Association between chiropractic spinal manipulation and cauda equina syndrome in adults with low back pain: Retrospective cohort study of US academic health centers.

BACKGROUND: Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a lumbosacral surgical emergency that has been associated with chiropractic spinal manipulation (CSM) in case reports. However, identifying if there is a potential causal effect is complicated by the heightened incidence of CES among those with low back pain (LBP). The study hypothesis was that there would be no increase in the risk of CES in adults with LBP following CSM compared to a propensity-matched cohort following physical therapy (PT) evaluation without spinal manipulation over a three-month follow-up period. METHODS: A query of a United States network (TriNetX, Inc.) was conducted, searching health records of more than 107 million patients attending academic health centers, yielding data ranging from 20 years prior to the search date (July 30, 2023). Patients aged 18 or older with LBP were included, excluding those with pre-existing CES, incontinence, or serious pathology that may cause CES. Patients were divided into two cohorts: (1) LBP patients receiving CSM or (2) LBP patients receiving PT evaluation without spinal manipulation. Propensity score matching controlled for confounding variables associated with CES. RESULTS: 67,220 patients per cohort (mean age 51 years) remained after propensity matching. CES incidence was 0.07% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.05-0.09%) in the CSM cohort compared to 0.11% (95% CI: 0.09-0.14%) in the PT evaluation cohort, yielding a risk ratio and 95% CI of 0.60 (0.42-0.86; p = .0052). Both cohorts showed a higher rate of CES during the first two weeks of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that CSM is not a risk factor for CES. Considering prior epidemiologic evidence, patients with LBP may have an elevated risk of CES independent of treatment. These findings warrant further corroboration. In the meantime, clinicians should be vigilant to identify LBP patients with CES and promptly refer them for surgical evaluation.

Conservative Treatment for Giant Lumbar Disc Herniation: Clinical Study in 409 Cases.

BACKGROUND: There have been several recent reports of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) resorption; however, large sample studies are lacking, and the mechanism(s) underlying this phenomenon is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To explore the feasibility and clinical outcomes of conservative treatment for giant LDH and to analyze the factors affecting the resorption of giant LDH. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study and original research. SETTING: This work was performed at a University Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. METHODS: From January 2008 to December 2019, 409 patients with giant LDH who initially underwent nonsurgical treatment in our hospital were followed for 1-12 years to analyze the rate of surgical intervention, calculate the rate of resorption of protrusions, and the rate of excellent clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Eighty-nine of the 409 patients (21.76%) underwent surgery, while the remaining 320 patients (78.24%) constituted the non-surgical treatment group. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score in the 320 patients changed from 10.22 ± 3.84 points to 24.88 ± 5.69 points after treatment, and the rate of excellent outcomes was 84.06%. Among the 320 patients in the non-surgical treatment group, the protrusion percentage decreased from 70.08±30.95% to 31.67 ± 24.42%. One-hundred and eighty-nine patients (59.06%) had > 30% resorption of protrusions, and 81 patients (25.31%) had a significant resorption of protrusions of > 50%. Among 189 patients with resorption, the shortest resorption interval was 1 month, and the longest was 8 years, with 77 patients (40.74%) showing resorption within 6 months, 51 (26.98%) within 6-12 months, and 61 patients (32.28%) after 12 months. LIMITATION: The main limitations are that all patients were from the same site, and there was a lack of multicenter randomized controlled trials with which to compare data. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with giant LDH are less likely to develop progressive nerve injury and cauda equina syndrome if their clinical symptoms improve after treatment. As long as there is no progressive nerve injury or cauda equina syndrome, conservative treatment is preferred for giant disc herniation. Resorption is more likely with greater disc protrusions in the spinal canal. A ring enhancement bull's eye sign) around a protruding disc on enhanced magnetic resonance imaging is an important indicator of straightforward resorption.

Anaplastic Transformation of Differentiated Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Presenting as Cauda Equina Syndrome.

BACKGROUND Papillary thyroid carcinoma is usually an indolent disease, with an almost 80% 5-year survival rate for metastatic disease. Conversely, anaplastic thyroid cancer is much more aggressive, with median overall survival rates of 4 months. CASE REPORT A 67-year-old woman presented with metastatic papillary thyroid cancer with bone metastasis, including an unstable L4 pathological fracture. Initially, she underwent lumbar stabilization surgery, followed by high-dose palliative radiotherapy to the lumbar spine. Subsequently, a total thyroidectomy was performed, followed by an ablative dose of radioiodine and supraphysiological doses of levothyroxine to achieve TSH suppression to less than 0.1 mU/L. The treatment dose of radioiodine was administered 4 times at 6-month intervals. The treatment was well tolerated, with a dramatic thyroglobulin response, and the disease remained radioiodine-sensitive. Prior to a fifth planned dose of radioiodine, our patient presented with cauda equina syndrome and underwent urgent decompressive surgery. Further oncological treatment was planned; however, she deteriorated rapidly following surgery, and repeat imaging showed progressive disease at the surgical site. Histopathology from the lumbar decompression revealed anaplastic thyroid cancer. Our patient died 5 weeks after surgery. CONCLUSIONS This is the first published case of transformation from papillary to anaplastic thyroid cancer presenting as cauda equina compression. Transformation from papillary to anaplastic thyroid cancer has been previously described in the literature; however, it is rarely present distant from the neck, and has an aggressive course. Malignant transformation should be considered in cases of differentiated thyroid cancer that do not fit the previous disease trajectory.

Evaluation of nationwide referral pathways, investigation and treatment of suspected cauda equina syndrome in the United Kingdom.

Purpose: Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a spinal emergency with clinical symptoms and signs that have low diagnostic accuracy. National guidelines in the United Kingdom (UK) state that all patients should undergo an MRI prior to referral to specialist spinal units and surgery should be performed at the earliest opportunity. We aimed to evaluate the current practice of investigating and treating suspected CES in the UK. Materials and Methods: A retrospective, multicentre observational study of the investigation and management of patients with suspected CES was conducted across the UK, including all patients referred to a spinal unit over 6 months between 1st October 2016 and 31st March 2017. Results: A total of 28 UK spinal units submitted data on 4441 referrals. Over half of referrals were made without any previous imaging (n = 2572, 57.9%). Of all referrals, 695 underwent surgical decompression (15.6%). The majority of referrals were made out-of-hours (n = 2229/3517, 63.4%). Patient location and pre-referral imaging were not associated with time intervals from symptom onset or presentation to decompression. Patients investigated outside of the spinal unit experienced longer time intervals from referral to undergoing the MRI scan. Conclusions: This is the largest known study of the investigation and management of suspected CES. We found that the majority of referrals were made without adequate investigations. Most patients were referred out-of-hours and many were transferred for an MRI without subsequently requiring surgery. Adherence to guidelines would reduce the number of referrals to spinal services by 72% and reduce the number of patient transfers by 79%.

Cauda Equina Syndrome Due to Vigorous Back Massage With Spinal Manipulation in a Patient With Pre-Existing Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Cauda equina syndrome (CES) resulting from acute lumbar disc herniation due to spinal massage is extremely rare. We present a case of CES caused by the acute worsening of a lumbar disc herniation after a vigorous back massage that included spinal manipulation. After vigorous back massage with spinal manipulation performed by a massage therapist, a 38-yr-old male patient experienced CES with severe numbness in both lower limbs, inability to walk due to weakness of bilateral lower limbs, and incontinence of urine and feces. The magnetic resonance imaging and computer tomography scan results showed that the L4-5 disc herniated down into the spinal canal, extensively compressing the ventral dural sac. The patient was successfully treated with an emergency operation including laminectomy, spinal canal decompression, discectomy, interbody fusion, and pedicle screw fixation. The muscle power in both lower limbs of the patient recovered rapidly to support standing only 1 wk later. Moreover, he regained continence of urine and feces. In conclusion, this case brings us novel knowledge that spinal massage or manipulation may worsen pre-existing disc herniation causing CES, and a timely emergency surgery is necessary and effective for treatment of CES-related symptoms.