were done on the surgeon's responses recorded in multiple-choice questions. Surgeons were asked about their clinical experience with spinal endoscopy, training background, the types of lumbar endoscopic decompression they perform by approach, their preferred decompression instruments, and their experience with endoscopic equipment failure. RESULTS: A total of 485 surgeons responded, of whom 85 submitted a valid survey recording, rendering a completion rate of 27.1%. These 85 respondents reported a case volume of 12,650 lumbar endoscopies within the past year and, to date, had performed a total of 120,150 spinal endoscopies over their collective career years. The majority of respondents performed endoscopic surgery for herniated disc (65.9%) vs spinal stenosis (34.1%) in a hospital setting, preferentially employing the transforaminal (76.5%), interlaminar (51.8%), and unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE; 15.3%) approach technique. The most commonly used endoscopic spine systems were Wolf/Riwo Spine (38.8%), Joimax (36.5%), Storz (24.7%), unspecified Chinese brand (22.4%), Maxmore (15.3%), Spinendos (12.9%), Elliquence (10.6%), unspecified Korean brand (7.1%), and asap Endosystems GmbH (2.4%). The most frequent failure mode of the endoscope reported by survey respondents was a blurry image (71.8%), followed by the loss of focus (21.2%), the loss of illumination of the surgical site (18.8%), and the failure of the irrigation/suction system integrated into the endoscope (4.7%). Most respondents thought they had problems with the lens (67.1%), the fiberglass light conductor (23.5%), the prism (16.5%), or the rod system (4.7%). Motorized high-speed power burrs and hand reamers and trephines were the reported favorite decompression tools that were presumably associated with the endoscope's failure. The majority of respondents (49.5%) performed up to 50 endoscopies before the endoscope had to be either exchanged or repaired. Another 15.3% of respondents reported their endoscope lasted between 101 and 200 cases and only 12.9% reported more than 300 cases. Besides abuse during surgery (25.9%), bad handling by staff was the most common suspected reason (45.9%), followed by the wrong sterilization technique (21.2%). Some 23.5% of respondents noted that the endoscope failed during their surgery. In that case, 66.3% asked for a replacement endoscope, and 36.1% completed the surgery with the broken endoscope. However, 10.8% stopped and another 6% of respondents woke the patient up and rescheduled the surgery to complete the decompression at another time. CONCLUSIONS: Spinal endoscopes used during routine lumbar decompression surgeries for herniated disc and spinal stenosis have an estimated life cycle between 50 and 100 surgeries. Abusive use by surgeons, mishandling by staff, and deviation for prescribed cleaning and sterilization protocols may substantially shorten the life cycle. Contingency protocols should be in place to readily replace a broken spinal endoscope during surgery. More comprehensive implementation of endoscopic spine surgery techniques will hinge on technology advancements to make these hightech surgical instruments more resistant to the stress of daily use and abuse of expanded clinical indications' for surgery. The regulatory burden on endoscope makers is likely to increase, calling for increased reimbursement for facilities to cover the added expense for capital equipment purchase, disposables, and the endoscopic spine surgery program's maintenance. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: End user surgeon survey study.

Aglomerados de alto risco e tendência temporal da sífilis congênita no Brasil

[RESUMO]. Objetivo. Determinar a existência de aglomerados de municípios (clusters) com alto risco para sífilis congênita (SC) no Brasil e descrever a tendência temporal da doença no país, comparando a população de crianças cujas mães realizaram o pré-natal com aquelas cujas mães não realizaram esse controle. Métodos. Este estudo ecológico utilizou dados do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) e do Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos (SINASC). Para a análise de aglomerados, a estatística de varredura Kulldorff foi aplicada à população de risco. A significância estatística foi determinada pelo logaritmo da razão de verossimilhança utilizando a distribuição discreta de Poisson. Para a análise das tendências das taxas de detecção do agravo, utilizou-se a regressão de Prais-Winsten. A análise foi realizada com os programas SatScan 9.4 e Stata 14.0. Resultados. Clusters com taxas de detecção de 41,3, 44,4 e 188,1 casos/10 000 nascidos vivos foram identificados em 2001, 2009 e 2017, respectivamente. Em 2001, as taxas foram 8 vezes maiores nos clusters do que no restante do país; em 2009, foram 3,3 vezes maiores; e, em 2017, 2,5. Detectou-se uma tendência crescente na infecção por SC em todas as regiões e unidades da federação. As taxas foram 8,53 vezes maiores nos neonatos cujas mães não realizaram pré-natal (243,3 casos/1 000 nascidos vivos vs. 28,4 casos/1 000 nascidos vivos em mães com pré-natal). Conclusões. A identificação de aglomerados de municípios com alto risco para SC e de tendências crescentes de infecção por SC em todo o país, mesmo na presença de pré-natal, indicam a necessidade de melhoria nas ações de saúde pública para o combate dessa doença.

[ABSTRACT]. Objective. To determine the occurrence of high-risk clusters for congenital syphilis (CS) in Brazil and describe the temporal trends in the CS infection in the country, comparing children whose mothers received vs. those whose mothers did not receive prenatal care. Method. This ecological study used data from the National Disease Notification System (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação, SINAN) and the Live Birth Information System (Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos, SINASC). For cluster analysis, the Kulldorff scan statistic was applied to the population at risk. Statistical significance was determined by the log-likelihood ratio based on Poisson discrete distribution. To analyze the temporal trends of disease detection rates, Prais-Winsten regression was used. The analysis was performed with SatScan 9.4 and Stata 14.0 software. Results. Clusters with detection rates of 41.3, 44.4 and 188.1 CS cases/10 000 live births were identified in 2001, 2009 and 2017 respectively. In 2001, the rates were 8 times higher in the clusters than in the remaining country; in 2009, the rates were 3.3 times higher; and in 2017, 2.5 times higher. An increasing trend in CS infection was detected in all regions and federation units. The rates were 8.53 times higher in the children of mothers without prenatal care (243.3 cases/1 000 live births vs. 28.3 cases/1 000 live births in the children of mothers with prenatal care). Conclusions. The identification of municipality clusters at high risk for CS and of increasing trends in CS infection across the country, even in the presence of prenatal care, suggests the need for improvement of public health actions to fight this disease.

Anatomia do plano intermuscular lombar entre os músculos multífidus e longuíssimo e planejamento pré-operatório com imagens de ressonância nuclear magnética para artrodeses lombares minimamente invasivas / Anatomic features of the intermuscular lumbar plane between the multifidus and the longissimus muscles and preoperative planning with MRI images for minimally invasive lumbar fusion / Anatomía del plano lumbar intermuscular, entre el músculo multífido y el músculo longísimo, y el planeamiento preoperatorio con imágenes de resonancia nuclear magnética para artrodesis lumbares míinimamente invasoras

OBJETIVO: Revisar a anatomia da musculatura lombar posterior, demonstrá-la no plano axial da ressonância magnética e medir a distância da linha média até o plano intermuscular entre os músculos multífidus e longuíssimo nos níveis L3/L4, L4/L5 e L5/S1. MÉTODOS: Através do programa OSIRIX para Mac foram realizadas medidas em 50 pacientes adultos, 25 homens e 25 mulheres. Mensuramos a distância bilateralmente nos níveis lombares inferiores. RESULTADOS: A distância média foi de 2,42 cm em L3/L4, de 3,13 cm em L4/L5 e de 3,77 cm em L5/S1, quando não separamos os sexos. Houve um aumento da distância média no sentido craniocaudal nos níveis lombares inferiores e quando comparamos os sexos não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa nos níveis L4/L5 e L5/S1. CONCLUSÃO: Concluímos que o exame de ressonância magnética permite mensurar a distância da linha média até o plano intermuscular entre o multífidus e o longuíssimo e consideramos importante para o planejamento pré-operatório dos procedimentos minimamente invasivos.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work is to review the posterior lumbar muscle anatomy, evince the correlation between the anatomy in the axial plane of the MRI and measure the distance from the medium line to the intermuscular plane, between the multifidus and the longissimus in the lower lumbar levels. METHODS: Using the OSIRIX program for Mac, bilateral measurements of the distance from the medium line to the intermuscular plane between the multifidus and longissimus muscles have been performed in the L3/L4, L4/L5 and L5/S1 levels, in 50 adult patients divided equally by gender. RESULTS: This study brings to the conclusion that there is an average distance of 2.42 cm in L3/L4, of 3.13 cm in L4/L5 and of 3.77 cm in L5/S1 when not separated by gender. The average distance increases in the craniocaudal direction in the lower lumbar levels and there is no statistically significant difference toward the gender in levels L4/L5 and L5/S1. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the MRI allows the surgeon to measure the distance from the midline until the intermuscular plane between the multifidus and longissimus and consider it important for the preoperative planning of minimally invasive approaches.

OBJETIVOS: Revisar la anatomía de la musculatura lumbar posterior, demostra la en el plano axial de la resonancia magnética y media la distancia desde la línea media al plano intermuscular, entre el músculo multífids y el longísimo, en los niveles de L3/L4, L4/L5 y L5/S1. METODOS: Mediante el programa OsiriX para Mac se hicieron medicionen en 50 pacientes adultos, 25 hombres y 25 mujeres. Se midió la distancia bilateralmente en los niveles lumbares inferiores. RESULTADOS: La distancia media fue 2,42 cm en L3/L4, 3,13 cm en L4/L5 y 3,77 cm en L5/S1 cuando no separamos por sexos. Hubo un aumento de la distancia media en la dirección craneocaudal en los niveles lumbares inferiores y al comparar los sexos no hubo diferencia estadísticamente significativa en los niveles L4/L5 y L5/S1. CONCLUSION: Concluimos que el examen de resonancia magnética nos permite medir la distancia de la linea media hasta el plano intermuscular, entre el multífido y el longísimos, y nosotros lo consideramos importante para ea planeamientn preoperatoria de los procedimientos minimamente invasores.