Plasma disc decompression compared to physiotherapy for symptomatic contained lumbar disc herniation: A prospective randomized controlled trial

Introduction To evaluate clinical outcomes with PDD as compared with patients who underwent to standard physiotherapy intervention. Material and methods One-hundred-seventy-seven randomly assigned patients with primarily radicular pain associated with a single-level lumbar contained disc herniation were enrolled. Participants received either PDD (89 patients) or conservative physiotherapy care (88 patients). Results Patients in the PDD group had significantly greater reduction in leg pain scores and significantly improved VAS (p<0.001), Oswestry Disability Index (p<0.05), and 36-Item Short Form, than those in the physiotherapy group at 12 months. On subset analysis, patients achieved even better outcomes after PPD who: were younger, had a shorter period of radiculopathy, of male gender, and lower BMI. Patients with subacute pain reported better outcomes than those with chronic pain in the PDD group. Conclusions Patient selection for PDD over physiotherapy favored younger patients who presented with a shorter period of pain symptoms and who had a more favorable body habitus

Plasma disc decompression compared to physiotherapy for symptomatic contained lumbar disc herniation A prospective randomized controlled trial

Introduction: To evaluate clinical outcomes with PDD as compared with patients who underwent to standard physiotherapy intervention. Material and methods: One-hundred-seventy-seven randomly assigned patients with primari- ly radicular pain associated with a single-level lumbar contained disc herniation were enrolled. Participants received either PDD (89 patients) or conservative physiotherapy care (88 patients). Results: Patients in the PDD group had significantly greater reduction in leg pain scores and significantly improved VAS ( p < 0.001), Oswestry Disability Index ( p < 0.05), and 36-Item Short Form, than those in the physiotherapy group at 12 months. On subset analysis, patients achieved even better outcomes after PPD who: were younger, had a shorter period of radiculopathy, of male gender, and lower BMI. Patients with subacute pain reported better outcomes than those with chronic pain in the PDD group. Conclusions: Patient selection for PDD over physiotherapy favored younger patients who presented with a shorter period of pain symptoms and who had a more favorable body habitus

Safety and efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy as primary treatment for vertebral metastases: a multi-institutional analysis

Purpose To evaluate patient selection criteria, methodology, safety and clinical outcomes of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for treatment of vertebral metastases. Materials and methods Eight centers from the United States (n = 5), Canada (n = 2) and Germany (n = 1) participated in the retrospective study and analyzed 301 patients with 387 vertebral metastases. No patient had been exposed to prior radiation at the treatment site. All patients were treated with linac-based SBRT using cone-beam CT image-guidance and online correction of set-up errors in six degrees of freedom. Results 387 spinal metastases were treated and the median follow-up was 11.8 months. The median number of consecutive vertebrae treated in a single volume was one (range, 1-6), and the median total dose was 24 Gy (range 8-60 Gy) in 3 fractions (range 1-20). The median EQD210 was 38 Gy (range 12-81 Gy). Median overall survival (OS) was 19.5 months and local tumor control (LC) at two years was 83.9%. On multivariate analysis for OS, male sex (p 1 vertebra treated with SBRT (p = 0.04; HR = 0.62) were correlated with worse outcomes. For LC, an interval between primary diagnosis of cancer and SBRT of ≤30 months (p = 0.01; HR = 0.27) and histology of primary disease (NSCLC, renal cell cancer, melanoma, other) (p = 0.01; HR = 0.21) were correlated with worse LC. Vertebral compression fractures progressed and developed de novo in 4.1% and 3.6%, respectively. Other adverse events were rare and no radiation induced myelopathy reported. Conclusions This multi-institutional cohort study reports high rates of efficacy with spine SBRT. At this time the optimal fractionation within high dose practice is unknown

Risk for surgical complications after previous stereotactic body radiotherapy of the spine

Abstract Object Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for vertebral metastases has emerged as a promising technique, offering high rates of symptom relief and local control combined with low risk of toxicity. Nonetheless, local failure or vertebral instability may occur after spine SBRT, generating the need for subsequent surgery in the irradiated region. This study evaluated whether there is an increased incidence of surgical complications in patients previously treated with SBRT at the index level. Methods Based upon a retrospective international database of 704 cases treated with SBRT for vertebral metastases, 30 patients treated at 6 different institutions were identified who underwent surgery in a region previously treated with SBRT. Results Thirty patients, median age 59 years (range 27–84 years) underwent SBRT for 32 vertebral metastases followed by surgery at the same vertebra. Median follow-up time from SBRT was 17 months. In 17 cases, conventional radiotherapy had been delivered prior to SBRT at a median dose of 30 Gy in median 10 fractions. SBRT was administered with a median prescription dose of 19.3 Gy (range 15–65 Gy) delivered in median 1 fraction (range 1–17) (median EQD2/10 = 44 Gy). The median time interval between SBRT and surgical salvage therapy was 6 months (range 1–39 months). Reasons for subsequent surgery were pain (n = 28), neurological deterioration (n = 15) or fracture of the vertebral body (n = 13). Open surgical decompression (n = 24) and/or stabilization (n = 18) were most frequently performed; Five patients (6 vertebrae) were treated without complications with vertebroplasty only. Increased fibrosis complicating the surgical procedure was explicitly stated in one surgical report. Two durotomies occurred which were closed during the operation, associated with a neurological deficit in one patient. Median blood loss was 500 ml, but five patients had a blood loss of more than 1 l during the procedure. Delayed wound healing was reported in two cases. One patient died within 30 days of the operation. Conclusion In this series of surgical interventions following spine SBRT, the overall complication rate was 19%, which appears comparable to primary surgery without previous SBRT. Prior spine SBRT does not appear to significantly increase the risk of intra- and post-surgical complications