Long-term follow-up of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery with Harrington instrumentations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: In the 1960s, Harrington instrumentation (HRI) revolutionized the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Despite the transition to more innovative techniques, concerns regarding its impact on sagittal alignment, associations with low back pain, and correction loss have consistently persisted. The aim of this meta-analysis is precisely to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes, as well as the complications of patients treated with HRI over an extended follow-up period. A systematic search of articles about AIS patients who underwent HRI and reported long-term outcomes (> 10 years) was conducted on electronic databases according to PRISMA guidelines. Data regarding radiographic and clinical outcomes were extracted and meta-analyses were performed. Eleven studies comprising 644 patients were included. The mean follow-up ranged from 10.8 to 51.7 years. Radiographic analysis revealed a decrease in the main curve Cobb angle from 60.6° to 38.3°, with a correction loss of - 9.49° between postoperative and last follow-up. Concerning sagittal parameters, preoperative thoracic kyphosis was 19.65° at last follow-up, and preoperative lumbar lordosis was 42.94°. Additional spine surgeries were required in 42% of patients. Clinical outcomes varied among studies, but overall, HRI patients showed comparable quality of life and function to controls, although a higher incidence of low back pain was reported. Patients who underwent HRI exhibited suboptimal correction of rib deformity and a flattened sagittal spinal alignment. However, they generally displayed favourable long-term functional outcomes. Despite the implant's tendency to reduce lumbar curvature, patients achieved good clinical outcomes and functional scores comparable to age-matched individuals, suggesting that disability is not an inevitable consequence of lumbar flattening.

Incidental dural tears do not affect the overall patients' reported outcome of spine surgery at long-term follow-up: results of a systematic review.

To conduct a systematic review of the literature in order to establish if there is an overall adverse effect of accidental durotomy on the long-term patients' reported outcome after elective spine surgery. A systematic literature search was carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data about pre- and postoperative clinical outcomes of patients with accidental durotomy and patients without were extracted and analysed. After screening, eleven studies were included with a total of 80,541 patients. About 4112 of these patients (5.10%) had incidental dural tear. When comparing patients with dural tear to patients without, 9/11 authors found no patients' reported differences at last follow-up. One author found a slightly worse VAS back pain in dural tear patients, and another author found inferior SF-36 and ODI scores in dural tear patients (both below minimal clinically important difference). Accidental dural tear did not have a significant adverse effect on clinical outcome of elective spine surgery. More studies are needed to better demonstrate this result.

Diagnosis and treatment of acute inflammatory sacroiliitis in pregnant or post-partum women: a systematic review of the current literature.

The aim of the present study is to systematically review the current literature about diagnosis and treatment of acute inflammatory sacroiliitis in pregnant or post-partum women. A systematic search was carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data about clinical presentation, diagnosis methods and treatment strategies were retrieved from included studies and reported in a table. After screening, five studies on 34 women were included; they were all affected by acute inflammatory sacroiliitis. Clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging were used to confirm diagnosis. In four studies, patients were treated with ultrasound-guided sacroiliac injections of steroids and local anesthetics, while one study used only manual mobilization. Clinical scores improved in all patients. Ultrasound-guided injections proved to be a safe and effective strategy for inflammatory sacroiliitis treatment during pregnancy or post-partum.

High-grade dysplastic spondylolisthesis: surgical technique and case series.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the results of our all posterior-one stage surgical technique for the reduction and fusion of high-grade high-dysplastic spondylolisthesis. METHODS: Patients over 11 years old with high-grade spondylolisthesis treated by reduction and circumferential fusion with a posterior-only approach were reviewed. Data about operative time, blood loss, length of stay, intra- and postoperative complications were collected. Meyerding grade (M), lumbar lordosis (LL), thoracic kyphosis (TK), pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), lumbosacral angle (LSA), slip angle (SLIP), lumbar index (LI) and severity index were measured on preoperative and last follow-up. Sagittal vertical axis (SVA) was used to assess sagittal balance. RESULTS: Of the 14 included patients, L5-S1 arthrodesis was performed in 12 cases, and L4-S1 was performed in 2 cases. Average surgical time was 275 ± 65 min; average blood loss was 635 ± 375 mL. Average length of stay of was 3.9 ± 1.5 days. The SLIP angle improves from 33.8° ± 7.3° to 6.4° ± 2.5°, (p = 0.002); the lumbosacral angle improves from 68.8° ± 18.6° to 100.7° ± 13.2°, (p = 0.01); and the SVA decreased from 49.4 ± 22.1 mm to 34.4 ± 8.6 mm (p = 0.02). No significant changes were observed in PI, PT and SS. Thoracic kyphosis (TK) and lumbar lordosis (LL) did not change significantly. At last follow-up, no patient had surgical site infection or mechanical complications; no pseudoarthrosis was observed. No revision surgery was performed. CONCLUSION: Although technically demanding, reduction and fusion with one stage all posterior approach prove to be a safe and effective.