Comparison of Thoracolumbar Interfascial Plane Block with the Application of Local Anesthesia in the Management of Postoperative Pain in Patients with Lumbar Disc Surgery.

AIM: To compare the effect of ultrasound-guided modified thoracolumbar interfascial plane (TLIP) block versus local anesthetic infiltration on the wound site for post-operative analgesia in patients undergoing lumbar disc surgery with spinal anesthesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective and observationally planned study included 42 patients from the ages of 18 to 75 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists classes I?III, who underwent lumbar disc surgery. In Group L, bupivacaine infiltration was performed on the surgical incision line. In Group T, TLIP block was performed with ultrasound. In the postoperative period, visual analogue scale (VAS) values were also investigated and recorded on the 10 < sup > th < /sup > day after discharge. Nausea, vomiting, and sedation score values and analgesic doses used by all patients in the postoperative period were recorded. RESULTS: During any of the postoperative follow-up hours, the VAS score was ? 3 (mild pain), and those who did not need tramadol were 80.9% (n=17) in Group T and 71.4% (n=15) in Group L. VAS scores at the 1 < sup > st < /sup > , 4 < sup > th < /sup > , and 8 < sup > th < /sup > hours were statistically lower in Group L than those in Group T (p values: 0.011, 0.028, and 0.029). The average amounts of tramadol consumption per patient were determined as 19.04 mg ± 40.23 in Group T and 27.38 ± 44.65 mg in Group L in the first 24 hours postoperatively. There was no statistically significant difference between groups (p=0.519). CONCLUSION: In this study, it was determined that the modified TLIP block application performed for the purpose of post-operative analgesia in lumbar disc surgery was not superior to local anesthetic infiltration in terms of postoperative opioid consumption and VAS scores.

Paraplegia Due to Spinal Cord Infarction After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery.

Paraplegia is an extremely rare complication after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We report a patient who developed paraplegia after CABG and review the literature on spinal cord ischemia following CABG surgery.

Spondylodiscitis: evaluation of patients in a tertiary hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Spondylodiscitis (SD) is an uncommon but important infection. The aim of this work was to study the risk factors, bacteriological features, clinical, laboratory and radiological findings of SD, and to shed light on the initial treatment. METHODOLOGY: A total of 107 patients who underwent treatment for SD were evaluated. The diagnosis of SD was defined by clinical findings, complete blood count, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum tube agglutination (STA) test, Ziehl-Neelsen staining, culture, histopathology, and radiological methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans. RESULTS: Of the 107 cases, ranging between 17 to 83 years of age, 64 (59.8%) were male. Twenty-seven (25.2%) patients had diabetes mellitus. Laboratory investigations revealed elevated CRP in 70 (65%) patients, elevated ESR in 65 (61%) patients, and elevated white blood cell (WBC) counts in 41 (38.3%) patients. Thirty-six (33.6%) patients were identified as having brucellar SD, and 5 (4.7%) patients were identified as having tuberculous SD. A total of 66 (61.6%) patients were determined to have pyogenic SD. The most frequently isolated microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus. Antibiotic therapy was given intravenously to all pyogenic SD patients. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of SD has increased as a result of the higher life expectancy of older patients with chronic debilitating diseases and the increase of spinal surgical procedures. In patients with low back pain, SD should be considered as a diagnosis. For effective treatment, it is important to determine the etiology of the disease.

Multiple extracranial metastases from secondary glioblastoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Glioblastoma represents extreme anaplasia in astrocytic tumors. In spite of this aggressiveness, extracranial metastasis of glioblastoma is very rare and has been documented in only a few patients in the literature. In this article, a 30-year-old woman with secondary glioblastoma associated with extracranial distant metastasis was presented. In September 2008, an intracranial lesion in the left frontal region was diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after admission to the hospital by headache and seizure and subsequently resected. The histology of the lesion revealed an anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III). Upon recurrence of the tumor 7 months later, the patient underwent a second craniotomy for recurrence tumor resection. The histological diagnosis was glioblastoma. After radiotherapy and chemotherapy, cranial computerized tomography (CT) and whole body scintigraphy revealed metastatic lesions in the right cervical lymph nodes and the left ischium. A neck dissection and parathyroidectomy on the right side was performed. The cytomorphological and histological features of the tumor supported the diagnosis of metastatic glioblastoma.

Anatomical restrictions in the transsphenoidal, transclival approach to the upper clival region: a cadaveric, anatomic study.

OBJECTIVE: Tumours in the clival region are difficult to remove surgically. Before the 1970s, clival tumours had very high mortality and morbidity rates. METHODS: An anatomic dissection was performed on 24 spheno-occipital bone blocks obtained from 28 adult cadavers. The internal carotid artery, paraclival carotid tubercle, sixth cranial nerve and dorsum sellae in the upper clival region were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. For the histological evaluation, 4 samples were decalcified and sagittal sections were cut. From the eight blocks obtained, 32 incisions were made in the axial plane, and the tissue was analyzed. RESULTS: Using microscopy, a clival recess was clearly identified in 15 of the 24 (62.5%) samples. Paraclival carotid tubercles were observed in 19 (79.16%) of the samples. In the upper clival and petroclival region, the sixth cranial nerve had directional changes at the dural porus, the petrous apex and the lateral wall of the cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery. At the dorsum sellae level, the distance between the medial surfaces of both internal carotid arteries was a mean of 15.33 ± 2.12 mm. This distance at the pharyngeal tubercle was a mean of 38.95 ± 4.67 mm. On all the histological sections, the distance of the sixth cranial nerve from the dural porus to the cavernous sinus was within the basilar plexus, along with the subarachnoid membranes around it. On the petrous apex level, the sixth cranial nerve was fixed to the petrous apex and the internal carotid artery with connective tissue formed by dense collagen fibres. The sixth cranial nerve and the internal carotid artery are tightly surrounded by dense collagen connective tissue, and the relative proximity between the carotids on the dorsum sellae level can be easily damaged during the transsphenoidal-transclival approach. Similarly, due to the ligamentous fixation on the dural porus and the petrous apex surfaces, there is a high risk of injury to the carotid artery and sixth cranial nerve. CONCLUSION: This study determines the relationship between the sixth cranial nerve and the internal carotid artery at the upper clivus and to provide morphologic details that is essential for the risks of transclival surgery.