Which factors prognosticate rotational instability following lumbar laminectomy?

Purpose: Reduced strength and stiffness of lumbar spinal motion segments following laminectomy may lead to instability. Factors that predict shear biomechanical properties of the lumbar spine were previously published. The purpose of the present study was to predict spinal torsion biomechanical properties with and without laminectomy from a total of 21 imaging parameters. Method: Radiographs and MRI of ten human cadaveric lumbar spines (mean age 75.5, range 59-88 years) were obtained to quantify geometry and degeneration of the motion segments. Additionally, dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans were performed to measure bone mineral content and density. Facet-sparing lumbar laminectomy was performed either on L2 or L4. Spinal motion segments were dissected (L2-L3 and L4-L5) and tested in torsion, under 1,600 N axial compression. Torsion moment to failure (TMF), early torsion stiffness (ETS, at 20-40 % TMF) and late torsion stiffness (LTS, at 60-80 % TMF) were determined and bivariate correlations with all parameters were established. For dichotomized parameters, independent-sample t tests were used. Results: Univariate analyses showed that a range of geometric characteristics and disc and bone quality parameters were associated with torsion biomechanical properties of lumbar segments. Multivariate models showed that ETS, LTS and TMF could be predicted for segments without laminectomy (

The effects of knee arthroplaste on walking speed. A meta-analysis.

Background: Patients with knee osteoarthritis patients have problems with walking, and tend to walk slower. An important aim of knee arthroplasty is functional recovery, which should include a post-operative increase in walking speed. Still, there are several problems with measuring walking speed in groups of knee osteoarthritis patients. Nevertheless, test-retest reliability of walking speed measurements is high, and when the same investigators monitor the same subjects, it should be possible to assess the walking speed effects of knee arthroplasty. The present study reports a meta-analysis of these effects. Methods. A total of 16 independent pre-post arthroplasty comparisons of walking speed were identified through MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PEDro, in 12 papers, involving 419 patients. Results: For 0.5-5 months post-operatively, heterogeneity was too large to obtain a valid estimate of the overall effect-size. For 6-12 and 13-60 months post-operatively, heterogeneity was absent, low, or moderate (depending on estimated pre-post correlations). During these periods, subjects walked on average 0.8 standard-deviations faster than pre-operatively, which is a large effect. Meta-regression analysis revealed significant effects of time and time squared, suggesting initial improvement followed by decline. Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed a large effect of arthroplasty on walking speed 6-60 months post-operatively. For the first 0.5-5 months, heterogeneity of effect-sizes precluded a valid estimate of short-term effects. Hence, patients may expect a considerable improvement of their walking speed, which, however, may take several months to occur. Meta-regression analysis suggested a small decline from 13 months post-operatively onwards. © 2012 Abbasi-Bafghi et al; BioMed Central Ltd

Introduction

PARADISEC (Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures), Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories, Ethnographic E-Research Project and Sydney Object Repositories for Research and Teaching

Patient sexual function and hip replacement surgery: A survey of surgeon attitudes

Neuro-urology: functional disorders in male and female urogenital trac

Informe final del proyecto "Vídeos per a l'aprenentatge inclusiu" (2014PID-UB/016)

El proyecto “Vídeos para el aprendizaje inclusivo: diseño de un flujo de trabajo para la creación, descripción, publicación y difusión de recursos de aprendizaje accesible en formato vídeo”, llevado a término bajo la dirección de Miquel Centelles y varios miembros del grupo Adaptabit con la colaboración de Iván Pérez y Andreu Sulé, ha estudiado la descripción enriquecida de los videos docentes atendiendo a sus características pedagógicas y de accesibilidad digital. Para ello ha propuesto una extensión del esquema de metadatos básico usado en el Depósito Digital de la Universidad de Barcelona según las pautas Learning Resources Metadata Initiative y Access for all 3.0. Tras adaptar las condiciones de accesibilidad de 4 vídeos existentes en el depósito digital, ha implementado el esquema de metadatos enriquecido en una copia local del repositorio DSpace de la Universidad de Barcelona y ha implementado también una conversión automática de estos metadatos a microdatos schema.org para una mayor visibilidad en buscadores generalistas. Como resultado se cuenta con una prueba piloto de unos recursos accesibles, descritos adecuadamente y visibles también para los buscadores como Google, Yahoo o Bing.Programa de Millora i Innovació Docent de la Universidad de Barcelona, 2014PID-UB/01

Functional outcome of non-surgical and surgical management for de novo degenerative lumbar scoliosis: a mean follow-up of 10 years

Contains fulltext : 180433.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access