• Title/Summary/Keyword: orthopedic procedure

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Arthroscopic Resection of Synovial Plica in Elbow (관절경을 이용한 주관절 활막 추벽의 제거)

  • Yoo, Yon-Sik
    • Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.50-58
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: To report our experience with nine cases of pathologic synovial plica on radiohumeral joint which symptom of painful snapping elbow was improved by arthroscopic resection. Materials and Methods: Between 1999 and 2004, 43 cases of elbow arthroscopy were performed by one surgeon. Eight patients with nine cases showed pathologic synovial plica in conjunction with snapping or posterolateral elbow pain. The mean age of eight patients (man: 7, woman: 1) was 29 years (range $16{\sim}56$ years). All patients had a trial of conservative treatment at least six months (range $6{\sim}16$ months). The diagnosis was confirmed before surgery in six cases and at the time of surgery in three cases. Pain, snapping, and subjective results were evaluated at least 12 months in the average(range $12{\sim}24$). Results: All patients showed a hypertropic lateral synovial plica with local synovitis. Seven of them had an associated lesion of chondromalacia on radial head. One of them was associated with radiocapitellar arthritis and had a wrapping over the radial head. Six patients experienced improved posterolateral pain at the end of study (VAS<1). However, the other two patients had occasional pain with activity. One of them persisted with mechanical symptoms, which was treated with additional arthroscopic procedure. Conclusion: Synovial plica in elbow should be considered as an important entity of common elbow disease, especially when pain in the lateral aspect of the elbow with a snapping sensation during motion is featured in patients. The arthroscopic resection seems to be safe and efficient in the short and long term treatment of plica in the elbow joint.

Surface Characteristics of Type II Anodized Ti-6Al-4V Alloy for Biomedical Applications

  • Lee, Su-Won;Jeong, Tae-Gon;Yang, Jae-Ung;Jeong, Jae-Yeong;Park, Gwang-Min;Jeong, Yong-Hun
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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    • 2017.05a
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    • pp.77-77
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    • 2017
  • Titanium and its alloys offer attractive properties in a variety of applications. These are widely used for the field of biomedical implants because of its good biocompatibility and high corrosion resistance. Titanium anodizing is often used in the metal finishing of products, especially those can be used in the medical devices with dense oxide surface. Based on SAE/AMS (Society of Automotive Engineers/Aerospace Material Specification) 2488D, it has the specification for industrial titanium anodizing that have three different types of titanium anodization as following: Type I is used as a coating for elevated temperature forming; Type II is used as an anti-galling coating without additional lubrication or as a pre-treatment for improving adherence of film lubricants; Type III is used as a treatment to produce a spectrum of surface colours on titanium. In this study, we have focused on Type II anodization for the medical (dental and orthopedic) application, the anodized surface was modified with gray color under alkaline electrolyte. The surface characteristics were analyzed with Focused Ion Beam (FIB), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), surface roughness, Vickers hardness, three point bending test, biocompatibility, and corrosion (potentiodynamic) test. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy was used for specimen, the anodizing procedure was conducted in alkaline solution (NaOH based, pH>13). Applied voltage was range between 20 V to 40 V until the ampere to be zero. As results, the surface characteristics of anodic oxide layer were analyzed with SEM, the dissecting layer was fabricated with FIB method prior to analyze surface. The surface roughness was measured by arithmetic mean deviation of the roughness profile (Ra). The Vickers hardness was obtained with Vickers hardness tester, indentation was repeated for 5 times on each sample, and the three point bending property was verified by yield load values. In order to determine the corrosion resistance for the corrosion rate, the potentiodynamic test was performed for each specimen. The biological safety assessment was analyzed by cytotoxic and pyrogen test. Through FIB feature of anodic surfaces, the thickness of oxide layer was 1.1 um. The surface roughness, Vickers hardness, bending yield, and corrosion resistance of the anodized specimen were shown higher value than those of non-treated specimen. Also we could verify that there was no significant issues from cytotoxicity and pyrogen test.

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Clinical Application of Radial Head Prosthesis (요골두 치환술의 임상적 적용)

  • Moon, Jun-Gyu
    • Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.140-145
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: Installing a radial head prosthesis has developed into a reliable procedure to replace the native radial head for treating unreconstructible radial head fracture when this is associated with an unstable elbow or forearm. A variety of implants have been developed and these are now commercially available. This article reviews the literature related to the indications, the available implants and the surgical techniques of radial head replacement arthroplasty. Materials and Methods: The main indication for a metallic radial head prosthesis is a comminuted fracture that is not amenable to reconstruction, and particularly if it is associated with complex elbow injuries. Excision of the radial head should be avoided in the presence of combined injured ligaments or interosseous membrane injury. Three different implants are available in Korea, including the bipolar, press fit monopolar and loose fit monopolar radial head prostheses. A primary technical goal of radial head arthroplasty is the insertion of an implant that closely replicates the native radial head. The major pitfall when using a metallic radial head prosthesis is the insertion of a longer implant, which results in overstuffing of the radiocapitellar joint. Results and Conclusion: Satisfactory clinical results can be anticipated when a radial head prosthesis is used for the correct indications and when a systemic approach is undertaken to ensure proper sizing. For the future studies, we need data regarding the long term outcomes and comparison of the various types of prostheses.

Osteoarthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint (측두하악관절의 골관절염)

  • Lee, Jeong-Yun
    • Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.87-95
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    • 2013
  • Osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a severe form of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), presenting gradual breakdown of articular cartilage and subchondral bone by the functional load sustained to exceed the physiologic tolerance of the joint. In such a joint loaded, offensive bioactive materials such as matrix degrading proteins, cytokines, and free radicals increase in concentration to shift the tissue response in the joint to degeneration from regeneration or remodeling. Recently, it has been issued that obesity can play an offensive role in pathogenesis of OA in a metabolic way. Adipokines released by adipose cells are present at higher concentration in the arthritic joint and joints of obese individuals. However, because of conflicting data reported, further scientific study should be performed to elucidate the practical role of adipokines in pathogenesis of TMJ OA. As far as the clinical signs and symptoms of TMJ OA are not much different from those of other forms of TMD and any definitive treatment modality to control directly the bone resorptive activity is not available yet, the treatment of TMJ OA should be directed to reduce the physical load and enhance the physiologic tolerance of the joint by means of conservative treatment such as physical therapy, medication, and occlusal splint therapy for sufficient period and, if needed after that, supplementary surgical procedure such as intra-articular injection, arthrocenthesis, and arthroscopic surgery that have turned out to be effective to control OA signs and symtpoms. Enthusiastic reassurance and motivation for patients to control behaviors for themselves to reduce unnecessary functional load in daily life is very important for the joint to reach to more favorable orthopedic stability of the TMJ more quickly, guaranteeing more successful management TMJ OA.

Incidence of Paresthesia Related to the Insertion Length of Catheter during the Epidural Catheterization (경막외강 카테터 삽입 시 삽입 길이와 감각이상의 빈도)

  • Lim, Jun Goo;Kim, Young Jae;Cho, Jae Heung;Lee, Sang Eun;Kim, Young Hwan;Lim, Se Hoon;Lee, Jeong Han;Lee, Kun Moo;Cheong, Soon Ho;Choi, Young Kyun;Shin, Chee Mahn
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.50-53
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    • 2007
  • Background: Continuous epidural catheterization is a popular and effective procedure for postoperative analgesia. However, continuous epidural catheterization has associated complications such as venous puncture, dural puncture, subarachnoid cannulation, suboptimal catheter placement, and paresthesia because the tip of the epidural catheter touches thenerves of the dura in the epidural space. In this study, we compared the incidence of paresthesia in two different lengths of epidural catheter insertion. Methods: One hundred women undergoing gynecologic or orthopedic surgery were enrolled in this prospective, double-blinded, randomized study. All patients were randomly divided into two groups based on the insertion length of the epidural catheter 2 cm (group A) or 4 cm (group B). A Tuohy needle was inserted in the lumbarspinal region with a bevel directed cephalad by use of the median approach, and then the epidural space was confirmed by the loss of resistance technique with air. While the practitioner inserted an epidural catheter into the epidural space, a blind observer checked for paresthesia or withdrawal movement. Results: In 97 included patients, 30.6% of the patients in group A (n = 49) had paresthesia, versus 31.3% in group B (n = 48). Withdrawal movements were represented in 2% and 6% of the patients in group A and group B, respectively. There was no difference in the incidence of paresthesia and withdrawal movement between the two groups. Conclusions: There is no clear relationship for the incidence of catheter-related paresthesia according to the catheter length inserted into the epidural space for epidural analgesia.

The Predictable Factors of the Postoperative Kyphotic Change of Sagittal Alignment of the Cervical Spine after the Laminoplasty

  • Lee, Jun Seok;Son, Dong Wuk;Lee, Su Hun;Kim, Dong Ha;Lee, Sang Weon;Song, Geun Sung
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.60 no.5
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    • pp.577-583
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    • 2017
  • Objective : Laminoplasty is an effective surgical method for treating cervical degenerative disease. However, postoperative complications such as kyphosis, restriction of neck motion, and instability are often reported. Despite sufficient preoperative lordosis, this procedure often aggravates the lordotic curve of the cervical spine and straightens cervical alignment. Hence, it is important to examine preoperative risk factors associated with postoperative kyphotic alignment changes. Our study aimed to investigate preoperative radiologic parameters associated with kyphotic deformity post laminoplasty. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 49 patients who underwent open door laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital between January 2011 and December 2015. Inclusion criteria were as follows : 1) preoperative diagnosis of OPLL or CSM, 2) no previous history of cervical spinal surgery, cervical trauma, tumor, or infection, 3) minimum of one-year follow-up post laminoplasty with proper radiologic examinations performed in outpatient clinics, and 4) cases showing C7 and T1 vertebral body in the preoperative cervical sagittal plane. The radiologic parameters examined included C2-C7 Cobb angles, T1 slope, C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), range of motion (ROM) from C2-C7, segmental instability, and T2 signal change observed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical factors examined included preoperative modified Japanese Orthopedic Association scores, disease classification, duration of symptoms, and the range of operation levels. Results : Mean preoperative sagittal alignment was $13.01^{\circ}$ lordotic; $6.94^{\circ}$ lordotic postoperatively. Percentage of postoperative kyphosis was 80%. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to postoperative Cobb angle change; a control group (n=22) and kyphotic group (n=27). The kyphotic group consisted of patients with more than $5^{\circ}$ kyphotic angle change postoperatively. There were no differences in age, sex, C2-C7 Cobb angle, T1 slope, C2-C7 SVA, ROM from C2-C7, segmental instability, or T2 signal change. Multiple regression analysis revealed T1 slope had a strong relationship with postoperative cervical kyphosis. Likewise, correlation analysis revealed there was a statistical significance between T1 slope and postoperative Cobb angle change (p=0.035), and that there was a statistically significant relationship between T1 slope and C2-C7 SVA (p=0.001). Patients with higher preoperative T1 slope demonstrated loss of lordotic curvature postoperatively. Conclusion : Laminoplasty has a high probability of aggravating sagittal balance of the cervical spine. T1 slope is a good predictor of postoperative kyphotic changes of the cervical spine. Similarly, T1 slope is strongly correlated with C2-C7 SVA.

The Hospital Life of the Patient with Femoral Neck Fracture (대퇴경부 골절 환자의 입원 생활)

  • Kim, Kyung-Ja;Chi, Sung-Ai
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.35-56
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    • 1996
  • Nowerdays, the increase of traffic accidents and old age population make the Femoral Neck Fracture(FNF) patients increase. By the improvement of education and standard of living the patients demand better medical service than before. This study is designed to give practical help for the FNF patients by observing their hospital life and establish practical nursing strategies for the FNF patients. For these purposes the Ethnographic Participant Observation was adopted. By this study is focused on the hospital life patient's view. For this end, the field study adopted orthopedic ward in the C University Hospital with 400 beds in Seoul. The object patients of the study were twelve patients. The patients experienced five stages : Embarrassment, Conflict, Stability, Independent, and Extension Stage. The findings and prepared nursing strategies are stated as follows. First, in the Embarrassment Stage they suffered embarrassment, anxiety, pain, they could not do ordinary things. The patients who accidental fractures had anxiety from unfamiliar tests and from hospitalization itself. They lamented that they could not ordinary things, and do nothing but obeying the hospital, and endure the pain. They recognized the changed environment and resigned themselves to life in the ward. In this stage, full openness by the nurses is needed. Second, the attribute of the Conflict Stage were conflict, fear, curiosity, belief, reflection. When they sign the consentment form, they experience conflicts about the possibility of complication, fear of recovery from anesthesia, curiosity about the operation procedure, post - operation state, reflection on their past life, and promise to care for their family members after discharge and keep their religious life faithfully. And they accepted the operation depending on God, believing in modern medicine, and the surgeon. Asking for their changed informations, they expected positive results from the operation. In this stage, an empathic attitude by the nurses is needed. Third, the attribute of the Stability Stage were relief, gratitude, difficulty with excretion, and pain. When they awoke from anesthesia, they felt relief because of a the end of the operation, but they experienced extreme pain, difficulty of excretion in bed. They accepted the changed environment and expected recovery. In this stage, support by the nurses is needed. Fourth, the attributes of the Independence Stage were freedom, exercise, nurturing, anxiety, and discomfort. When they ambulated and exercised, they experienced freedom. They showed exhibited weakness of the digestive organs and discomfort hospital's space, structure, and facilities, the delay of medical certificate issue the lack of prompt response by the medical agents. They ate nurturious food and felt anxiety on the end of hospital life and returning to their ordinary life. They showed the independence of overcoming their environment by increasing exercise and expected their discharges. In this stage, respect by the nurses is needed for the patients to, overcome their environment and prepare for their independence. Fifth, the attributes of the Extension Stage were pessimism, isolation, dissatisfaction, and pain. Accompanied injury and old age made their ward life extend to over seven weeks. They exhibited weariness, melancholy, skeptisis, general pessimistic feeling, and desperation caused by their isolated life. They experienced the digestive discomfort caused by the prolonged medication and psycological pain caused by long-time hospitalization. As a, result, their dissatisfaction on the human, physical, and systematic environments had been increased. They acquired critical power and sought for something to do spending their time. They expected vaguely about the returning of their ordinary life. In this stage, counseling is needed by the nurse to overcome positively their psychological, social, and physical problems. The process of the FNF patient's ward life starts from the dependent state, when they are hospitalized, and gradually progresses to self-fulfillment in order to keep independent life. As a result, the FNF patients showed "Response in Challenge" or "Adaptation in Conflict" through their experiences of social, physical, and psychological difficulties.

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A Study of Nursing Manpower Requirements based on the Nursing Times spent in Operating Room of an University Hospital (수술실 간호인력의 수요측정 및 간호제공량분석 - 수술대기시간과 수술시간을 중심으로 -)

  • YooN Ke Sook
    • Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.45-61
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    • 1987
  • This Study was an attempt to estimate the optimum numbers of Operating Room Nursing Manpower by measuring the amount of service hours required by the patients in Operating Room in relation to the service amount actually provided by the nurses. The major concern of this study was placed on the measurement of Nursing Service Requirements by using the Operating Room (O. R) Patient Acuity System recently developed by M. M. Hart to classify the O. R. patients into four groups according to the degree of the complexity of operative procedure and some other elements which increase nursing activities in respect of patient care; Acuity IV group is the one requires nursing services most, on the other hand Acuity I requires least. nu sing The objectives of this study were as follows; 1. To analyze functions of the nursing personnel in O. R. by time unit and to estimate the average time a nurse can activate for productive functions. 2. To measure the actual amount of nursing times provided by nurses to the surgical patients. 3. To develop a patient classification system in order to measure the amount of Nursing services required by the patients. 4. To calculate an appropriate number of nursing manpower to meet the needs of the patients. In order to conduct the research both selected nurses and patients in 'S' University Hospital were Studied by utilizing the O. R. Patient Acuity System as well as the Classification Chart developed by Association of Operating Room Nurses (A. O. R. N) as a means of classifying functions of O. R. nurses. That is; Functions of the 10 selected O. R. nurses observed during the period of June 30 to July 4, 1986, whereas the amount of nursing services required by or provided to the 974 patients who had received surgeries during the period of June 9 to July 4, 1986. The results of this study were as follows; 1) The actual working hours per a nurse averaged 6.7 hours a day. 2) Each nurse's daily routine schedule consists of $71.4\%$ for Technical Functions, $16.1\%$ for Nonprodective Functions, $6.6\%$ for Assessment and Evaluation, $3.9\%$ for Overseeing and Supervision and the rest $2.0\%$ for Patient Preparation respectively. 3) Preoperative waiting time per a patient was 24.1 minutes on the average; for the first case was 10.7 minutes, whereas for the following cases was 32.0 minutes. 4) Total Operation time for the 974 patients during the period of observation for this study amounted to 2759.6 hours, weekly hour was equivalent to 689.9 hours, Whereas daily operation time averaged 130 hours. Meanwhile the average operation time per patient was 2.8 hours ; for the case of Acuity IV was 5.6 hours, 5. 1 hours for the case of Acuity III, 2.3 hours for Acuity II and 1.1 hours for Acuity I. 5) According to the O. R. Patient Acuity System, $64.5\%$ of the whole patients belonged to Acuity II, $23.7\%$ to Acuity III, 11. $3\%$ to Acuity IV and $0.7\%$ to Acuity I respectively. 6) Required amount of nursing times based on the preoperative waiting time and operation time was 7167.8 person hours, which showed that $5.5\%$ of them needed for preoperative nursing care, whereas the rest $94.5\%$ for intraoperative nursing care. In terms of the O. R. Patient Acuity System, $49.7\%$ of total nursing service requirements was needed for Acuity II patients, $27.4\%$ for Acuity III patients, $17.2\%$ for Acuity IV patients and $0.2\%$ for Acuity I patients. 7) The rate of the nursing services provided against the required nursing times was about $81.4\%$ on the average; some departments, like those of Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology whose patients mostly belonged to Acuity II recorded hegher provision rate than average, whereas other departments of Thoracic Surgery. Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery whose patients belonged to Acuity III and Acuity IV as well as Acuity II recorded lower provision rate than average. 8) Subsequently, required numbers of nursing manpower was 10.7 nurses additionally. Based on the above findings the following recommendations will be made; 1) this study recommends, develops. and adopts an accurate and realistic O. R. Patient Acuity System which can help measure the nursing service requirements objectively to elicit the rationales of allocation of nursing personnels. 2) this study proposes storongly place nurses who take the role of preoperative nursing care exclusively for the waiting patients in O. R. and shortening their waiting time by close communication between the designated O. R. and the ward.

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A study of the cause of metal failure in treatment of femur shaft fracture - Fractographical and clinical analysis of metal failure- (대퇴골 간부 골절시 사용한 금속물의 금속부전(Metal failure)의 기전에 대한 연구)

  • Jeon, Chun-Bae;Seo, Jae-Sung;Ahn, Jong-Chul;Ahn, Myun-Whan;Ihn, Joo-Chyl
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.81-93
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    • 1990
  • The author fractographically analyized the cause of metal failure(the first time this procedure has been used for this metal failure)and also analyized it clinically. In this study, I selected eight cases which have been analyized fractographically. In all these cases, the analysis was done after treatment of metal failure of implants internally fixed to femur shaft fractures at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yeung-Nam University Hospital during the six year period from May 1983 to September 1989. 1. Metal failure occured in five dynamic-compression plates, one Jewett nail, one screw in Rowe plate, and one interlocking nail. 2. The clinical cause of metal failure was deficiency of medial butress in five cases, incorrect position of implant in one case, and incorrect selection of implant in two cases. 3. The time interval between internal fixation and metal failure was four months in one case, between five months to twelve months in six cases, three years in one case. 4. The fractographically analytical cause of metal failure was ; first, impact failure, one case, second, fatigue failure, six cases, machining mark(stress liser), four cases type : low consistent cyclic fatigue failure irregular cyclic fatigue failure third, stress corrosion crack, one case. 5. 316L Stainless Steel has good resistance to corrosion. However, when its peculiar surface film is destroyed by fretting, it shows pitting corrosion. This is, perhaps, the main cause of metal failure. 6. It is possible that mechanical injury occured in implants during the manufacturing of implants or that making a screw hole is the main cause of metal failure.

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Comparisons of Unicortical and Bicortical Lateral Mass Screws in the Cervical Spine : Safety vs Strength (경추부의 후관절 나사못 고정술에서 단피질삽입법과 양피질 삽입법 간의 특성에 관한 비교)

  • Park, Choon-Keun;Hwang, Jang-Hoe;Ji, Chul;Lee, Jae Un;Sung, Jae Hoon;Choi, Seung-Jin;Lee, Sang-Won;Seybold, Eric;Park, Sung-Chan;Cho, Kyung-Suok;Park, Chun-Kun;Kang, Joon-Ki
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.30 no.10
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    • pp.1210-1219
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    • 2001
  • Introduction : The purpose of this study was to analyze the safety, pullout strength and radiographic characteristics of unicortical and bicortical screws of cervical facet within cadaveric specimens and evaluate the influence of level of training on the positioning of these screws. Methods : Twenty-one cadavers, mean 78.9 years of age, underwent bilateral placement of 3.5mm AO lateral mass screw from C3-C6(n=168) using a slight variation of the Magerl technique. Intraoperative imaging was not used. The right side(unicortical) utilized only 14mm screws(effective length of 11mm) while on the left side to determine the length of the screw after the ventral cortex had been drilled. Three spine surgeons(attending, fellow, chief resident) with varying levels of spine training performed the procedure on seven cadavers each. All spines were harvested and lateral radiographs were taken. Individual cervical vertebrae were carefully dissected and then axial radiographs were taken. The screws were evaluated clinically and radiographically for their safety. Screws were graded clinically for their safety with respect to the spinal cord, facet joint, nerve root and vertebral artery. The grades consisted of the following categories : "satisfactory", "at risk" and "direct injury". Each screw was also graded according to its zone placement. Screw position was quantified by measuring a sagittal angle from the lateral radiograph and an axial angle from the axial radiograph. Pull-out force was determined for all screws using a material testing machine. Results : Dissection revealed that fifteen screws on the left side actually had only unicortical and not bicortical purchase as intended. The majority of screws(92.8%) were satisfactory in terms of safety. There were no injuries to the spinal cord. On the right side(unicortical), 98.9% of the screws were "satisfactory" and on the left side(bicortical) 68.1% were "satisfactory". There was a 5.8% incidence of direct arterial injury and a 17.4% incidence of direct nerve root injury with the bicortical screws. There were no "direct injuries" with the unicortical screws for the nerve root or vertebral artery. The unicortical screws had a 21.4% incidence of direct injury of the facet joint, while the bicortical screws had a 21.7% incidence. The majority of "direct injury" of bicortical screws were placed by the surgeon with the least experience. The performance of the resident surgeon was significantly different from the attending or fellow(p<0.05) in terms of safety of the nerve root and vertebral artery. The attending's performance was significantly better than the resident or fellow(p<0.05) in terms of safety of the facet joint. There was no relationship between the safety of a screw and its zone placement. The axial deviation angle measured $23.5{\pm}6.6$ degrees and $19.8{\pm}7.9$ degrees for the unicortical and bicortical screws, respectively. The resident surgeon had a significantly lower angle than the attending or fellow(p<0.05). The sagittal angle measured $66.3{\pm}7.0$ degrees and $62.3{\pm}7.9$ degrees for the unicortical and bicortical screws, respectively. The attending had a significantly lower sagittal angle than the fellow or resident(p<0.05). Thirty-three screws that entered the facet joint were tested for pull-out strength but excluded from the data because they were not lateral mass screws per-se and had deviated substantially from the intended final trajectory. The mean pull-out force for all screws was $542.9{\pm}296.6N$. There was no statistically significant difference between the pull-out force for unicortical($519.9{\pm}286.9N$) and bicortical($565.2{\pm}306N$) screws. There was no significant difference in pull-out strengths with respect to zone placement. Conclusion : It is our belief that the risk associated with bicortical purchase mandates formal spine training if it is to be done safely and accurately. Unicortical screws are safer regardless of level of training. It is apparent that 14mm lateral mass screws placed in a supero-lateral trajectory in the adult cervical spine provide an equivalent strength with a much lower risk of injury than the longer bicortical screws placed in a similar orientation.

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