1. Is the Postoperative Horizontal Decubitus Position Following Transection of a Tight Filum Terminale in Pediatric Patients Necessary? – A Retrospective Cohort Study
- Author
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Daisuke Hirokawa, Hideki Ogiwara, Ryo Kanematsu, and Kenichi Usami
- Subjects
Male ,Surgical results ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Time Factors ,Cauda Equina ,Posture ,CSF leakage ,Patient Positioning ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,03 medical and health sciences ,Postoperative Complications ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cerebrospinal fluid ,horizontal decubitus position ,medicine ,Humans ,Neural Tube Defects ,Csf leakage ,Child ,Retrospective Studies ,Postoperative Care ,tight filum terminale ,Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak ,business.industry ,Infant ,Retrospective cohort study ,Spinal cord ,Surgery ,Pseudomeningocele ,Treatment Outcome ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Child, Preschool ,Female ,Original Article ,Neurology (clinical) ,Filum terminale ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
After untethering surgery of a tethered spinal cord of a tight filum terminale, patients are usually kept in the horizontal decubitus position to prevent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. However, the optimal period for keeping these patients in this position has not been established yet. Surgical results in two groups of pediatric patients with a tight filum terminale were retrospectively analyzed. Group A was maintained in the horizontal decubitus position for 72 h and group B was managed without being kept in this position postoperatively. A total of 313 patients underwent sectioning of a tight filum terminale. Of these patients, 144 were maintained horizontally for 72 h postoperatively (group A) and 169 were managed without this position (group B). Among the patients who were maintained horizontally for 72 h, one (0.7%) developed pseudomeningocele. No patients experienced CSF leakage in this group. Among the patients who were not horizontal, one (0.6%) developed CSF leakage and one (0.6%) developed pseudomeningocele. Maintaining patients without restriction of their position does not appear to change the rate of postoperative CSF leakage or pseudomeningocele. This suggests that maintaining patients horizontally after transection of a tight filum terminale is not necessary for preventing CSF leakage.
- Published
- 2020
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