The influence of dissection on clinical anatomical knowledge for surgical needs.

PURPOSE: Due to the ongoing discussion of the usefulness of dissection on human bodies in medical curricula, we investigated the influence of anatomical knowledge collected in the dissection course and requested for modules of visceral surgery. METHODS: Students attending the dissection course of topographic anatomy had to answer a questionnaire of 22 questions with focus on anatomical knowledge required for visceral surgical modules. Failure was defined as 13 or fewer correct answers, success categorized as high, good or moderate. The same questionnaire was handed out to 245 students prior to the module on visceral surgery. Students provided information on which regions they had dissected during the course or prior to the module. The results were compared to the result of a written Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) exam of the module visceral surgery (n = 160 students) with an unannounced primary focus on anatomy. RESULTS: Students who dissected the truncal regions of the human body succeeded in answering the questionnaire with high success. Students dissecting regions of the Head/Neck or Limbs had a high failure rate, and none of them reached the "high" success level. In the MCQ exam, students dissecting truncal regions had a high success rate, while those who had not dissected or who dissected the Head/Neck or Limbs had a high failure rate. CONCLUSION: Dissections support and improve the required knowledge for surgical modules. For the visceral surgical module, students dissecting the region prior to the module greatly benefited. Therefore, entire human body dissection assumes to be preferable.

Success Rate of Intra-articular Sacroiliac Joint Injection: Fluoroscopy vs Ultrasound Guidance-A Cadaveric Study.

BACKGROUND: Given the unacceptably high miss rates of non-image-guided injections into the sacroiliac joint, either fluoroscopy or ultrasound is recommended for guidance. The real success rate of both techniques was assessed by cadaver dissection. METHODS: Twenty bodies donated to science (40 joints: 15 female and 5 male) were investigated bilaterally. Fluoroscopy and a lower ultrasound-guided approach were performed in 10 bodies each. Conditions during puncture, the subjective feeling of the needle being intra-articular, and, for fluoroscopic guidance, the intra-articular spread of the contrast were assessed. First, 0.5 cc of Iopamidol was injected, followed by 2 mL of red-colored latex. The spread was investigated by dissection via anterior opening of the sacroiliac joint and the dorsal ligaments. RESULTS: Ultrasound guidance was used in 1/20 (5%, 95% CI = 0.9-23.6%) intra-articular injections. In 19/20 (95%, 95% CI = 0.9-23.6%) cases, latex spread in the interosseous sacroiliac ligament was used. Conditions of structural visibility were classified as good in 11/20 (55%, 95% CI = 34.2-74.2%) cases, puncture condition as good in 16/20 (80%, 95% CI = 58.4-91.9%) cases, and subjective feeling of the needle being intra-articular was present in 10/20 (50%, 95% CI = 34.2-74.2%) cases. Fluoroscopy showed an intra-articular injection in 10/20 (50%, 95% CI = 34.2-74.2%) cases. The structure visibility in fluoroscopy was good in 9/20 (45%, 95% CI = 25.8-65.8%), puncture conditions good in 8/20 (40%, 95% CI = 21.9-61.3%), intra-articular contrast spread visible in 10/20 (50%, 95% CI = 34.2-74.2%), and subjective feeling of being intra-articular was present in 17/20 (85%, 95% CI = 64.0-94.8%) cases. CONCLUSIONS: Fluoroscopy clearly showed a higher success rate of intra-articular sacroiliac joint injection.

Variability in the projection level of the vertebra prominens: a cadaveric study.

The 7th cervical vertebra (C7) is described as having the most prominent spinous process (SP) and is characterized as the "vertebra prominens" (VP) of the cervical spine in anatomy textbooks. The VP is an important anatomical landmark of the neck for clinical examination and therapeutic intervention. The present study identifies the level of the most prominent SP of the cervical and uppermost thoracic vertebrae in a cadaveric cohort. Thirty-nine (23 female and 16 male) cadavers of a mean age of 77.5 years were investigated in a prone position and a certain cervical kyphotic bending. The most prominent SP, at the base of the neck, was palpated and marked with a wedging nail into the SP of the vertebra. The cervical region was dissected, and a blind investigator examined whether the nail was placed into the SP of C7 or the SP of another upper or lower vertebra. In 19 out of 39 cadavers (48.7%), the C7 was identified as the VP (typical anatomy), followed by the C6 (in 14 cadavers, 35.9%), C5 (in 4 cadavers, 10.3%). In 2 cadavers (5.1%) the first thoracic vertebra was identified as having the most prominent SP. Although C7 is described as the VP, in the present study the SP of C7 was the most prominent in less than 50%. The high variable projection level of the most prominent SP of the cervical vertebra holds great clinical significance for spine examination, neck surgery, and spinal anesthesia.