Neurosurgical Specialists Research Articles

Postoperative Epidural vs. Intravenous Patient Controlled Analgesia for Lumbar Spine Surgery

The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology (JNA) is a peer-reviewed publication directed to an audience of neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, neurosurgical monitoring specialists, neurosurgical support staff, and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit personnel. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed studies in the form of Clinical Investigations, Laboratory Investigations, Clinical Reports, Review Articles, Journal Club synopses of current literature from related journals, presentation of Points of View on controversial issues, Book Reviews, Correspondence, and Abstracts from affiliated neuroanesthesiology societies.

ERRATUM

The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology (JNA) is a peer-reviewed publication directed to an audience of neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, neurosurgical monitoring specialists, neurosurgical support staff, and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit personnel. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed studies in the form of Clinical Investigations, Laboratory Investigations, Clinical Reports, Review Articles, Journal Club synopses of current literature from related journals, presentation of Points of View on controversial issues, Book Reviews, Correspondence, and Abstracts from affiliated neuroanesthesiology societies.

Anesthesia: A Comprehensive Review, Third Edition

The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology (JNA) is a peer-reviewed publication directed to an audience of neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, neurosurgical monitoring specialists, neurosurgical support staff, and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit personnel. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed studies in the form of Clinical Investigations, Laboratory Investigations, Clinical Reports, Review Articles, Journal Club synopses of current literature from related journals, presentation of Points of View on controversial issues, Book Reviews, Correspondence, and Abstracts from affiliated neuroanesthesiology societies.

Spinal Abscess After Epidural Anesthesia: Need for More Vigilance and Better Patient Advice

The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology (JNA) is a peer-reviewed publication directed to an audience of neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, neurosurgical monitoring specialists, neurosurgical support staff, and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit personnel. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed studies in the form of Clinical Investigations, Laboratory Investigations, Clinical Reports, Review Articles, Journal Club synopses of current literature from related journals, presentation of Points of View on controversial issues, Book Reviews, Correspondence, and Abstracts from affiliated neuroanesthesiology societies.

Anesthesiology: Pearls of Wisdom

The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology (JNA) is a peer-reviewed publication directed to an audience of neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, neurosurgical monitoring specialists, neurosurgical support staff, and Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit personnel. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed studies in the form of Clinical Investigations, Laboratory Investigations, Clinical Reports, Review Articles, Journal Club synopses of current literature from related journals, presentation of Points of View on controversial issues, Book Reviews, Correspondence, and Abstracts from affiliated neuroanesthesiology societies.

High-dose methylprednisolone for acute closed spinal cord injury--only a treatment option.

A systematic review of the evidence pertaining to methylprednisolone infusion following acute spinal cord injury was conducted in order to address the persistent confusion about the utility of this treatment. A committee of neurosurgical and orthopedic spine specialists, emergency physicians and physiatrists engaged in active clinical practice conducted an electronic database search for articles about acute spinal cord injuries and steroids, from January 1, 1966 to April 2001, that was supplemented by a manual search of reference lists, requests for unpublished additional information, translations of foreign language references and study protocols from the author of a Cochrane systematic review and Pharmacia Inc. The evidence was graded and recommendations were developed by consensus. One hundred and fifty-seven citations that specifically addressed spinal cord injuries and methylprednisolone were retrieved and 64 reviewed. Recommendations were based on one Cochrane systematic review, six Level I clinical studies and seven Level II clinical studies that addressed changes in neurological function and complications following methylprednisolone therapy. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of high-dose methylprednisolone within eight hours following an acute closed spinal cord injury as a treatment standard or as a guideline for treatment. Methylprednisolone, prescribed as a bolus intravenous infusion of 30 mg per kilogram of body weight over fifteen minutes within eight hours of closed spinal cord injury, followed 45 minutes later by an infusion of 5.4 mg per kilogram of body weight per hour for 23 hours, is only a treatment option for which there is weak clinical evidence (Level I- to II-1). There is insufficient evidence to support extending methylprednisolone infusion beyond 23 hours if chosen as a treatment option.

Neurological Surgery in the Nineteenth Century

Born in Latvia in 1836, Ernst von Bergmann received his medical education and first academic position at the University of Dorpat in Russia. In 1866, he served as a military surgeon in the Prusso-Austrian War, followed by duty in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. He was appointed to the faculty of the University of Würzburg in 1878 and 4 years later moved to the University Clinic in Berlin. As a professor and chairman of surgery, he taught until his death in 1907. Von Bergmann practiced general surgery but devoted a large part of his career to the treatment of neurological diseases. Known for his development of aseptic technique, his early military experiences directed his attention to cranial trauma and, ultimately, neurosurgery. In 1880, he authored his first textbook, which described missile ballistics and animal experiments first demonstrating the physiological response later known as "the Cushing reflex" and advocated meticulous intracranial debridement with thorough closure after trauma. Twenty years later, as senior editor of the massive System of Practical Surgery, his contributions included pediatric neurosurgery, successful treatment of abscesses and tumors, diagnostic radiography, and cerebral localization using external landmarks and the neurological examination. Revered by his students and honored by his colleagues, von Bergmann became a proponent for aggressive neurosurgical treatment. His skilled techniques, developed in parallel with accurate experimental physiology, advanced 19th century surgical progression and formed a solid framework for the advances of neurosurgical specialists.

Guidelines for care in the acute phase in hospitals without neurosurgical specialists. Guidelines for management.

In 1984 the Swedish neurosurgical and anaesthesiological societies agreed upon a priority list on admission to hospitals without neurosurgical unit of patients with acute traumatic cranio-cerebral injuries. This list was published in Lakartidningen in a series of papers on the care of head injured patients 1–5. The main points in this priority list is shown in the paper by E. Gordon (see below).

Early diagnosis of acoustic neurinomas.

IF WE are truly concerned with the early diagnosis of tumors of the acoustic nerve it is obvious that I am addressing myself to the wrong audience. If these tumors are to be recognized before they become a large mass in the cerebellopontine angle we must direct our attention to educating the general public and the medical profession in general to the fact that the development of a unilateral impairment of hearing, especially when associated with unilateral tinnitus, is of the greatest importance and warrants a thorough investigation. The otological, neurological, and neurosurgical specialists are aware of the importance of such symptoms but as yet the general public and the medical profession generally are not. It is essential that a continuing campaign be launched which will alert people to the fact that unilateral impairment of hearing with tinnitus may indicate the presence of a tumor and that such tumors can