Objective To design a new extracorporeal reduction device for percutaneous pedicle screw fixation of thoracolumbar fractures (short for “new reduction device”), and to evaluate its effectiveness. Methods According to the mechanism of thoracolumbar fractures and biomechanics characteristic of reduction, a new reduction device was designed and used in a combination with long U-shaped hollow pedicle screw system. Between January 2014 and January 2016, 36 patients (group A) with single segment thoracolumbar fracture without neurological complications underwent percutaneous pedicle screw fixation, and the clinical data were compared with those of another 39 patients (group B) with thoracolumbar fracture underwent traditional open pedicle screw fixation. There was no significant difference in gender, age, cause of injury, classification of fractures, segments of fractures, injury to operation interval, height percentage of injury vertebrae, and kyphotic angle between 2 groups (P>0.05). The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, length of incision, intraoperative blood loss, drainage volume, visual analogue scale (VAS) at postoperative 24 hours, fluoroscopy frequency, ambulation time, height percentage of injury vertebrae, kyphotic angle and correction. Results Group A was significantly better than group B in the operation time, length of incision, intraoperative blood loss, drainage volume, VAS score at postoperative 24 hours, and ambulation time (P<0.05). However, fluoroscopy frequency of group B was significantly less than that of group A (P<0.05). All patients were followed up 11.2 months on average (range, 7-15 months). There was no intraoperative and postoperative complications of iatrogenic nerve injury, infection, breakage of internal fixation. Mild pulling-out of pedicle screws occurred in 1 case of group A during operation. The kyphotic angle and height percentage of the fractured vertebral body were significantly improved at 3 days after operation when compared with preoperative ones (P<0.05), but no significant difference was found between 2 groups at 3 days after operation (P>0.05). Conclusion Minimally invasive extracorporeal reduction device for percutaneous pedicle screw fixation is an effective and safe treatment of thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae fractures, because of little trauma, less bleeding, and quicker recovery.
ObjectiveTo discuss the safety and effectiveness of the improved technique by comparing the effects of low temperature bone cement infusion before and after the improvement in the percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP).MethodsThe clinical data of 170 patients (184 vertebrae) with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture who met the selection criteria between January 2016 and January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with PVP by low-temperature bone cement perfusion technology. According to the technical improvement or not, the patients were divided into two groups: the group before the technical improvement (group A, 95 cases) and the group after the technical improvement (group B, 75 cases). In group A, the patients were treated by keeping the temperature of bone cement at 0℃ and parallel puncture; in group B, the patients were treated by increasing the temperature of bone cement or reducing the time of bone cement in ice salt water and cross puncture. There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease duration, T value of bone mineral density, operative segment, and preoperative vertebral compression rate, visual analogue scale (VAS) score between the two groups (P>0.05). CT examination was performed immediately after operation, and the leakage rate of bone cement was calculated. The amount of bone cement perfusion and the proportion of bone cement in contact with the upper and lower endplates at the same time were compared between the two groups. The vertebral compression rate was calculated and the VAS score was used to evaluate the pain before operation, at immediate after operation, and last follow-up.ResultsThere was no complication such as incision infection, spinal nerve injury, or pulmonary embolism in both groups. There was no significant difference in the amount of bone cement perfusion between groups A and B (t=0.175, P=0.861). There were 38 vertebral bodies (36.89%) in group A and 49 vertebral bodies (60.49%) in group B exposed to bone cement contacting with the upper and lower endplates at the same time, showing significant difference (χ2=10.132, P=0.001). Bone cement leakage occurred in 19 vertebral bodies (18.45%) in group A and 6 vertebral bodies (7.41%) in group B, also showing significant difference (χ2=4.706, P=0.030). The patients in group A and group B were followed up (13.3±1.2) months and (11.5±1.1) months, respectively. The vertebral compression rates of the two groups at immediate after operation were significantly lower than those before operation (P<0.05), but the vertebral compression rate of group A at last follow-up was significantly higher than that at immediate after operation (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in group B between at immediate after operation and at last follow-up (P>0.05). The VAS scores of the two groups at immediate after operation were significantly lower than those before operation (P<0.05); but the VAS scores of group A at last follow-up were significantly higher than those at immediate after operation (P<0.05) and there was no siginificant difference in group B (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in VAS scores between the two groups at immediate after operation (t=0.380, P=0.705); but at last follow-up, VAS score in group B was significantly lower than that in group A (t=3.627, P=0.000).ConclusionThe improved advanced low-temperature bone cement perfusion technology during PVP by increasing the viscosity of bone cement combined with cross-puncture technology, can reduce bone cement leakage, improve the distribution of bone cement in the vertebral body, and reduce the risk of vertebral collapse, and achieve better effectiveness.
The increasing number of pulmonary nodules being detected by computed tomography scans significantly increase the workload of the radiologists for scan interpretation. Limitations of traditional methods for differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules have been increasingly prominent. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to increase the efficiency of discrimination and invasiveness classification for pulmonary nodules and lead to effective nodule management. Chinese Experts Consensus on Artificial Intelligence Assisted Management for Pulmonary Nodule (2022 Version) has been officially released recently. This article closely follows the context, significance, core implications, and the impact of future AI-assisted management on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary nodules. It is hoped that through our joint efforts, we can promote the standardization of management for pulmonary nodules and strive to improve the long-term survival and postoperative life quality of patients with lung cancer.