Background: The treatment of type 1 Chiari malformation (CM-1) with posterior fossa decompression without (PFD) or with duraplasty (PFDD) is controversial. The authors analyze both options in a national sample of pediatric patients. Methods: Utilizing the Kids' Inpatient Database, CM-1 patients undergoing PFD or PFDD from 2000 through 2009 were analyzed. Results: 1,593 patients with PFD and 1,056 with PFDD were evaluated. The average age was 10.3 years, slightly younger in PFD (9.8 vs. 10.9 years, p = 0.001). PFDD patients were more likely White (81.2 vs 75.6%, p = 0.04) and less likely admitted emergently (8.4 vs. 13.8%, p = 0.007). They also underwent more reoperations (2.1 vs. 0.7%, p = 0.01), had more procedure-related complications (2.3 vs. 0.8%, p = 0.003), a longer length of stay (4.4 vs. 3.8 days, p = 0.001) and higher charges (USD 35,321 vs. 31,483, p = 0.01). Conclusions: This large national study indicates that PFDD is performed more often in Caucasians, less so emergently, and associated with significantly more complications and immediate reoperations, while PFD is more frequent in those with syringomyelia and more economical, requiring fewer hospital resources. Overall, PFD is more favorable for CM-1, though it would be prudent to conduct a prospective trial, as this analysis is limited by data on preoperative presentations and long-term outcomes.

Lumbar fusion surgery involving lateral lumbar interbody graft insertion with posterior instrumentation is traditionally performed in two stages requiring repositioning. We describe a novel technique to complete the circumferential procedure simultaneously without patient repositioning. Twenty patients diagnosed with worsening back pain with/without radiculopathy who failed exhaustive conservative management were retrospectively reviewed. Ten patients with both procedures simultaneously from a single lateral approach and 10 control patients with lateral lumbar interbody fusion followed by repositioning and posterior percutaneous instrumentation were analyzed. Pars fractures, mobile grade 2 spondylolisthesis, and severe one-level degenerative disk disease were matched between the two groups. In the simultaneous group, avoiding repositioning leads to lower mean operative times: 130 minutes (versus control 190 minutes;p=0.009) and lower intraoperative blood loss: 108 mL (versus 93 mL; NS). Nonrepositioned patients were hospitalized for an average of 4.1 days (versus 3.8 days; NS). There was one complication in the control group requiring screw revision. Lateral interbody fusion and percutaneous posterior instrumentation are both readily accomplished in a single lateral decubitus position. In select patients with adequately sized pedicles, performing simultaneous procedures decreases operative time over sequential repositioning. Patient outcomes were excellent in the simultaneous group and comparable to procedures done sequentially.

Intervertebral disc herniation is one of the most common causes of back and extremity pain. The most commonly used surgical treatment is lumbar discectomy. About 0.5-25% go on to develop recurrent disc herniation (rDH) after a successful first discectomy. Currently, there aren’t any guidelines to assist surgeons in determining which approach is most appropriate to treat rDH. A recent survey showed significant heterogeneity among surgeons regarding treatment options for rDH. It remains unclear which methods lead to better outcomes, as there are no comparative studies with a sufficient level of evidence. In this study, we aimed to perform a systematic review to compare treatment options for rDH and determine if one intervention provides better outcomes than the other; more specifically, whether outcome differences exist between discectomy alone and discectomy with fusion. We applied the PICOS (participants, intervention, comparison, outcome, study design) format to develop this systematic review through PubMed. Twenty-seven papers from 1978-2014 met our inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Nine papers reported outcomes after discectomy and seven of them showed good or excellent outcomes (70.60%-89%). Ten papers reported on minimally invasive discectomy. The percent change in visual analog scale (VAS) ranged from -50.77% to -86.57%, indicating an overall pain reduction. Four studies out of the ten reported good or excellent outcomes (81% to 90.2%). Three studies looked at posterolateral fusion. Three studies analyzed posterior lumbar interbody fusion. For one study, we found the VAS percentage change to be -46.02%. All reported good to excellent outcomes. Six studies evaluated the transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. All reported improvement in pain. Four used VAS, and we found the percent change to be -54% to -86.5%. The other two used the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, and we found the percent change to be 68.3% to 93.3%. We did not find enough evidence to support any significant difference in outcomes between discectomy alone and discectomy with fusion. The limitation of our study includes the lack of standardized outcomes reporting in the literature. However, reviewing the selected articles shows that fusion may have a greater improvement in pain compared to reoperation without fusion. Nonetheless, our study shows that further and more in-depth investigation is needed on the of treatment of rDH.

Low back pain is widely recognized as one of the most prevalent pathologies in the developed world. In the United States, low back pain is the most common health problem for adults under the age of 50, resulting in significant societal and personal costs. While the causes of low back pain are myriad, it has been significantly associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Current first-line therapies for IVD degeneration such as physical therapy and spinal fusion address symptoms, but do not treat the underlying degeneration. The use of tissue engineering to treat IVD degeneration provides an opportunity to correct the pathological process. Novel techniques are currently being investigated and have shown mixed results. One major avenue of investigation has been stem cell injections. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown promise in small animal models, but results in larger vertebrates have been mixed.