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Objective: To evaluate the clinical and radiological efficacy of a combine of lateral single screw-rod and unilateral percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (LSUP) for lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) in the treatment of spondylolisthesis. Methods: Sixty-two consecutive patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis who underwent minimally invasive (MIS)-TLIF with bilateral pedicle screw (BPS) or LLIF-LSUP were retrospectively studied. Segmental lordosis angle (SLA), lumbar lordosis angle (LLA), disc height (DH), slipping percentage, the cross-sectional areas (CSA) of the thecal sac, screw placement accuracy, fusion rate and foraminal height (FH) were used to evaluate radiographic changes postoperatively. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to evaluate the clinical efficacy. Results: Patients who underwent LLIF-LSUP showed shorter operating time, less length of hospital stay and lower blood loss than MIS-TLIF. No statistical difference was found between the 2 groups in screw placement accuracy, overall complications, VAS, and ODI. Compared with MIS-TLIF-BPS, LLIF-LSUP had a significant improvement in sagittal parameters including DH, FH, LLA, and SLA. The CSA of MIS-TLIF-BPS was significantly increased than that of LLIF-LSUP. The fusion rate of LLIF-LSUP was significantly higher than that of MIS-TLIF-BPS at the follow-up of 3 months postoperatively, but there was no statistical difference between the 2 groups at the follow-up of 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. Conclusion: The overall clinical outcomes and complications of LLIF-LSUP were comparable to that of MIS-TLIF-BPS in this series. Compared with MIS-TLIF-BPS, LLIF-LSUP for lumbar spondylolisthesis represents a significantly shorter operating time, hospital stay and lower blood loss, and demonstrates better radiological outcomes to maintain lumbar lordosis, and reveal an overwhelming superiority in the early fusion rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, the importance of the sagittal plane and its contour has gained significant recognition. Through full-body stereoradiography, the understanding of compensatory mechanisms, and the concept of global balance and reciprocal change has expanded. There have been a few reports describing how cervical realignment surgery affects global spinal alignment (GSA) and global balance. Despite the research efforts, the concept of reciprocal change and global balance is still perplexing. Understanding the compensatory status and main drivers of deformity in a patient is vital because the compensatory mechanisms may resolve reciprocally following cervical realignment surgery. A meticulous preoperative evaluation of the whole-body alignment, including the pelvis and lower extremities, is paramount to appreciate optimal GSA in the correction of spinal malalignment. This study aims to summarize relevant literature on the reciprocal changes in the whole body caused by cervical realignment surgery and review recent perspectives regarding cervical compensatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Adult cervical deformity (ACD) is a debilitating spinal condition that causes significant pain, neurologic dysfunction, and functional impairment. Surgery is often performed to correct cervical alignment, but the optimal amount of correction required to improve patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are not yet well-defined. Methods: A review of the literature was performed and Fisher z-transformation (Zr) was used to pool the correlation coefficients between alignment parameters and PROs. The strength of correlation was defined according to the following: poor (0 < r ≤ 0.3), fair (0.3 < r ≤ 0.5), moderate (0.5 < r ≤ 0.8), and strong (0.8 < r ≤ 1). Results: Increased C2–7 sagittal vertical axis was fairly associated with increased Neck Disability Index (NDI) (pooled Zr = 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.03 to 0.58). Changes in T1 slope minus cervical lordosis poorly correlated with NDI (pooled Zr = -0.04; 95% CI, -0.23 to 0.30). Increased C7–S1 was poorly associated with worse EuroQoL 5-Dimension (pooled Zr = -0.22; 95% CI, -0.36 to -0.06). Correction of horizontal gaze did not correlate with legacy metrics. Modified Japanese Orthopedic Association correlated with C2-slope, C7–S1, and C2–S1. Conclusion: Spinal alignment parameters variably correlated with improved health-related quality of life and myelopathy after corrective surgery for ACD. Further studies evaluating legacy PROs, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System, and ACD specific instruments are needed for further validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our study aims to evaluate the correlation of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System physical function (PROMIS PF) with legacy patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) among patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Methods: A prospectively maintained database was retrospectively reviewed for ACDF surgeries performed between May 2015 and September 2017. Inclusion criteria were primary elective, single- or multilevel ACDFs for degenerative spinal pathology. Patients lacking preoperative or 2-year PROMIS PF surveys were excluded. Mean scores were calculated for visual analogue scale (VAS) neck, VAS arm, Neck Disability Index (NDI), 12-Item Short Form Physical Component Score (SF-12 PCS), and PROMIS PF at preoperative and 6-week, 12-week, 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year postoperative timepoints. A t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were utilized to evaluate score improvement and PROM relationships respectively. Results: The 50 subject cohort was 60.0% male, 50% obese (body mass index = 30 kg/m2) and had an average age of 50.9 years. Significant improvements were demonstrated for VAS neck and NDI at all postoperative timepoints (p < 0.001) and for SF-12 and PROMIS PF at all timepoints except 6 weeks (p = 0.025). VAS arm improvement was seen up to 1 year (p = 0.016). PROMIS PF demonstrated strong correlations with NDI and SF-12 PCS at all evaluated timepoints and with VAS neck at all postoperative timepoints except 6 weeks (all p < 0.01). Conclusion: PROMIS PF was strongly correlated with pain, disability, and physical function up to 2 years for patients undergoing ACDF. Our results support the long-term validity of PROMIS PF for measurement of patient-reported physical function among ACDF cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: While visual analogue score (VAS) metrics are among the most universally adopted patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), there is limited research on the influence of back and leg pain on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical function (PF) scores. Here we assess the association of VAS back and VAS leg scores with PROMIS PF in the setting of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS TLIF). Secondarily, we determine if PROMIS PF is more influenced by back or leg pain. Methods: A prospective surgical registry was reviewed from May 2015 to November 2018. Inclusion criteria were primary, single-level MIS TLIFs. We excluded multilevel procedures and patients without preoperative PROMs. Pre- and postoperative PROMIS PF, VAS back, and VAS leg scores were recorded at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. A Pearson correlation evaluated PROMIS PF association with VAS back and VAS leg scores. A Fisher z-test compared correlations. Linear regression evaluated PROMIS with VAS back and VAS leg scores. Results: Our cohort was comprised of 146 subjects. 40.4% were female and the average age of 51 years. VAS back demonstrated a stronger correlation than VAS leg with PROMIS PF at all timepoints. PROMIS PF scores were negatively associated with both VAS back and VAS leg at all timepoints. Fisher z-test revealed VAS back to have a stronger correlation with PROMIS PF (p=0.025) than VAS leg. Conclusion: In the setting of MIS TLIF, physical function as evaluated by PROMIS PF, had a stronger correlation with VAS back than VAS leg at 6 months. This suggests that postoperative PROMIS PF scores may be more influenced by back pain than with leg pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]