Clinical Efficacy of Unilateral Dual-channel Endoscopic Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Lumbar Spondylolisthesis with Spinal Scoliosis.

OBJECTIVES: Scoliosis associated with spondylolisthesis is a common phenomenon. Recent research has reported that scoliosis can spontaneously disappear after lumbar spinal fusion surgery. Researchers have advocated that, for scoliosis associated with vertebral slippage, surgery for the latter may be the only necessary intervention, while unnecessary surgery for scoliosis should be avoided. So we propose that minimally invasive techniques can achieve treatment effects similar to those of open surgery. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of unilateral dual-channel endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (ULIF) for treating lumbar spondylolisthesis with spinal scoliosis. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis and spinal scoliosis who underwent ULIF between September 2021 and September 2023. Measurements of the Cobb angle, lumbar lordosis (LL) angle, sacral slope (SS), slip percentage (SP), slip angle (SA), L1 plumb line-S1 distance (LASD), and average intervertebral height (AIH) were taken preoperatively, immediately following surgery, 3 months after surgery, and at the final follow-up. The visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring systems were used to assess clinical results. The surgical efficacy was evaluated by comparing these parameters before and after surgery. Comparison of indicators within the same group was conducted using one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance or paired sample t-tests, whereas between-group differences were compared using an independent t-test. RESULTS: This study included 31 individuals who underwent surgery and completed follow-up. The follow-up period did not show a significant loss of corrective angles. Furthermore, the Cobb angle, SP, SA, and LASD significantly decreased after surgery, whereas the LL angle, SS, and AIH significantly increased (all p < 0.05). SP did not differ between the immediate postoperative period and the 3-month and final follow-up periods (p > 0.05). However, other parameters significantly improved during the follow-up period at all time points, except from 3 months to the final follow-up period (p > 0.05). Throughout the follow-up period, the lower back and leg pain VAS, ODI, and JOA scores considerably improved compared with the preoperative levels (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: ULIF effectively treated lumbar spondylolisthesis with scoliosis, thereby reducing the degree of slip and scoliosis. By performing surgical reduction, fusion, and fixation only on the slipped segment, ULIF also had a corrective effect on the spinal lateral curvature, thereby avoiding the need for unnecessary scoliosis surgery. Moreover, the short-term efficacy was satisfactory, but the long-term efficacy requires further study.

Research on stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury: a bibliometric and visual analysis from 2018-2023.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the literature on stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury to gain an intuitive understanding of how the field is progressing, discover topics of interest, and determine what development trends are emerging in this field. Background: Spinal cord injury and its complications often cause an enormous economic burden, and postinjury repair and treatment have always been challenging in clinical and scientific research. Stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury can prevent immune rejection and induce the release of neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory factors to reduce the production of stress-related proteins, reactive oxygen species, and inflammatory reactions. Methods: We analyzed the number and quality of publications in the field of stem cell therapy in spinal cord injury between 2018.01.01 and 2023.06.30 in the core collection database of Web of Science. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to sort and summarize these studies by country, institution, authors' publications, and collaborative networks. In addition, the research topics of interest were identified and summarized. Results: This study ultimately included 2,150 valid papers, with the number of publications showing a gradual upward trend. The country, institution, author and journal with the greatest number of publications and citations are China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dai JW, and the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, respectively. The top three high-frequency keyword clusters were hereditary paraplegia, reactive astrocytes and tissue engineering. Conclusion: With the help of visual analysis, we identified general trends and research topics of interest in the field of spinal cord injury over the last 5 years. Our findings suggest that stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury and exosome therapy may be a focus of future research. This study provides a foundation for future research on stem cell therapy as well as clinical efforts in this field.

Computer-Assisted Navigation Full Visualization Spinal Endoscopic Surgery for Lumbar Vertebral Osteoid Osteoma.

BACKGROUND: Osteoid osteoma is a benign osteogenic tumor that occurs mostly in the femoral stem, while osteoid osteoma occurring in the lumbar vertebral body is a relatively rare case. To minimize treatment-related complications, a computer-assisted navigation fully visualized spinal endoscopy was used. Ultimately, the pathology was diagnosed as osteoid osteoma. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 19-year-old adult male with low back pain that worsened at night and CT, MRI imaging showed an abnormal signal shadow at the posterior margin of the lumbar vertebral body. Due to the proximity of the lesion to the spinal canal and adjacent to the nerve roots, it was difficult to precisely localize the lesion by purely endoscopic or open procedures, and if necessary, the resection of surrounding tissues had to be expanded, causing unnecessary damage to the surrounding tissues. Therefore, we choose computer-assisted navigation fully visualized spinal endoscopy to perform the treatment. CONCLUSION: In this case, we report an osteoid osteoma that occurs less frequently in the lumbar vertebral body. Using computer-assisted navigation with fully visualized spinal endoscopy, we successfully resected the osteoid osteoma at the posterior margin of the L3 vertebral body preoperatively by computer-planned path with intraoperative visualization endoscopy, minimizing the damage to spinal stability. Computer-assisted navigation with visualization endoscopy provides a more precise and minimally invasive approach to the treatment of osteoid osteoma of the spine.

Animal Models for Treating Spinal Cord Injury Using Biomaterials-Based Tissue Engineering Strategies.

The aim of the study is to provide an up-to-date review of studies that used preclinical animal models for the evaluation of tissue engineering treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI), which involved the use of biomaterials with or without the addition of cells or biomolecules. Electronic search of the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases was performed for relevant studies published between January 2009 and December 2019. In total, 1579 articles were retrieved, of which 58 studies were included for analysis. Among the included studies, rats were the most common species used for animal models of SCI, while complete transection was the most commonly used injury pattern. Immediate intervention after injury was conducted in the majority of studies, and 8 weeks was the most common final time point of outcome assessment. A wide range of natural and synthetic biomaterials with different morphologies were used as a part of tissue engineering treatments for SCI, including scaffolds, hydrogels, and particles. Experimental parameters in studies using SCI animal models to evaluate tissue engineering treatments should be carefully considered to match the purpose of the study. Biomaterials that have functional modifications or are applied in combination with cells and biomolecules can be effective in creating a permissive environment for SCI repair in preclinical animal models. Impact statement This review provides an up-to-date summary of the preclinical landscape where tissue engineering treatments involving biomaterials were tested in animal models of spinal cord injury (SCI). Using studies published within the last 10 years, novel perspectives were presented on the animal species used, injury pattern, timing of intervention and outcome measurement, and biomaterials selection, as well as a summary of the individual findings of each study. This review provides unique insight into biomaterials-based tissue engineering strategies that have progressed to testing in animal models of SCI, which will help shape future research in the field and propel the clinical translation of discoveries.

Interference screws are more likely to perform better than cortical button and cross-pin fixation for hamstring autograft in ACL reconstruction: a Bayesian network meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is widely accepted as the first choice of treatment for ACL injury, but there is disagreement in the literature regarding the optimal femoral fixation method. This meta-analysis assesses the evidence surrounding three common femoral fixation methods: cortical button (CB), cross-pin (CP) and interference screws (IS). METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library to identify studies with evidence level I or II that compared at least two femoral fixation methods with hamstring autograft for ACL reconstruction. Ten primary outcomes were collected. Risk of bias was assessed following the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Standardized mean differences (SMD) were estimated using random-effects network meta-analysis in a Bayesian framework. Probability of ranking best (ProBest) and surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) were used to rank all treatments. Funnel plots were used to identify publication bias and small-study effects. RESULTS: Sixteen clinical trials were included for analysis out of 2536 retrieved studies. Bayesian network meta-analysis showed no significant differences among the three fixation methods for the ten primary outcome measures. Based on the 10 outcome measures, the IS, CB and CP had the highest ProBest in 5, 5 and 0 outcomes, and the highest SUCRA values in 5, 4 and 1 outcomes, respectively. No substantial inconsistency between direct and indirect evidence, or publication bias was detected in the outcomes. CONCLUSION: There were no statistical differences in performance among the CP, CB and IS femoral fixation methods with hamstring autograft in ACL reconstruction, although the IS was more likely to perform better than CB and CP based on the analysis of outcome measures from the included studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1.