Sepsis after elective neurosurgery: Incidence,outcomes, and predictive factors

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition resulting from systemic infection, with mortality rates approaching 30%. Most neurological surgeries are now performed electively, which permits medical optimization preoperatively. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 122,466 adult elective neurosurgical patients from 2012 to 2018 in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. To select for a medically optimized population, patients were included if they arrived from home on the day of surgery, were not pregnant or puerperium, and had no documented evidence of preexisting infection. We analyzed demographic, comorbidity, and operative information; performed multivariate logistic regression to explore factors predictive of postoperative sepsis; and evaluated outcomes for patients who developed sepsis. Overall, 0.87% of patients developed postoperative sepsis (n = 1,067). The rate of sepsis was higher in the cranial subpopulation (1.21%; n = 330) and lower in the spinal subpopulation (0.77%; n = 733). The overall sepsis cohort was older, had more males, was more functionally dependent, had longer operation durations, and had higher rates of medical comorbidities. Minority race and smoking were not associated with sepsis. The sepsis cohort fared worse than the control cohort across all outcome measures, including prolonged length-of-stay (≥90^th percentile), discharge anywhere but home, 30-day readmission, 30-day reoperation, and 30-day mortality. Results for the cranial and spine subpopulations follow similar trends. In summary, sepsis in the elective neurosurgical population is an uncommon but devastating cause of excess morbidity and mortality.     

Hemopatch® with fibrin glue as a dural sealant in cranial and spinal surgery. A technical note with a review of the literature

A major complication in cranial and spinal surgery is the post-operative occurrence of a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. Here we reported a technical note firstly describing the use of Hemopatch® with fibrin glue as a dural sealant in cranial and spinal neurosurgical procedures. Moreover we carried out a review of the literature. Further to the best of our knowledge this was the first series including patients submitted to different spinal surgeries in whom Hemopatch® was used as dural sealant. We prospectively collected the data of 22 patients. In all procedures, fibrin glue was applied after Hemopatch®. The mean age was 59.68 ± 10.79 years and the mean follow-up (FU) was 3.63 ± 1.46 months, respectively. Overall, Hemopatch® with fibrin glue was used in 8 cranial procedures (36.36%; all were retrosigmoid craniotomies) and 14 spinal procedures (63.64%). 9/14 spinal cases (64.28%) were incidental durotomies during a spinal decompression procedure. No CSF leak, no postoperative infection, no adverse reaction were observed during the FU in all cases. The literature search revealed only two retrospective series, reporting only patients submitted to cranial surgery for a total of 56 patients and a CSF leak occurring in 3 patients (5.35%). In conclusion, we firstly reported the feasibility and the safety of using Hemopatch® with fibrin glue as dural sealant in cranial surgery and different spinal procedures. Further larger comparative studies are needed to confirm our initial encouraging results.     

Detection of progressive idiopathic scoliosis during growth using back surface topography: A prospective study of 100 patients

The progression of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is typically monitored via regular radiographic follow-up. The Cobb angle (as measured on whole-spine radiographs) is considered as the gold standard in scoliosis monitoring.ObjectiveTo determine the sensitivity and specificity of back surface topography parameters, with a view to detecting changes in the Cobb angle.Patient and methodOne hundred patients (mean age: 13.3) with Cobb angles greater than 10 degrees were included. Topographic parameters were measured in a standard position and in a position with hunched shoulders. Gibbosities and spinal curvatures were evaluated.ResultsAn increase of more than 2 degrees in any one gibbosity or in the sum of the gibbosities (in either of the two examination positions) enabled the detection of a five-degree increase in the Cobb angle with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 50%.ConclusionIf the present results are confirmed by other studies, analysis with back surface topography parameters may reduce the number of X-ray examinations required to detect increases in the Cobb angle.     

Random Forest-Based Bone Segmentation in Ultrasound

Ultrasound (US) imaging is a safe alternative to radiography for guidance during minimally invasive orthopedic procedures. However, ultrasound is challenging to interpret because of the relatively low signal-to-noise ratio and its inherent speckle pattern that decreases image quality. Here we describe a method for automatic bone segmentation in 2-D ultrasound images using a patch-based random forest classifier and several ultrasound specific features, such as shadowing. We illustrate that existing shadow features are not robust to changes in US acquisition parameters, and propose a novel robust shadow feature. We evaluate the method on several US data sets and report that it favorably compares with existing techniques. We achieve a recall of 0.86 at a precision of 0.82 on a test set of 143 spinal US images.     

Prenatal stress increased Snk Polo-like kinase 2, SCF β-TrCP ubiquitin ligase and ubiquitination of SPAR in the hippocampus of the offspring at adulthood

Exposure to excessive glucocorticoids during fetal development period contributes to later life psychopathology. Prenatal stress decreases dendritic spine density and impair LTP in the hippocampus of rat pups, however, the mechanisms regulating these changes are still unclear.     

Limitations of administrative databases in spine research: a study in obesity

Background contextThe use of national inpatient databases for spine surgery research has been increasing. Unfortunately, without firsthand knowledge of each specific database, it can be difficult to judge the validity of such studies. Large databases that rely on administrative data, such as International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, may misrepresent patient information and could thus affect the results of studies that use these data.PurposeThe present study uses obesity, an easily quantified and objective variable, as an example comorbidity to assess the accuracy of ICD-9 codes in the setting of their continued use in spine database studies.Study design/settingA cross-sectional study at a large academic medical center.Patient sampleAll patients spending at least one night in the hospital as an inpatient between April 1, 2013 and April 16, 2013. Obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and pediatric patients were excluded.Outcome measuresProportion of patients for whom ICD-9 obesity diagnosis codes assigned at hospital discharge match chart-documented body mass index (BMI).MethodsThe medical record was reviewed for each patient, and obesity ICD-9 codes were directly compared with documented BMI.ResultsThe study included 2,075 patients. Of 573 “obese” patients (calculated BMI 30–39.9), only 109 received the correct code (278.00), giving this ICD-9 code a sensitivity of 0.19. Of 174 “morbidly obese” patients (calculated BMI >40), only 84 received the correct code (278.01), giving this ICD-9 code a sensitivity of 0.48.ConclusionsUsing obesity as an example, this study highlights the potential errors inherent to using ICD-9–coded databases for spine surgery research. Should a study based on such data use “obesity” as a variable in any analyses, the reader should interpret these results with caution. We further suggest that obesity is likely not the only comorbidity to which these results apply. As database research continues to represent an increasing proportion of publications in the field of spine surgery, it is important to realize that study outcomes can be skewed by data accuracy, and, thus, should not be blindly accepted simply by virtue of large sample sizes.     

The role and safety of the sitting position in instrumented cervical surgery

Placing patients who are undergoing neurosurgical procedures to the cervical spine in the sitting position offers significant advantages. These must be counterbalanced against the risk of venous and paradoxical air embolism. This study addresses the role and safety of the sitting position for instrumented cervical surgery. Twenty-five consecutive patients who underwent instrumented cervical surgery in the sitting position were recruited via retrospective analysis. Complications arising from the surgical procedure – specifically venous air embolism – were recorded, as well as pre- and post-operative haemoglobin levels. The incidence of venous air embolism was 0% (97.5% one-sided confidence interval: 0–13.7%). However, five other complications occurred (incidence rate of 20% with a 95% confidence interval of 6.8–40.7%). With appropriate precautions, screening and specific indications, the sitting position can be safely used in more complex instrumented cervical surgery.     

VSD闭式冲洗引流技术在治疗脊柱后路内固定术后感染中的应用

目的：评价VSD闭式冲洗引流技术应用于脊柱后路内固定术后感染的治疗效果。方法回顾性分析南昌大学第二附属医院2010年1月至2014年6月脊柱后路内固定手术后发生感染的15例患者的治疗过程,全部病例均早期进行清创,术中安装VSD装置进行闭式冲洗引流,根据细菌培养结果给予敏感抗生素,7d后拆除VSD装置,根据伤口情况及引流液细菌培养情况,决定是否直接闭合伤口或更换VSD继续冲洗引流,直至伤口可以闭合为止。结果15例患者冲洗7-21d （平均13.5d）后二期关闭伤口,全部获得愈合,C反应蛋白、血沉降至正常水平,随访5-48个月,无感染复发病例。结论 VSD闭式冲洗引流技术是治疗脊柱后路内固定术后感染的有效治疗方式。     

后路半椎体切除术治疗不同年龄先天性脊柱侧凸疗效比较

目的探讨后路半椎体切除术治疗5岁以下与5~10岁单个半椎体所致先天性脊柱侧凸的临床疗效。方法回顾性分析2003年1月至2012年1月在本院接受手术治疗的60例10岁以下单发半椎体所致先天性脊柱侧凸患儿临床资料,其中男37例,女23例,根据年龄将患儿分为两组:婴幼儿组(≤5岁)35例,儿童组(6~10岁)25例。两组均采用后路半椎体切除、椎弓根螺钉固定及植骨融合术。通过复习病历及术前、术后及末次随访时全脊柱正侧位X光片,记录手术时间、融合节段、出血量、术前、术后及末次随访冠状面节段性Cobb角、术前、术后及末次随访矢状面节段性后凸角。结果患儿术后均获得规律随访,随访时间:婴幼儿组平均65.0(29~127)个月,儿童组平均80.3(32~148)个月,差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。平均出血量:婴幼儿组285.8(100~700)mL,儿童组512.6(80~1 400)mL。融合节段数:婴幼儿组平均3.3(2~7)个,儿童组平均4.9(2~11)个。术前冠状面节段性侧凸Cobb角:婴幼儿组平均37.9°(21°~71°),儿童组平均45.8°(25°~94°)。不同年龄组间术中出血量、融合节段数、术前冠状面节段性Cobb角比较,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。术前、术后及末次随访矢状面后凸角、术后及末次随访冠状面Cobb角、术前及术后冠状面及矢状面畸形率比较,差异均无统计学意义(P0.05)。婴幼儿组采用短节段融合比例与儿童组比较,差异有统计学意义(57.1%vs28%,P0.05)。婴幼儿组有2例围手术期及随访过程中发生并发症(椎弓根骨折1例,术后畸形失代偿行翻修术1例),儿童组有1例出现伤口脂肪液化,两组并发症的发生率比较无统计学意义(5.7%vs4.0%,P0.05)。结论后路半椎体切除术是治疗完全分节的半椎体所致先天性脊柱侧凸安全、有效的手术方式,可取得满意的术后及随访效果。但与婴幼儿组相比,儿童组畸形重,术中需要融合的节段更多,创伤更大;建议对于具有生长潜力的非嵌合型半椎体畸形,应在患儿能耐受手术的情况下尽早手术治疗。