Lumbar ganglion cyst: Nosology, surgical management and proposal of a new classification based on 34 personal cases and literature review

AIM To analyze different terms used in literature to identify lumbar extradural cysts and propose a common scientific terminology; to elaborate a new morphological classification of this pathology, useful for clinical and surgical purposes; and to describe the best surgical approach to remove these cysts, in order to avoid iatrogenic instability or treat the pre-existing one. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 34 patients with symptomatic lumbar ganglion cysts treated with spinal canal decompression with or without spinal fixation. Microsurgical approach was the main procedure and spinal instrumentation was required only in case of evident preoperative segmental instability. RESULTS The complete cystectomy with histological examination was performed in all cases. All patients presented an improvement of clinical conditions, evaluated by Visual Analogic Scale and Japanese Orthopaedic Association scoring. CONCLUSION Spinal ganglion cysts are generally found in the lumbar spine. The treatment of choice is the microsurgical cystectomy, which generally does not require stabilization. The need for fusion must be carefully evaluated: Preoperative spondylolisthesis or a wide joint resection, during the operation, are the main indications for spinal instrumentation. We propose the terms "ganglion cyst" to finally identify this spinal pathology and for the first time its morphological classification, clinically useful for all specialists

Non-Posterior Subtraction Osteotomy Surgery to Restore Lumbar Lordosis in the Hidden Sagittal Imbalance of the Adult Degenerative Spine

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Different Presentation and Outcomes in the Surgical Treatment of Advanced MRONJ in Oncological and Nononcological Patients Taking or Not Corticosteroid Therapy

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a severe side effect caused by antiangiogenic antiresorptive drugs used to treat various oncological and non oncological diseases. The clinical and radiological characteristics of MRONJ depend on the type of causative drug, the time of administration, and its dosage. Proven systemic risk factors like anemia, uncontrolled diabetes, corticosteroid therapy, and chemotherapy in neoplastic diseases (e.g., high doses of methotrexate up to 30 mg daily) significantly increase the chances of acquiring MRONJ. The risk factors themselves can affect treatment outcomes. Although the main scientific societies have recently disseminated good practice rules on the patient's prevention, diagnosis, and management, there are still no guidelines on shared therapeutic strategies. In general, if conservative treatment fails, surgical treatment is considered, including local debridement, osteoplasty, and marginal or segmental osteotomy. In literature, cohorts of heterogeneous patients with MRONJ have been analyzed for a long time, resulting in a lack of uniformity of information and difficulties interpreting the data. According to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons criteria, this retrospective study evaluates the surgical treatment outcomes of 64 patients with stage II-III MRONJ, evaluated at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery of the University of Turin (Italy). The first objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate treatment results for stages II-III in all cases; the second objective is to evaluate the same results by dividing the sample into different cohorts of patients: first, based on the underlying pathology, i.e., oncological and non oncological, and secondly, based on the drug or combination of drugs they took

Stand-alone oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) for the treatment of adjacent segment disease (ASD) after previous posterior lumbar fusion: clinical and radiological outcomes and comparison with posterior revision surgery

Background: Radiological evidence of adjacent segment disease (ASD) has been reported to have a prevalence of more than 30% and several risk factors have been reported. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of patients with symptomatic ASD treated with stand-alone OLIF and compare results with a posterior revision surgery cohort. Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study. Clinical-patient-reported outcomes were obtained at preoperative, postoperative and final follow-up visits using the Short Form (SF-36) scale, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the visual analog scale (VAS). Radiological measures include lumbar lordosis (LL), segmental lordosis (SL), pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) mismatch, segmental coronal Cobb angle and intervertebral disc height (DH). The data are compared with a retrospective series of patients that underwent a posterior revision surgery for ASD. Results: Twenty-eight patients in the OLIF group and 25 patients in the posterior group meet inclusion criteria. The mean ages at the time of the surgery are 65.1 years and 67.5, respectively. The mean follow-up time is 36.1 months (range of 14-56). The clinical outcomes significantly improve from preoperative values from the surgery in both groups. The radiological parameters are significantly improved postoperatively and were maintained at the last follow-up in both groups. A statistically significant difference is observed between the two groups for minor complication rate, length of surgery, blood loss and DH restoration. Conclusions: Stand-alone OLIF is an effective and safe technique with low morbidity and complication rates for the treatment of selected patients with symptomatic ASD following a previous lumbar fusion

Evaluation of HMDs by QFD for Augmented Reality Applications in the Maxillofacial Surgery Domain

Today, surgical operations are less invasive than they were a few decades ago and, in medicine, there is a growing trend towards precision surgery. Among many technological advancements, augmented reality (AR) can be a powerful tool for improving the surgery practice through its ability to superimpose the 3D geometrical information of the pre-planned operation over the surgical field as well as medical and instrumental information gathered from operating room equipment. AR is fundamental to reach new standards in maxillofacial surgery. The surgeons will be able to not shift their focus from the patients while looking to the monitors. Osteotomies will not require physical tools to be fixed on patient bones as guides to make resections. Handling grafts and 3D models directly in the operating room will permit a fine tuning of the procedure before harvesting the implant. This article aims to study the application of AR head-mounted displays (HMD) in three operative scenarios (oncological and reconstructive surgery, orthognathic surgery, and maxillofacial trauma surgery) by the means of quantitative logic using the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool to determine their requirements. The article provides an evaluation of the readiness degree of HMD currently on market and highlights the lacking features

The use of surgical sealants in the repair of dural tears during non-instrumented spinal surgery

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Difference in outcomes in surgical treatment of stage II-II MRONJ in oncological and non-oncological patients.

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a severe side effect caused by antiresorptive antiangiogenic medication for different pathologies. Although the main factors that seem to increase the risk of ONJ have been identified and the main scientific societies have recently disclosed rules of good behaviour regarding prevention, diagnosis and patient management, there are still no guidelines on therapeutic strategies to be adopted. In general, if conservative treatment fails, surgical treatment is considered, including local debridement, osteoplasty, and marginal or segmental osteotomy. To date, in literature, cohorts of heterogeneous patients with MRONJ have been analysed for a long time, with a lack of uniformity in information and difficulties in interpreting data. This retrospective study evaluates the results of surgical treatment of 62 patients with stage II-III of MRONJ according to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons criteria, evaluated at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, in the University of Turin (Italy), by subdividing patients into different cohorts firstly according to the primary pathology, i,e. oncological and non-oncological, and secondly, according to the drug or combination of drugs taken

Multi-use of the sea:A wide array of opportunities from site-specific cases across Europe

<p><b>Comparison of MU Combinations:</b> (Top) ranked by Drivers—Highest to lowest, and (Bottom) ranked by Added Values—Highest to lowest.</p

Manual versus rigid intraoperative maxillo-mandibular fixation in the surgical management of mandibular fractures:A European prospective analysis

Purpose: Intraoperative stabilisation of bony fragments with maxillo-mandibular fixation (MMF) is an essential step in the surgical treatment of mandibular fractures that are treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). The MMF can be performed with or without wire-based methods, rigid or manual MMF, respectively. The aim of this study was to compare the use of manual versus rigid MMF, in terms of occlusal outcomes and infective complications. Materials and methods: This multi-centric prospective study involved 12 European maxillofacial centres and included adult patients (age ≥16 years) with mandibular fractures treated with ORIF. The following data were collected: age, gender, pre-trauma dental status (dentate or partially dentate), cause of injury, fracture site, associated facial fractures, surgical approach, modality of intraoperative MMF (manual or rigid), outcome (minor/major malocclusions and infective complications) and revision surgeries. The main outcome was malocclusion at 6 weeks after surgery. Results: Between May 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022, 319 patients-257 males and 62 females (median age, 28 years)-with mandibular fractures (185 single, 116 double and 18 triple fractures) were hospitalised and treated with ORIF. Intraoperative MMF was performed manually on 112 (35%) patients and with rigid MMF on 207 (65%) patients. The study variables did not differ significantly between the two groups, except for age. Minor occlusion disturbances were observed in 4 (3.6%) patients in the manual MMF group and in 10 (4.8%) patients in the rigid MMF group (p &gt; .05). In the rigid MMF group, only one case of major malocclusion required a revision surgery. Infective complications involved 3.6% and 5.8% of patients in the manual and rigid MMF group, respectively (p &gt; .05). Conclusion: Intraoperative MMF was performed manually in nearly one third of the patients, with wide variability among the centres and no difference observed in terms of number, site and displacement of fractures. No significant difference was found in terms of postoperative malocclusion among patients treated with manual or rigid MMF. This suggests that both techniques were equally effective in providing intraoperative MMF.</p

A multicentric, prospective study on oral and maxillofacial trauma in the female population around the world

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Approximately 20% of patients with maxillofacial trauma are women, but few articles have analysed this. The aim of this multicentric, prospective, epidemiological study was to analyse the characteristics of maxillofacial fractures in the female population managed in 14 maxillofacial surgery departments on five continents over a 1‐year period. METHODS: The following data were collected: age (0–18, 19–64, or ≥65 years), cause and mechanism of the maxillofacial fracture, alcohol and/or drug abuse at the time of trauma, fracture site, Facial Injury Severity Scale score, associated injury, day of trauma, timing and type of treatment, and length of hospitalization. RESULTS: Between 30 September 2019 and 4 October 2020, 562 of 2387 patients hospitalized with maxillofacial trauma were females (24%; M: F ratio, 3.2:1) aged between 1 and 96 years (median age, 37 years). Most fractures occurred in patients aged 20–39 years. The main causes were falls (43% [median age, 60.5 years]), which were more common in Australian, European and American units (p < .001). They were followed by road traffic accidents (35% [median age, 29.5 years]). Assaults (15% [median age, 31.5 years]) were statistically associated with alcohol and/or drug abuse (p < .001). Of all patients, 39% underwent open reduction and internal fixation, 36% did not receive surgical treatment, and 25% underwent closed reduction. CONCLUSION: Falls were the main cause of maxillofacial injury in the female population in countries with ageing populations, while road traffic accidents were the main cause in African and some Asian centres, especially in patients ≤65 years. Assaults remain a significant cause of trauma, primarily in patients aged 19–64 years, and they are related to alcohol use