Spine In Patients Research Articles

A Comparative Review of Spine Surgeries in Two New Neurosurgery Centres in an Urban and Rural Environment in Southeast Nigeria

Background: The Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) located in a rural setting commenced neurosurgical services in January 2016 with a spine procedure as the first case whereas the Imo State Specialist Hospital (IMSSH) located in an urban setting commenced neurosurgical services in April 2021 and spine procedures in August 2021. The presentation of surgically managed spine pathologies in both hospitals were compared. Aims: The study aimed to descriptively compare the number of spine procedures performed in both hospitals including the age and gender distribution of the surgically managed spine patients, the spine pathologies and their distribution. Methods: The surgical records of all spine patients who had surgical procedures at IMSUTH, Orlu, from January 2016 to May 2020 (42 months), and at IMSSH, Owerri, from August 2021 to July 2024 (36 months) were retrospectively reviewed. Results: During the study periods, in IMSUTH, Orlu, there were 27 spine surgeries, giving an average of 1 spine procedure in 2 months whereas in IMSSH, Owerri, there were 157 spine surgeries giving an average of 4 spine surgeries per month. Interestingly the distribution of spine procedures revealed that the highest frequency of spine surgeries was performed in the lumbar spine (n=7, 26% in IMSUTH; n=43, 27.3% in IMSSH) followed by lumbosacral spine (n=6, 22.2% in IMSUTH; n=42, 26.8% in IMSSH) in both hospitals. And quite interesting also is that trauma (n=15, 55.6%) accounted for the highest number of spine surgeries in the rural environment of IMSUTH, Orlu, while degenerative spine diseases (n=113, 71.9%) accounted for the highest number of spine surgeries in the urban environment of IMSSH, Owerri. Conclusion: The study revealed that spine pathologies are not uncommon in resource poor settings especially in the urban environment. There is a male preponderance for spine surgeries. Lumbar/lumbosacral spine pathologies are common in our resource poor settings but trauma related spine pathologies are more common factors for spine surgeries in rural settings. There is need to improve access to spine care in the rural environments.

Estimating lumbar bone mineral density from conventional MRI and radiographs with deep learning in spine patients.

This study aimed to develop machine learning methods to estimate bone mineral density and detect osteopenia/osteoporosis from conventional lumbar MRI (T1-weighted and T2-weighted images) and planar radiography in combination with clinical data and imaging parameters of the acquisition protocol. A database of 429 patients subjected to lumbar MRI, radiographs and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry within 6 months was created from an institutional database. Several machine learning models were trained and tested (373 patients for training, 86 for testing) with the following objectives: (1) direct estimation of the vertebral bone mineral density; (2) classification of T-score lower than - 1 or (3) lower than - 2.5. The models took as inputs either the images or radiomics features derived from them, alone or in combination with metadata (age, sex, body size, vertebral level, parameters of the imaging protocol). The best-performing models achieved mean absolute errors of 0.15-0.16g/cm2 for the direct estimation of bone mineral density, and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.82 (MRIs) - 0.80 (radiographs) for the classification of T-scores lower than - 1, and 0.80 (MRIs) - 0.65 (radiographs) for T-scores lower than - 2.5. The models showed good discriminative performances in detecting cases of low bone mineral density, and more limited capabilities for the direct estimation of its value. Being based on routine imaging and readily available data, such models are promising tools to retrospectively analyse existing datasets as well as for the opportunistic investigation of bone disorders.

A Comparison of Palliative Care Perceptions Across Metastatic Spine Patients and the General Population.

Background: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to benefit patients with metastatic cancer by managing symptoms, improving quality of life, and facilitating advance care planning. Despite this, PC is often misunderstood and underutilized. Objective: To deepen our understanding of PC barriers seen among the spine metastasis population. Design/Setting: Between March 2021 and August 2022, people with metastatic spine tumors (MSTs) at a multidisciplinary oncology clinic were administered a survey on PC prior to their scheduled appointment. These responses were compared with the Health Information National Trends Survey 5 (HINTS 5), which is a validated survey created by the National Cancer Institute between February and June of 2020. Chi-squared statistical analysis was used. Results: Fifty-six people with MST were compared with 3795 patients from the HINTS 5 database. People with MST reported a significantly higher baseline understanding of PC when compared with the general population (GP) (chi-squared = 34.4, p = <0.0001). People with MST had a higher frequency of disagreement with the statement "PC is equivalent with death" when compared with the GP (chi-squared = 12.8, p = 0.0124). Over 25% of the MST group reported no understanding of PC. Conclusion: MST patients are often referred to PC services due to the extreme symptom burden of their disease. Based on this study, in comparison to the GP, people with MST tended to have a more accurate and well-adjusted perception of the goals and functions of PC. Although reassuring, there remains a high proportion of patients who have no knowledge of PC, and groups erroneously associated PC with hospice status.

Mitigating Medical Adverse Events Following Spinal Surgery: The Effectiveness of a Postoperative Quality Improvement (QI) Care Bundle.

Spine surgery is associated with a high incidence of postoperative medical adverse events (AEs). Many of these events are considered "minor" though their cost and effect on outcome may be underestimated. We sought to examine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a postoperative quality improvement (QI) care bundle in mitigating postoperative medical AEs in adult surgical spine patients. We collected 14-year prospective observational interrupted time series (ITS) with two historical cohorts: 2006 to 2008, pre-implementation of the postoperative QI care bundle; and 2009 to 2019, post-implementation of the postoperative QI care bundle. Adverse Events were identified and graded (Minor I and II) using the previously validated Spine AdVerse Events Severity (SAVES) system. Pearson Correlation tested for changes across patient and surgical variables. Adjusted segmented regression estimated the effect of the postoperative QI care bundle on the annual and absolute incidences of medical AEs between the two periods. A cost model estimated the annual cumulative cost savings through preventing these "minor" medical AEs. We included 13,493 patients over the study period with a mean of 964 per year (SD±73). Mean age, mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and mean spine surgical invasiveness index (SSII) increased from 48.4 to 58.1years; 1.7 to 2.6; and 15.4 to 20.5, respectively (p<0.001). Unadjusted analysis confirmed a significant decrease in the annual number of all medical AEs (p<0.01). When adjusting for age, CCI and SSII, segmented regression demonstrated a significant absolute reduction in the annual incidence of cardiac, pulmonary, nausea and medication-related AEs by 9.58%, 7.82%, 11.25% and 15.01%, respectively (p<0.01). The postoperative QI care bundle was not associated with reducing the annual incidence of delirium, electrolyte levels or GI AEs. Annual projected cost savings for preventing Grade I and II medical AEs were $1,808,300 CAD and $11,961,500 CAD. Postoperative QI care bundles are effective for improving patient care and preventing medical care-related AEs, with significant cost savings. Postoperative QI care bundles should be tailored to the specific vulnerability of the surgical population for experiencing AEs.

Accuracy and efficiency of 2D/3D single-vertebra spine navigation registration method based on dual-view feature fusion

Objective: To investigate the accuracy and efficiency of spine 2D/3D preoperative CT and intraoperative X-ray registration through a framework for spine 2D/3D single-vertebra navigation registration based on the fusion of dual-position image features. Methods: The preoperative CT and intraoperative anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) X-ray images of 140 lumbar spine patients who visited Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from January 2020 to December 2023 were selected. In order to achieve rapid and high-precision single vertebra registration in clinical orthopedic surgery, a designed transformation parameter feature extraction module combined with a lightweight module of channel and spatial attention (CBAM) was used to accurately extract the local single vertebra image transformation information. Subsequently, the fusion regression module was used to complement the features of the anterior posterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) images to improve the accuracy of the registration parameter regression. Two 1×1 convolutions were used to reduce the parameter calculation amount, improve computational efficiency, and accelerate intraoperative registration time. Finally, the regression module outputed the final transformation parameters. Comparative experiments were conducted using traditional iterative methods (Opt-MI, Opt-NCC, Opt-C2F) and existing deep learning methods convolutional neural network (CNN) as control group. The registration accuracy (mRPD), registration time, and registration success rate were compared among the iterative methods. Results: Through experiments on real CT data, the image-guided registration accuracy of the proposed method was verified. The method achieved a registration accuracy of (0.81±0.41) mm in the mRPD metric, a rotational angle error of 0.57°±0.24°, and a translation error of (0.41±0.21) mm. Through experimental comparisons on mainstream models, the selected DenseNet alignment accuracy was significantly better than ResNet as well as VGG (both P<0.05). Compared to existing deep learning methods [mRPD: (2.97±0.99) mm, rotational angle error: 2.64°±0.54°, translation error: (2.15±0.41) mm, registration time: (0.03±0.05) seconds], the proposed method significantly improved registration accuracy (all P<0.05). The registration success rate reached 97%, with an average single registration time of only (0.04±0.02) seconds. Compared to traditional iterative methods [mRPD: (0.78±0.26) mm, rotational angle error: 0.84°±0.57°, translation error: (1.05±0.28) mm, registration time: (35.5±10.5) seconds], registration efficiency of the proposed method was significantly improved (all P<0.05). The dual-position study also compensated for the limitations in the single-view perspective, and significantly outperforms both the front and side single-view perspectives in terms of positional transformation parameter errors (both P<0.05). Conclusion: Compared to existing methods, the proposed CT and X-ray registration method significantly reduces registration time while maintaining high registration accuracy, achieving efficient and precise single vertebra registration.

Surgical Specialty Outcome Differences for Major Spinal Procedures in Low-Acuity Patients.

Retrospective Cohort Study. There is an ongoing debate as to the influence of specialty training on spine surgery. Alomari et al. indicated the influence of specialty on ACDF procedures. However, deeper analysis into other spine procedures and lower-acuity procedures has yet to occur. In this study, we aim to determine if the outcomes of the low American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification (ASA 1&2) patients undergoing spine surgery vary based on whether the operating surgeon was an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon. The NSQIP databases from 2015 to 2021 were queried based on the CPT code for nine common spine procedures. Indicators of surgical course and successful outcomes were documented and compared between specialties. Neurosurgeons had minimally shorter operative times in the ASA 1&2 combined classification (ASA-C) group for cervical, lumbar, and combined spinal procedural groups. Neurosurgeons had a slightly lower percentage of perioperative transfusions in select ASA-C classes. Orthopedic surgeons had shorter lengths of stay for the cervical groups in ASA-C and ASA-1 classes (ASA-1). However, many specialty differences found in spine patients become less pronounced when considering only ASA-1 patients. Finally, postoperative complication outcomes and re-admission were similar between orthopedic and neurological surgeons in all cases. These results, while statistically significant, are very likely clinically insignificant. They demonstrate that both orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons perform spinal surgery exceedingly safely with similarly low complication rates. This lays the groundwork for future exploration and benchmarking of performance in spine surgeries across neurosurgery and orthopedics.

Teknik Counter Pressure Mengurangi Intensitas Nyeri Persalinan Kala I Fase Aktif

Lower back pain is a frequent symptom during pregnancy, often worsening as the pregnancy progresses. The shifting center of gravity, hormonal changes, and increased weight gain associated with pregnancy can contribute to lower back pain and discomfort. While pharmacological interventions are sometimes necessary, there is growing interest in non-pharmacological approaches that may provide relief without potential side effects. Counter pressure is a type of massage that uses your fists to apply constant pressure to the patient's spine during compression. Anti-stress information can also be applied to the lower back in a straight or circular motion. Back compression techniques can relieve back pain during labor contractions. Objective to determine the level of labor pain in the first stage of the active phase of labor in women giving birth at the Rappang Health Center in Sidrap Regency before back massage is carried out with the counter pressure technique. To find out labor pain in the first stage of the active phase of labor in women giving birth at the Rappang Health Center, Sidrap Regency, after doing back massage using a counter pressure technique. The type of research used is pseudo- or quasy-experimental research with a Two-Group Posttest Only design. The relaxation technique obtained a mean rank of 18.25, while the group that underwent counter pressure obtained a value of 6.75. So the average pain in the group that only got the relaxation technique was higher than that done with masse counter pressure with a p value (0.000) &lt;0.05 so it can be concluded that counter pressure massage is effective in reducing pain intensity in laboring mothers. There is an influence of the Counter Pressure massage technique to reduce the intensity of labor pain during the first active phase at the Rappang Health Center, Sidrap Regency. Counter pressure could potentially be a useful technique for managing labor pain.

9. Addressing the challenge of spine patient triage: development of a simple algorithm for identification of potential surgical candidates

9. Addressing the challenge of spine patient triage: development of a simple algorithm for identification of potential surgical candidates

59. Disparities in patient-reported outcome measure completion rates and baseline function in newly presenting spine patients

59. Disparities in patient-reported outcome measure completion rates and baseline function in newly presenting spine patients

61. Effect of workers’ compensation on PROMIS outcome measures in spine patients undergoing lumbar decompression

61. Effect of workers’ compensation on PROMIS outcome measures in spine patients undergoing lumbar decompression

Comparative Efficacy of Wound Drainage and Non-Drainage in Posterior Spinal Surgery

Background: The recent trend has been toward recommendation of nondrainage in spinal surgery. However, the use of drains following posterior spinal surgery is still controversial. It has been claimed that wound drainage confers no significant advantages, increases the risk of infection and the need for blood transfusion with the attendant risks of this therapy. Suction drainage is used to minimize infection, prevention of wound swelling, improvement of the local wound environment, prevent hematoma and /or seroma formation. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of post-operative complications after posterior lumbar instrumentation with and without a subfascial drain. Methods: This is prospective analysis of 32 adult (≥18 years old) spine patients that underwent elective and emergency posterior lumbar instrumentation at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital, from January to December 2023. There were randomly assigned 16 (50%) patients who had a post-operative drain and 16 (50%) patients who did not have a postoperative drain (No-Drain: n=16; Drain-Use: n=16). Patient demographics, comorbidities, intra- and post-operative complication rates were collected for each patient. The primary outcome investigated in this study was pain, the need for post-operative transfusion, dressing changes, surgery – discharge interval, the rate of post-operative complications, specifically surgical site infections (SSI) and hematoma formation. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistics version 29 (IBM Corp., New York). Results: Our study revealed that no significant differences regarding wound infection (P = 1), hematoma, neurological injury, estimated blood loss (P = 0.3), or dry and moderate dressing drainage between the groups. There were no 30-day hospital readmission or incidence of 30-day wound dehiscence, draining wound or bleeding between both patient groups. Conclusions: There is no obvious advantage of the application of suction drains for spinal surgery. There was no significant difference in the rate of infection or wound healing and no patient developed a postoperative neurologic deficit. However, a decision of wound drainage or wound non-drainage should be individualized for each patient because many factors affect the outcomes.

Patient-reported Physical and Mental Health Outcomes Following Lumbar Spinal Fusion versus Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement

BackgroundTotal hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) are reliable surgical procedures for alleviating pain and optimizing function. Spinal fusion has also been shown to be beneficial, however the comparative benefit of THA/TKA to lumbar spinal fusion is incompletely understood. MethodsThis study analyzed a single-center database of patients who underwent primary lumbar spinal fusion, elective primary TKA, or THA. PROMs included Veterans-Rand (VR12) Physical and mental component score (PCS/MCS) for TKA/THA and PROMIS (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System) global mental and physical health (GPH/GMH) for spinal fusion. Results356 patients who underwent TKA, 290 underwent THA, and 125 underwent spinal fusion were included. Joint replacement patients were older, with higher body mass index in the TKA group. Spine patients had a lower improvement in physical health than the joint patients (TKA: 9.4 ± 11.2, THA: 15.2 ± 11.2, Spine: 6.2 ± 8.7, p<.001) and a lower proportion of patients reaching the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Spine patients had higher GMH improvements compared to TKA patients (TKA: -1.1 ± 10.7, THA: 1.1 ± 11.9, Spine: 1.8 ± 8.4, p=.009) and the highest proportion of patients reaching the MCID. ConclusionSpinal fusion, total knee arthroplasty, and total hip arthroplasty all significantly improved PROMs at 1-year follow-up. At baseline, spinal fusion patients had better physical function scores and worse mental health scores compared to joint arthroplasty patients, while spinal fusion resulted in mean smaller gains in patient reported physical function and higher gains in patient reported mental health function compared to arthroplasty.

Nonquantitative CT scan Hounsfield unit as a determinant of cervical spine bone density.

Hounsfield unit (HU) values measured using CT have been increasingly recognized to stand as a reliable corollary to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scores in evaluating bone mineral density. The authors examined the correlation between cervical HU values and DEXA T- and Z-scores and determined novel cervical HU thresholds for determining bone quality classification. One hundred patients who underwent both cervical spine CT and DEXA, 85 patients who underwent both lumbar CT and DEXA, and 128 patients who underwent cervical and lumbar CT within 24 months at a single institution were included in this retrospective review. Two independent reviewers collected HU values from 3 cervical vertebral levels (C4-6) and 4 lumbar vertebral levels (L1-4), and the averaged values were used. Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis was performed to compare the association of cervical HU values with lumbar HU values and T- and Z-scores. The mean cervical HU values for each DEXA classification were calculated and compared. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to determine the threshold and its sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis. Cervical (C4-6) HU values and average, lumbar, and femoral T- and Z-scores had significant correlations (0.436 > r > 0.274, all p < 0.01). A strong positive correlation between cervical and lumbar HU values was found (r = 0.79, p < 0.01). The average cervical HU value of healthy patients was 361.2 (95% CI 337.1-385.3); of osteopenic patients, 312.1 (95% CI 290.3-333.8); and of osteoporotic patients, 288.4 (95% CI 262.6-314.3). There was a significant difference between the cervical HU values of healthy and osteopenic patients (p = 0.0134) and between those of healthy and osteoporotic patients (p = 0.0304). The cervical HU value of 340.98 was 73.5% specific and 57.9% sensitive for diagnosing osteopenia with an area under the ROC (AUROC) curve of 0.655. The cervical HU value of 326.5 was 88.9% specific and 63.2% sensitive for diagnosing osteoporosis with an AUROC curve of 0.749. This is the second large-scale study and first with a patient population from the United States to show that HU values obtained using cervical CT were significantly correlated with bone quality based on DEXA T- and Z-scores and to establish a cervical HU threshold for determining bone quality classification. These results show that cervical HU values can and should be used to predict poor bone quality in surgical cervical spine patients.

Alignment in motion: Fall risk in spine patients and the effect of vision, support surface, and adaptation on the cone of economy

BackgroundSeveral assessment tools have been developed to estimate a patient's likelihood risk of falling. None of these measures estimate the contributions of the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems to fall risk, especially in patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease. MethodsDegenerative lumbar spine patients with radiculopathy (LD) and healthy subjects who were 35-70 years old without spine complaints were recruited. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) were collected prior to testing. Fall risk assessment was completed using Computer Dynamic Posturography (CDP), a computer-controlled balance machine that allows cone of economy (CoE) and cone of pressure (CoP) measurements. All patients completed Sensory Organization Tests (SOT) which include normal and perturbed stability, both with and without visual cues. ResultsIn total, 43 spine patients and 12 healthy controls were included, with mean age 57.8 years, 39.5% females, and mean BMI of 29.3 kg/m2. Nearly all CoE and most CoP dimensions were found to be larger in LD patients compared to controls across nearly all subtests (p<.05), with the largest dimensions generally observed in the surrounding and support sway testing condition. In LD patients, ODI and PROMIS Pain Interference were negatively correlated with CoE and CoP measurements (p<.05). ConclusionsIn this prospective study, body sway was assessed as a function of CoE and CoP using the CDP system and was found to be elevated in spine patients, especially when they experienced increasing levels of visual and vestibular stimulation. The ability to identify the primary drivers of balance disorders is essential in spine patients and may be helpful in the development of a patient-specific treatment plan, which may in the future aid with fall-prevention initiatives.

Accuracy of Medical Oncology Prognosis for Metastatic Cancer Patients Evaluated for Enrollment Onto an Ongoing Randomized Clinical Trial.

For patients with metastatic cancer, a key aspect of interdisciplinary care has involved the overall prognosis provided by Medical Oncology. This study represents prospective evaluation of Medical Oncology prognosis accuracy for patients considered for enrollment onto an ongoing randomized controlled trial. The Spine Patient Optimal Radiosurgery Treatment for Symptomatic Metastatic Neoplasms (SPORTSMEN) phase 2 randomized clinical trial examines optimal radiation therapy treatment of symptomatic spinal metastases with a primary end point of pain freedom at 3 months post-treatment. A key eligibility criterion for trial enrollment is overall prognosis exceeding 3 months, typically provided by Medical Oncology. During the first year of trial enrollment, Medical Oncology prognosis for patients considered for SPORTSMEN inclusion was prospectively assessed for accuracy. Twenty-seven patients with documented Medical Oncology prognosis were considered for SPORTSMEN enrollment. The prognosis administered by Medical Oncology exceeded 3 months in 26 patients, and <3 months in 1 patient. The overall accuracy of Medical Oncology prognosis was correct for 15 of 27 patients (56%), significantly worse for inpatients than outpatients ( P =0.0381). In patients with metastatic spine disease, the estimated prognosis provided by Medical Oncology is often optimistic, as nearly half of patients assigned a prognosis of >3 months failed to reach this threshold before experiencing death or hospice. These findings indicate that a more heuristic approach to assessing patient prognosis may be necessary to avoid unwarranted prognostic optimism, particularly for inpatients. Such an approach could potentially provide a more compassionate and cost-effective management of these patients' remaining lifespan thereby optimizing quality of life.

Change in spinal bone mineral density as estimated by Hounsfield units following osteoporosis treatment with romosozumab, teriparatide, denosumab, and alendronate: an analysis of 318 patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of osteoporosis medications on opportunistic CT-based Hounsfield units (HU). Spine and nonspine surgery patients were retrospectively identified who had been treated with romosozumab for 3 to 12 months, teriparatide for 3 to 12 months, teriparatide for > 12 months, denosumab for > 12 months, or alendronate for > 12 months. HU were measured in the L1-4 vertebral bodies. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the mean change in HU among the five treatment regimens. In total, 318 patients (70% women) were included, with a mean age of 69 years and mean BMI of 27 kg/m2. There was a significant difference in mean HU improvement (p < 0.001) following treatment with romosozumab for 3 to 12 months (n = 32), teriparatide for 3 to 12 months (n = 30), teriparatide for > 12 months (n = 44), denosumab for > 12 months (n = 123), and alendronate for > 12 months (n = 100). Treatment with romosozumab for a mean of 10.5 months significantly increased the mean HU by 26%, from a baseline of 85 to 107 (p = 0.012). Patients treated with teriparatide for > 12 months (mean 23 months) experienced a mean HU improvement of 25%, from 106 to 132 (p = 0.039). Compared with the mean baseline HU, there was no significant difference after treatment with teriparatide for 3 to 12 months (110 to 119, p = 0.48), denosumab for > 12 months (105 to 107, p = 0.68), or alendronate for > 12 months (111 to 113, p = 0.80). Patients treated with romosozumab for a mean of 10.5 months and teriparatide for a mean of 23 months experienced improved spinal bone mineral density as estimated by CT-based opportunistic HU. Given the shorter duration of effective treatment, romosozumab may be the preferred medication for optimization of osteoporotic patients in preparation for elective spine fusion surgery.

Retrospective case series of vertebral artery injuries associated with cervical spine trauma

BackgroundVertebral artery injuries (VAI) can occur due to cervical spine trauma. VAI can prove a serious complication and potentially compromise vascular supply to the posterior aspect of the brain. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence with regards to incidence, management, and outcomes for these patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate and elucidate the incidence of VAI associated with cervical trauma at a national tertiary referral centre for spinal pathology, their respective management, and associated outcomes. MethodsA retrospective review was conducted from 2012 to 2021 to identify patients with VAI secondary to cervical spine trauma. Demographic, clinical, and radiological data was collected to identify common traits in injury characteristics and management. Results1013 spine patients presented to our institution across the 10-year period. 739/1013 (72.9 %) were trauma patients. 42/739 (5.7 %) were imaged for suspected VAI secondary to trauma. There were 14/739 (1.9 %) confirmed VAI. All patients had CT-angiography for diagnosis. Four of the confirmed VAI patients (28.6 %) had additional MR-angiography imaging. Right-side was the most common side of VAI injury (7/14; 50 %), followed by left (5/14; 35.7 %) and bilateral (2/14; 14.3 %) injuries. 8/14 (57.1 %) patients were prescribed anti-thrombotic therapy. Acute mortality within 3-months was noted to be 2/14 (14.3 %) and occurred at 49 days and 57 days respectively. ConclusionVAI associated with cervical spine injury is rare in occurrence. However, it can be associated with high morbidity and mortality. As such, a multi-disciplinary approach to care is integral to ensuring good outcomes in these patients.

Does hydrogen peroxide help mitigate the incidence of Cutibacterium acnes in cervical spine surgeries?

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common yet serious complication of cervical spine surgery. While initially thought to be clinically insignificant, Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) is an important cause of infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of an hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) application during standard pre-surgical skin preparation to reduce the burden of C. acnes in patients undergoing cervical spine surgery. Methods: This was a retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Subjects were randomly assigned to either standard surgical preparation plus H2O2 (experimental) or without H2O2 (control). Pre-scrub, post-scrub, and dermal cultures were obtained to assess the C. acnes burden after cultures on an aerobic and anaerobic growth medium were held for 21 days. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine factors associated with presence of C. acnes. Outcome measures included the results of intraoperative cultures and the development of a SSI within 90 days post-operatively. Results: Patients (n=86) undergoing elective two- or three-level fusion via anterior approach were included. Prior to application of the antiseptic solution, 65% (28/43) of the experimental cohort and 77% (33/43) of the control cohort had positive C. acnes cultures (p=0.34). Following application of antiseptic solution, there were no differences in positive C. acnes culture rates between the experimental and control cohorts in the epidermal (30% versus 28%, p=1.00) or dermal (40% versus 42%, p=1.00) cultures. No differences in the rates of C. acnes eradication from pre-antiseptic to post-antiseptic application occurred for epidermal (p= 1.00) or dermal (p= 1.00) skin layers. None of the factors were associated with positive C. acnes epidermal cultures on multivariable logistic regression analysis (p> 0.05). Conclusions: While there is potential for H2O2 to reduce the positive culture rate of C. acnes in cervical spine patients, no difference was seen when compared to standard surgical skin preparation.

Patterns of Spine Cases in a New Neurosurgery Centre in Southeast Nigeria

Background: The Imo State Specialist Hospital (IMSSH) commenced neurosurgical services in April 2021 and spine procedures in August 2021. The activities of the hospital with respect to surgical management of spine pathologies were audited. Aims: Our aims were to look at the pattern of spinal pathologies surgically managed in the hospital including their age and sex distribution, the pathologies and procedures performed as well as immediate post operative outcomes. Methods: The case files of all spine patients who had surgical procedures at IMSSH from August 2021 to April 2023 (21 months) were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Seventy-two spine patients had surgical procedures during the study period (an average of 3 – 4 spine procedures per month). The mean age of patients was 55.4±16.1 years with a male-to-female ratio of 7: 5. The mean age for male patients was 53.86±17.83 years while that of female patients was 57.5±13.2years. The peak age range at presentation was in the 7th (n=23, 31.9%) decade. The highest frequency of procedures was performed in the lumbar/ lumbosacral spine (56.9%), followed by cervical spine (29.1%), and thoracic/thoracolumbar spine (13.8%). Degenerative spine diseases (69.4%) accounted for the highest number of spine cases, followed by spinal trauma (20.8%) and Spinal tumours (6.9%). Mortality in the immediate post-operative period was 6.9% (n=5). Conclusion: The study showed a male preponderance for spinal surgeries among our spine patients, with most cases being of degenerative spine pathology. We hope this would be helpful in formulating policies for the growth of this new Neurosurgical Centre.

PCR132 Disparities in Patient Reported Outcomes Completion Rates and Baseline Function in Newly Presenting Spine Patients

PCR132 Disparities in Patient Reported Outcomes Completion Rates and Baseline Function in Newly Presenting Spine Patients