Lumbar Spine Fracture Secondary to a Virtual Reality Game - A Case Report -

Objectives@#We report a case of lumbar spine fracture sustained during a virtual reality (VR) game.Summary of Literature Review: As video games have evolved, so have video game-related injuries. Because VR gamers wear headsets that block their ability to see the surroundings, it is thought that VR gamers are more at risk than previous video gamers.However, no VR game–related injuries have yet been reported. @*Materials and Methods@#A 53-year-old man sustained a lumbar spine fracture during a VR game. Because the game simulated his fall from a building, he lost his balance and fell down on the floor. A compression fracture of the third lumbar vertebra was demonstrated by imaging and conservative management using rigid orthosis was done. @*Results@#At a 1-year follow up, computed tomography showed complete bone union of L3. @*Conclusions@#Even though the activity was simulated, the resulting injury was all too real. Clinicians should never underestimate the risk of VR game injuries and should consider them in the differential diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries.

Lumbar Spine Fracture Secondary to a Virtual Reality Game - A Case Report -

Objectives@#We report a case of lumbar spine fracture sustained during a virtual reality (VR) game.Summary of Literature Review: As video games have evolved, so have video game-related injuries. Because VR gamers wear headsets that block their ability to see the surroundings, it is thought that VR gamers are more at risk than previous video gamers.However, no VR game–related injuries have yet been reported. @*Materials and Methods@#A 53-year-old man sustained a lumbar spine fracture during a VR game. Because the game simulated his fall from a building, he lost his balance and fell down on the floor. A compression fracture of the third lumbar vertebra was demonstrated by imaging and conservative management using rigid orthosis was done. @*Results@#At a 1-year follow up, computed tomography showed complete bone union of L3. @*Conclusions@#Even though the activity was simulated, the resulting injury was all too real. Clinicians should never underestimate the risk of VR game injuries and should consider them in the differential diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries.

Bow Hunter's Syndrome Caused by Bilateral Dynamic Occlusion of the Subaxial Vertebral Arteries during Neck Extension / 대한정형외과학회잡지

Bow hunter's syndrome is a rare disease that shows the symptoms of vertebrobasilar insufficiency resulting from a dynamic obstruction or stenosis of the vertebral arteries during neck movement. This paper reports a case of a 59-year-old male who visited the emergency room with diplopia, tinnitus, and gait disturbance. Magnetic resonance imaging and angiography revealed a multiple cerebellar infarct, total obstruction of the right vertebral artery, and dynamic obstruction of the left vertebral artery during neck extension. As the infarction worsened, a thrombectomy was done. Posterior decompression and fusion at C5-6 were performed for the left vertebral artery. The left vertebral arterial patency was confirmed by intraoperative and postoperative angiography. No recurrence of the symptoms was observed for six months after surgery. Physicians need to pay attention to the diagnosis of vertebrobasilar insufficiency caused by an obstruction of the vertebral arteries during neck extension in cervical instability patients.

Relationships among Disability, Quality of Life, and Physical Fitness in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: An Investigation of Elderly Korean Women

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional, case-control study. PURPOSE: To investigate associations between physical fitness measures and disabilities related to back pain and quality of life (QOL) by the presence of symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) in elderly Korean women. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: LSS leads to decreased functioning and reduced QOL. However, correlations among physical fitness, disability, and QOL have not been investigated in elderly women with LSS. METHODS: Participants included women aged 65 years and older (n=192), divided into a study group (n=38) and a control group (n=154) based on the presence/absence of LSS. All participants underwent physical function and fitness tests. Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores and EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) scores were used to assess disability and health-related QOL. RESULTS: The results for the handgrip strength, sit-and-reach, functional reach, and timed up and go (TUG) tests were significantly higher in the control group than the LSS group. ODI scores were significantly higher and EQ-5D-5L scores significantly lower in the LSS group. TUG and functional reach test scores were significantly correlated with ODI scores, and handgrip strength was strongly interrelated with ODI and EQ-5D-5L scores in the LSS group. No other physical fitness measures showed statistically significant relationships with ODI or EQ-5D-5L scores. CONCLUSIONS: In elderly Korean women with LSS, back pain-related disability and QOL are significantly associated with some physical fitness parameters such as handgrip strength. Handgrip strength reflects general muscle strength, which is significantly interrelated with the level of disability and QOL. Our results suggest that enhancing generalized muscle strength helps to reduce disability due to back pain and improve QOL in patients with LSS.

Efficacy of a Topical Gelatin-Thrombin Matrix Sealant in Reducing Postoperative Drainage Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective fusion level(s)-, age-, and gender-matched analysis. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application of a topical gelatin-thrombin matrix sealant (Floseal) at the end of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) can reduce the amount of postoperative hemorrhage. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The effect of the matrix sealant in decreasing postoperative hemorrhage following ACDF has not been reported. METHODS: Matrix sealant was (n=116, study group) or was not applied (n=58, control group) at the end of ACDF. Patients were selected by 1:2 matching criteria of fusion level(s), age, and gender. Seven parameters described below were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The total drain amount for the first 24 hours (8+/-9 versus 27+/-22 mL), total drain amount until the 8-hour drainage decreased to < or =10 mL (8+/-10 versus 33+/-26 mL), and the total drain amount until 6 AM on the first postoperative day (7+/-8 versus 24+/-20 mL) were significantly lower in the study group than the control group (all p<0.001). The time for the 8-hour drainage to decrease to < or =10 mL was significantly lower in the study group (10+/-5 versus 26+/-14 hours, p<0.001). The 8-hour drainage decreased to < or =10 mL on the operation day in most patients (88%) in the study group versus mostly on the first (48%) or second (33%) postoperative day in the control group (p<0.001). The total drain amount until 6 AM on the first postoperative day was 0 mL in 43% of patients in the study group and in 7% in the control group (p<0.001). No patient in either group required hematoma evacuation. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the topical matrix sealant at the end of ACDF can significantly reduce the amount of postoperative hemorrhage.

Acute Shortening and Gradual Lengthening for a Comminuted Tibia Fracture with Massive Bone and Soft Tissue Defect: Case Report

Traditional management of comminuted tibia fractures with massive bone and soft tissue defect includes soft tissue coverage and bone grafting. However, this method requires a large flap and a substantial amount of bone graft. Acute shortening can reduce the amount of required soft tissue and bone graft. We report a case of open tibia and fibula fracture with severe bone and soft tissue defect that was successfully treated by acute shortening of the tibia with immediate fibular strut bone graft and then by gradual lengthening of the tibia at its proximal metaphysis.

Treatment of Splenic Cyst: Consideration of Laparoscopic Splenic Function Preserving Surgery through Our 5 Cases

PURPOSE: Concerns about patients experiencing overwhelming postsplenectomy sepsis have led to the development of splenic preservation procedures, and the advanced understanding of splenic vascular anatomy has permitted splenic preserving operations and conservative medical management. These are now accepted alternative procedure when dealing with pathologically benign splenic conditions and traumatic splenic injuries. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety to this new spleen conserving procedure compare to open splenectomy. METHODS: From December 1999 through April 2004, five patients with splenic cysts who were treated by splenectomy and laparoscopic function preserving surgery (LFPS) were enrolled in this study. We analyzed the operation time, the amount of blood loss, the time to restart a regular diet, the hospital stay and the postoperative CT to retrospectively confirm the results of the operations. RESULTS: In four cases, the pathologic findings were splenic pseudocysts, and the other case was a cystic lymphangioma. The operative times were 138 minutes (range: 120~156 minutes) for LFPS and 130 minutes (range: 100~170 minutes) for total splenectomy. The amounts of blood loss were 20~30 cc for LFPS, and 20~800 cc for open splenectomy. For LFPS, the patients started their diet at postoperative day 1st and they were discharged at 4th (range: 3~5) day without complication. But for total splenectomy, normal diet was started at the 3rd day (range: 2~4) and they were discharged at the 11th day (range: 3~22) and one patient had complications. For LFPS, on the CT that was done 3 month after operation, we confirmed the complete excision of cysts without any operation related complication, there was no evidence of recurrence and the splenic parenchyme was preserved in a normal fashion in all cases. CONCLUSION: The success and relative ease of performing this laparoscopic function preserving procedure will pave the way for its future use in other selective cases involving splenic pathology.

Nonoperative Management of Blunt Abdominal Trauma with Hemoperitoneum

Because of the two merits of nonoperative management of blunt abdominal trauma, 1) avoidance of operative morbidity and 2) better treatment of associated injuries, the use of nonoperative management has been extended, but the indications for such treatment have not been sufficiently found. One hundred two(102) cases admitted due to hemoperitoneum, 44 involving surgery and 58 conservative managment, were analyzed for age, sex, cause of injury, injured organ, injury grade, transfusion amount, and shock on admission. The major causes of injury in the nonoperative and the operative groups are as follows : 23 cases of auto-pedestrian accidents and 15 cases of in-car accidents in the nonoperative group and 19 cases of auto-pedestrian accidents in the operative group. In terms of the injured organ, liver trauma was the most frequent, and spleen trauma was next. The difference in the transfusion amount between the two groups was statistically significant; 8.1 units in the nonoperative group and 13 units in the operative group. In conclusion, 1) nonoperative management can be considered as a first choice in children with blunt abdominal trauma and stable vital signs; 2) patients with hemodynamically stable liver injury with AAST OIS grade 4 and isolated splenic injury AAST OIS grade 4 are candidates for nonoperative management; and 3) nonoperative management through emergency care without transfusion can be considered in cases with stable vital signs.

Association of Sexual Disorders with Peripheral Neuropathy in Alcohol Dependence

The alcoholic neuropathies developed in approximately 34% of chronic alcoholics and the sexual dysfunction had been experienced in 8-54% of male alcoholics(Schiavi 1990). The aims of this study were to identify the prevalence of subclinical polyneuropathies and sexual disorders in alcohol dependence, and to evaluate the association between them. The nerve conduction velocity(NCY), electromyography(EMG), and pudendal somatosensory evoked potentials(SEPs were tested for the male alcoholics(N=34) and controls(N=17 for NCV & EMG, N=25 for pudendal SEPs). The pudendal SEPs were measured by the following procedures, in which we simulated the dorsal nerve of penis attached by the ring electrode(stimulus intensity, three times of threshold ; stimulus rate, 1-4.7Hz: stimulus duration, 0.1 or 0.2msec), and recorded at the scalp(active electrode, 2cm behind Cz ; reference electrode, Fz. The NCV and EMG detected signs of peripheral neuropathies in 79.4% of alcoholics. Among the alcoholics, 64.7% were abnormal on the pudendal SEPs. Among the alcoholics who revealed abnormality on EMG and NCV, 81.4% were abnormal on the pudendal SEPs, in which 51.9% were not responded. The P1 latencies between peripheral neuropathies and sexual disorders in the alcoholic. The prevalence of subclinical neuropathies and sexual disorders seemed to be much higher in alcohol dependence that expectation, and these two problems were relatively correlated, and our results suggested that the peripheral polyneuropathies were one of the prerequisites of sexual disorders.