Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of monosegmental pedicle instrumentation in management of thoracolumbar burst fractures. Methods A total of 67 patients with traumatic thora-columbar burst fractures (type A3.1 and A3.2) were treated with monosegmental pedicle instrumentation in our department from October 2003 to February 2008. Imageologic effect was observed by measuring sagittal index and wedge index via X-ray and clinical outcomes evaluated by using low back outcome score. Results All operations were performed successfully, with average operation duration of 93 mi-nutes and average intraoperative blood loss of 157 ml. Of all, 65 patients were followed up for 4-27 months (average 19.8 months), which showed that all the patients achieved bony fusion, with no implant failure except for one with screw loosening. The sagittal index and wedge index were 13.06°and 42.9% preoperatively and 4.47° and 21.78% postoperatively, with statistical difference (P <0.01). The final follow-up showed no significant correction loss except for two patients (P < 0.05). The low back outcome scores of all patients at follow-up were improved significantly (P < 0.05). Conclusions Monoseg-mental pedicle instrumentation has advantages of minimal invasion, short operative duration, less blood loss and less vertebral motion segment loss and hence is an effective and reliable operative technique for thoracolumbar burst fractures.

Objective To evaluate the value of the physiological and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM) and P-POSSUM in predicting the risks of orthopedic surgeries for senile patients with femoral neck fracture.Methods A total of 108 patients with femoral neck fractures who underwent hip joint replacement were retrospectively studied using POSSUM and P-POSSUM scoring system to predict their mortality and complication rate.The difference between predictive value and observed value was analyzed by chi-square test.Meanwhile,the patients were divided into two groups based on their POSSUM scores.The differences between two groups were analyzed.Results According to POSSUM scores,47 patients were predicted to have complications(the mean rate was 43.52％),but only 37 did actually (the rate was 34.26％).There was no significant difference between predicted values and observed values (P =0.238).The predicted death toll was 11 cases (the mean rate was 10.19％),but actually only 2 patients died (the rate was 1.85％).Predicted value was higher than observed value.In terms of complications,death toll agreed well with the predicted values calculated by P-POSSUM (predicted death of 4 cases' the mean mortality being 3.70％ ; actual death of 2 cases' the mortality was 1.85％) without significant difference (P =0.625).We divided the patients into two groups with the POSSUM scores 40,and there was no significant difference between predicted values and observed values (P =0.527,P =0.285).Conclusions POSSUM has better predictive ability of morbidity,but overestimates mortality.P-POSSUM more accurately predicts mortality than POSSUM.The predicted results of POSSUM and P-POSSUM scoring systems are satisfactory in the high risk group.

BACKGROUND:Hydroxyapatite (HA) artificial bone,as bone grafting substitute,would not cause inflammatory reaction or immunological rejection and possesses good biocompatibility after transplantation into human body.It is a novel implant material with bone conduction ability.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the efficacy of HA artificial bone in bilateral open-door posterior cervical expansive laminoplasty and to make a comparison with autogenous bone.DESIGN,TIME AND SETFING:A retrospective case analysis was performed at the Department of Spine Surgery,Hungpuyuan Branch,the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March 2001 to December 2008.PARTICIPANTS:Seventy patients with cervical spondylosis complicated by compression in 3 or more segments or by cervical stenosis and additional fifteen patients with cervical stenosis complicated by cervical trauma were included in this study.METHODS:A bilateral open-door posterior cervical expansive laminoplasty was performed,in which,23 patients received autogenous bone transplantation (autogenous bone group) and 62 patients underwent HA artificial bone transplantation (HA group).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:① Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score pdor to and after surgery,surgery time,and intraoperative bleeding.② HA artificial bone-host biocompatibility.RESULTS:All eighty-five patients were followed up for more than 3 months.There was no significant difference in JOA scores no matter prior to or after surgery between the autogenous bone and HA groups (P＞0.05).The surgery time averaged 85.2 minutes (range 65-110 minutes) in the HA group and averaged 116.4 minutes (range 75-150 minutes) in the autogenous bone group.The intraoperative bleeding averaged 210 mL (range 130-400 mL) in the HA group and averaged 260 mL (range 170-500 mL) in the autogenous bone group.There were no material-host response and other severe complications found in each group,except HA artificial bone fragmentation in 3 patients from the HA group.CONCLUSION:HA artificial bone yields good efficacy and causes fewer complications in bilateral open-door posterior cervical expansive laminoplasty;in addition,it requires less time for surgery and causes less bleeding.

BACKGROUND:Antedor canulated screw has been considered an ideal method to treat odontoid fracture.OBJECTIVE:To compare the biomechanical properties of different anterior screws.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A randomized contrast study was performed at the Biomechanics Laboratory of Southern Medical University from March to September 2006.MATERIALS:Double-thread canulated screws and single-thread canulated screws were made of titanium alloy and provided by Shuangyang Medical Apparatus Co.,Ltd.,Suzhou.METHODS:A total of head-neck complexes (C0-C3) which were collected from 20 corpses were maintained in formaldehyde for less than 3 months;thereafter,the muscles and ligaments were removed to obtain the axis specimens so as to make type Ⅱ odontoid fracture models.The fracture samples were individually treated with double-thread and single-thread canulated screws,with 10 samples for each group.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The shear stiffness and the maximum resistance of the two kinds of screw were tested in this study.RESULTS:The shear stiffness of the double-thread screw group was significantly higher than the single-thread screw group (P＜0.01 );however,there was no significant different in the maximum resistance between the two groups (P＞0.05).CONCLUSION:Double-thread canulated screws have a strong biomechanical stability for treating odontoid fracture;therefore,the first choice of the internal fixation should be double-thread canuiated screws for patients with osteoporosis or those who are susceptible to expanded screw pathway during surgical procedures.

Objective To evaluate the short?term efficacy and safety of endoscopic photodynamic therapy ( PDT ) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ( ESCC ) and precancerous lesion. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on 30 patients with early ESCC or precancerous lesions who received PDT between September 2013 and April 2015 in Endoscopy Center, Henan Tumor Hospital,and its indications were summarized. The main outcomes including histological complete response rate ( CR ) , recurrence rate and adverse events after treatment of one year were analyzed. Results Three patients with middle grade dysplasia( MGD) , 18 with high grade dysplasia( HGD) and 4 with squamous cell carcinoma in situ, all negative lymph node metastasis, received PDT. CRs were 72?0%(18/25) and 88?0%(22/25)after one PDT session in 3 months and 12 months, respectively. One?year follow?up showed 3 recurrences ( 12?0%) ,4 ( 16?0%) severe strictures, and no perforation. Five patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma received palliative PDT. Partial remission rate was 60?0%( 3/5) after one PDT session in 3 months, and 40?0% ( 2/5) after 12 months. Two died of tumor metastasis, one died of gastrointestinal bleeding one year after PDT. No perforation occurred. Conclusion Endoscopic photodynamic therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions is safe and feasible, with remarkable short?term effect. As for the patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma, it is equally safe and effective in the short term.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of mono-segment pedicle instrumentation (MSPI)in management of thoracolumbar fracture (AO classification,A1 and A3) by being compared with short-segment(two-segment) pedicle instrumentation(SSPI).Methods Overall 141 patients with tape A1 or A3 thoracolumbar fractures,aged from 20 to 60 years (average,40.5 years),were enrolled in this prospective study.According to a simple randomized method,35 patients with type A1 fracture and 41 patients with type A3fracture were treated with MSPI,while 26 with type A1 fracture and 39 with type A3 fracture were treated with SSPI.Low back outcome score (LBOS) and ASIA2000 were used to evaluate clinical outcome.Eighteenth month postoperatively was assigned as the last follow up period.Wedge index (WI) and sagittal index (SI) of the affected vertebrae on radiography were measured and compared preoperatively,one week postoperatively and at the final follow-up.Results All patients were followed up successfully.The blood loss and duration of operation of MSPI group were significantly less than that of SSPI group,respectively.However,there were no significant differences of clinical outcome between two groups.For type A1 fracture,correction rate and correction loss of WI in MSPI group were better than those in SSPI group.For type A3 fracture,there were no significant differences of correction rate and correction loss of WI and SI between MSPI group and SSPI group; however,the failure rate of MSPI group was significantly higher than that of SSPI group.Conclusion For type A1 and partial type A3 thoracolumbar fractures,MSPI can provide the same or better fixation with less blood loss and operative duration than SSPI.Since MSPI for type A3.2 thoracolumbar fracture has a higher failure rate,the surgical indication should be strictly controlled.

Objective:To compare the accuracy of two methods in reducing leg length discrepancy(LLD)during hip hemiarthroplasty.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 89 patients of hip hemiarthroplasty who suffered from femoral neck fracture.There were 47 patients in the new method group(NM), and 42 patients in the traditional method group(traditional method, TM)which comparing the position of the greater trochanter tip and the center of the femoral head.In the NM group, the distance from the center of femoral head to the lesser trochanter(L)and the diameter of femoral head(D)of the healthy side hip were measured on preoperative anteroposterior pelvic X-ray film, and the ratio(R)of D to L was calculated.During operation, the diameter of the femoral head(d)was measured with a caliper, and the distance should be obtained from the center of the femoral head prosthesis to the lesser trochanter according to the ratio R of the healthy side.The difference of postoperative LLD between the two groups and the incidences of |LLD| in each range were compared.Results:In the NM group, the maximum LLD was 11.10 mm and the minimum LLD was -4.0 mm, with an average of(4.4±3.2)mm, 80.9%(38/47)| LLD | < 6 mm, 93.6%(44/47)| LLD | < 10 mm, 6.4%(3/47)| LLD | ≥ 10 mm.In the TM group, the maximum LLD was 13.2 mm and the minimum LLD was -8.3 mm, with an average of (6.2±5.1)mm, 42.9%(18/42)|LLD|<6 mm, 69.0%(29/42)|LLD| <10 mm, 31.0%(13/42)|LLD|≥10mm.The differences of patients of the mean postoperative LLD and the incidences of |LLD| in each range between two the groups were statistically significant( t=-2.036、 χ2=14.629, P=0.046、0.001). Conclusions:The new method is simple, convenient, more accurate and can obtain a more satisfactory LLD compared with the traditional method which refers to the relative position of the great trochanter tip and the center of the femoral head.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility of no nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding at will after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancer.

METHODSBetween January 2013 and January 2014, the feasibility of no nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding at postoperative day(POD) 1 after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy was prospectively investigated in 156 patients (trial group) with esophageal cancer in the Henan Cancer Hospital. One hundred and sixty patients previously managed in the same unit who were treated routinely after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy were served as control group.

RESULTSOf 156 patients of trial group, 6(3.8%) patients could not take food early as planned because of postoperative complications. The overall complication rate in trial group was 19.2%(30/156), which was 25.0%(30/160) in control group (P=0.217). The anastomotic leakage in trial group and control group was 2.6%(4/156) and 4.3%(7/160) respectively (P=0.380). Compared with control group, time to first flatus [(2.1±0.9) d vs. (3.3±1.1) d, P<0.001], bowel movement [(4.4±1.3) d vs. (6.6±1.0) d, P<0.001] and postoperative hospital stay [(8.3±3.2) d vs. (10.4±3.6) d, P<0.001] were significantly shorter in trial group.

CONCLUSIONSNo nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding postoperatively in patients with thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy is feasible and safe. This management can shorten postoperative hospital stay and fasten postoperative bowel function recovery.

Eating ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; Fasting ; Feasibility Studies ; Humans ; Intubation, Gastrointestinal ; Postoperative Complications ; Postoperative Period

Objective Total thyroidectomy of C57BL/6 and KM mice was performed by two different surgical methods to verify the success of mouse hypothyroidism model modeling,and compared the success rate of different surgical methods.Methods C57BL/6 and KM mice underwent total thyroidectomy by ligation(operation method Ⅰ)or hemostasis(operation method Ⅱ),and the detailed operation processes were recorded.Serum TT3,TT4 and TSH levels detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,body weight,and hematoxylin-eosin(HE)-stained neck tissue were compared before and after surgery to verify the model.Results Serum TT3 and TT4 levels were decreased(P＜0.05)and TSH was increased(P＜0.001)in both model groups.The 28-day postoperative survival rates were 40％and 60％in groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ,respectively,and 50％and 40％in KM mice.Body weights were significantly higher in both model groups compared with the sham control group.HE staining and microscopic observation showed that the cervical tissue in both strains was thyroid tissue,and the back membrane of the thyroid remained intact after isolation.Conclusions Both surgical method can induce hypothyroidism in C57BL/6 and KM mice;however,it is necessary to consider the anatomical relationship of the thyroid gland to the surrounding tissue,improve the proficiency of the surgical operation,prevent the occurrence of postoperative hypocalcemia and infection,and thus improve the survival rate of the model mice.