Objective To discuss the key issues in the diagnosis and treatment of degenerative disc disease and thetherapeutic effect of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion on it. Methods From September 2004 to August 2006, 15 cases of degenerative disc disease were treated by transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, including 8 males and 7 females with the age of 33-46 years. All cases were single-level degenerative disc diseases, including 1 case of L3,4, 8 cases of L4,5 and 6 cases of L5, S1. The course of the disease was 2 -10 years. Preoperatively, the score of visual analogue scale (VAS) was 8.9 ± 1.8 and the score of Oswestry disabil ity index (ODI) was 51.4 ± 8.3. All patients had received normal conventional treatment for at least 3 months and had no therapeutic effect before operation. Results The operation time was 120-180 minutes (150 minutes on average) and the intra-operative blood loss was 200-500 mL (360 mL on average). There was no severe compl ication, except that the muscle tone of anterior tibia in one case decreased to the third level, which recovered to the 5- level 3 months after operation. A total of 15 cases were followed up for 12-24 months (18 months on average). All patients got interbody bony fusion 12 months after operation with the fusion rate of 100%. Postoperatively, the score of VAS was 2.8 ± 1.6 and the score of ODI was 19.1 ± 3.2, indicating there were significant difference in comparison with postoperative ones (P lt; 0.05). The improvement rates of postoperative VAS and ODI were 61.8% ± 7.3% and 64.3% ± 5.5%, respectively. For the therapeutic effect, 6 cases were regardedas excellent, 8 good, 1 fair, and the choiceness rate was 93.3%. All patients resumed their jobs and normal l ives. Conclusion Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is effective for the treatment of lumbar degenerative disc disease, but the indications for operation must be strictly defined.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the risk factors for incidental durotomy (ID) during lumbar surgery. MethodsEighty-six patients with ID and 86 patients with no ID (who were matched 1∶1 in surgeons and surgery time) were selected from 2 235 patients who underwent lumbar surgery between January 2010 and December 2012. The gender, age, body mass index, history of smoking, alcoholism, nonsteroidal drug use, the etiology, lumbar surgery history, revision surgery, surgical approach, osteoporosis, diabetes, and surgical procedure were compared between 2 groups. Logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the risk factors for ID. ResultsThere was significant difference (P<0.05) in etiology, surgical approach, revision surgery, lumbar surgery history, and surgical procedure between patients with ID and patients with no ID, which were then included in multivariate analysis. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that lumbar surgery history, revision surgery, and minimal invasive surgery were risk factors for ID during lumbar surgery (P<0.05). ConclusionLumbar surgery history, revision surgery, and minimal invasive surgery were risk factors for ID during lumbar surgery, thus surgery for patients with the above histories should be carefully performed to prevent ID.
Objective To investigate the compliance status of intermittent pneumatic compression device (IPCD) in patients after lumbar surgery, and to analyze the reasons and influencing factors affecting compliance. Methods The continuous enrollment method was used to select patients who underwent posterior decompression for lumbar degenerative diseases in the orthopedic department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital between December 2022 and June 2023. The general information of patients and their compliance with IPCD were collected, and the reasons that affected compliance were analyzed. ResultsA total of 46 patients were included. The overall proportion of patients with good compliance was relatively low, and their compliance was poor. On the first and second day after surgery, the daytime compliance was relatively good (the proportion range of excellent compliance was 39%-52%); the compliance at night was significantly lower than that during the daytime (the proportion range of excellent compliance was 21%-26%); after 3 days of surgery, the patients’ compliance significantly decreased. A total of 460 time periods were observed and 195 reasons for not using IPCD were collected. The main reasons were physical discomfort caused by the device, inconvenience during bedside activities, and little significance to the patient. The compliance of female patients was better than that of males (P<0.05). Patients with education level of primary school and below had the highest compliance, while patients with high school and above had the lowest compliance (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in compliance among patients of different age groups (P>0.05). Conclusions The overall compliance of patients with IPCD after lumbar surgery is poor, which is an urgent clinical problem, and the adaptability and cognitive level of patients to the device are the main factors affecting compliance. In clinical nursing work, men and patients with higher education level should be strengthened.