Objective To determine the factors influencing the indication for tracheostomy following cervical spinal cord injury.Methods A retrospective study was performed to analyze the 118 patients who had been treated for cervical fracture/dislocation along with cervical spinal cord injury from July 2004 to June 2014 and whose abbreviated injury scale score (AISS) was lower than 3.They were 96 men and 22 women,19 to 68 years of age (average,45.2 years).The patients were divided into a tracheostomy group (n ＝ 28) and a non-tracheostomy group (n =90).The 2 groups were compared in terms of gender,age,presence or absence of complete spinal cord injury at admission,injured segment,injury mechanism,smoking history,injury severity score (ISS),motor AISS,systolic pressure at admission,hospital stay,and ICU stay to determine the factors influencing allocation of tracheostomy.Results Compared with the non-tracheostomy group,the tracheostomy group had a higher rate of complete spinal cord injury at admission,a higher rate of smoking,a higher ISS at admission,a lower motor AISS,and longer hospital and ICU stay,with statistically significant differences (P ＜ 0.05).There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in gender,age,injured segment,injury mechanism,or systolic pressure at admission (P ＞ 0.05).Increased severity of cervical spinal cord injury was associated with significantly decreased motor AISA,increased rate of tracheostomy and increased ISS (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The influencing factors for indication of tracheostomy after cervical spinal cord injury are complete cervical spinal cord injury irrespective of the level of injury,ISS,motor AISS,and history of smoking.

BACKGROUND:Due to the higher modulus of elasticity, titanium cages are prone to have the folowing shortcomings: adjacent vertebral sinking and delayed fusion resulting from stress shielding; therefore, in recent years, it has been gradualy replaced by polyetheretherketone cages. OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of patients undergoing posterior lumbar interbody fusion with pedicle screw fixation in which either a polyetheretherketone cage or a titanium cage was implanted. METHODS: The pre- and postoperative data of 104 patients who underwent single-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion were colected and analyzed, including 57 males and 47 females, aged (41.2±10.5) years. The 58 of 104 patients received the titanium cage and the remaining 52 patients received the polyetheretherketone cage. Visual analog scale scores and Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores of the lumbar and lower limbs were recorded at 24 hours of postoperative folow-up; CT scan was used to detect bone fusion and cage subsidence. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After 12 and 24 months of folow-up, the visual analog scale scores and Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores of the lumbar and lower limbs were al improved in the two groups compared with the previous (P < 0.05), but there was no difference between the two groups. At 12 and 24 months of folow-up, the fusion rates were 94% and 100% in the titanium cage group as wel as 74% and 84% in the polyetheretherketone cage group, respectively, and a significant difference was found between the two groups (P=0.012 andP=0.016). At 24 months of folow-up, the subsidence rate was 36% in the titanium cage group and 30% in the polyetheretherketone cage group, and there was no difference between the two groups. These findings indicate that the superiority of polyetheretherketone cages over titanium cages has not been demonstrated.

BACKGROUND:At present, it remains unclear whether delayed functional exercises after arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs could elevate the healing rate of tendon. The opportunity of functional exercises after rotator cuff repairs is stil controversial, and there is no relevant system evaluation.
OBJECTIVE:To systematical y evaluate the differences in curative effects of early and delayed functional exercises after arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs.
METHODS:We searched the Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Control ed Clinical Trials, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chongqing VIP Database. The key words were“arthroscopy, rotator cuff, rehabilitation”. The references of the included literatures were re-retrieved. The deadline of retrieval was August 15, 2012. The included literatures were randomized control ed trials on early and delayed functional exercises after arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs. Methodological quality evaluation, screening and heterogeneous test were conducted. REVMAN5.1 software was utilized to analyze the extracted data.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:We included three randomized control ed trials, including 237 patients:119 in the early movement group and 118 in the delayed movement group. During fol ow-up at 1 year after operation, no significant differences in range of motion, pain degree, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Scale, Simple Should Test scores and re-tear rate of rotator cuff were detected between the two groups. Results confirmed that compared with delayed functional exercises, early functional exercises after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair did not have advantages on the improvement of joint function and range of motion, but also did not negatively affect cuff healing. Postoperative rehabilitation can be modified to ensure patient’s compliance.

BACKGROUND:During intervertebral disc degeneration,mitophagy plays an extremely important role in preventing the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration.Regulating the level of mitophagy may be a new strategy for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration. OBJECTIVE:To review the relationship between mitophagy and intervertebral disc,in order to provide a reference for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration by regulating the level of mitophagy. METHODS:A literature search was performed in CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,and PubMed using"intervertebral disc degeneration,mitophagy,targeted therapy,inflammation,signaling pathways"as Chinese and English search terms.Finally,54 articles were included and summarized. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)At present,the specific mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration is not clear.A large number of studies have shown that intervertebral disc degeneration is closely related to mitophagy,which involves a relatively complex mechanism and pathway.Among various pathways,PINK1/Parkin is the most widely studied signaling pathway for mitophagy regulation.(2)Some drugs,such as Salidroside,Urolithin A,Honokiol,MitoQ,have been found to have the potential to treat intervertebral disc degeneration by regulating the level of mitophagy.These drugs have shown positive preclinical results.(3)At present,the targeted therapy of mitophagy is mainly preclinical research and has achieved positive results.Further clinical research is needed to explore its clinical efficacy and safety.