BACKGROUND: Most scholars believed that injured vertebral body needs to be fixed in the open surgery of thoracolumbar vertebral fractures; however, it is unclear whether injured vertebra needs to be fixed in the minimaly invasive surgery. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical outcomes of minimaly invasive percutaneous self-dilating pedicle in repair of injured vertebral fixation in thoracolumbar vertebral fractures. METHODS: Totaly 36 patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures without nervous system injury who received treatment in Honghui Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center from February 2013to February 2014 were enroled and divided into injured vertebral fixation and cross-injured vertebral fixation groups (n=18/group). Patients in these two groups were al subjected to minimaly invasive percutaneous self-dilating pedicle treatment. The injured vertebral body, upper, and lower vertebrae of injured vertebral body were fixed in injured vertebral fixation group, and the upper and lower vertebrae of injured vertebral body was fixed in cross-injured vertebral fixation group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with the injured vertebral fixation group, the cross-injured vertebral fixation group had smaler incisions, less intraoperative blood loss, less operation tine and intraoperative X-ray fluoroscopy time (P < 0.05). After one year of internal fixation, the anterior vertebral height, anterior vertebral height percentage and kyphotic Cobb angle of patients in these two groups improved compared with those before internal fixation (P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in anterior vertebral height percentage, kyphotic Cobb angle and Oswestry disability index between these two groups (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that anterior vertebral height cross-injured vertebral fixation has the similar clinical effect with injured vertebral fixation, but cross-injured vertebral fixation had more advantage in the operation. Therefore, there is little significance of conducting injured vertebral fixation in the surgery of minimaly invasive percutaneous self-dilating pedicle in repair of thoracolumbar vertebral fractures.

Objective To discuss the feasibility,the advantages and disadvantages,the clinical efficacy and the indications of minimally invasive transforaminal endoscopic debridement combined with allograft and posterial percutaneous internal fixation for thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis.Methods All of 22 patients with thoracolumbar tuberculosis treated in our department from January 2012 to December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed.There are 11 male and female cases separately,with an average age of 54.1 ±10.2 years and with an average disease duration of 5.3 ± 1.9 months.Endoscopic lesion removal and allograft bone grafting combined with posterial percutaneous immobilization were performed on all these cases.The data of these patients were complete,and all patients had been followed up for more than 36 months.The clinical and radiographic results were recorded and analyzed.Results In this group,22 patients were followed-up for 41.9±2.5 months(36-48 months).The spinal kyphosis was not improved 3 months after surgery (t=0.3546,P=0.7029),but the amount of blood loss (30.5±7.9 ml) was less in the operation,the amount of postoperative analgesics(0.3±0.1 g) was low and the bed time(1.5±0.3 days) was short.No recurrence and no internal fixation failure was found after long term follow-up.Good clinical outcomes were achieved with the fusion rate reached above grade 2 in all patients(95.5％) except one.The neuralgia was relieved,and the spinal cord injury was recovered to ASIA E.The VAS score and SF-36 score which were recorded 1 month and 3 months after operative were all improved significantly compared with those before operation,and patients' life quality in the early period after operation was excellent.The incidence of complications was low(9.0％),and the patients were satisfied with the treatment process.Conclusion It may be a potential way to treat spinal tuberculosis with minimally invasive transforaminal endoscopic debridement combined with allograft and percutaneous internal fixation,which could be a powerful supplement to other therapeutic measures,and is worthy of further research and development.

Objective To observe the impact of semi-solidification enteral nutrition on feeding tolerance,nutritional and infection related indicators,and prognosis in neurocritical patients.Methods Adopting the prospective research method,the neurocritical patients who were admitted to the department of intensive care unit(ICU)of the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University from December 2021 to May 2022 and had to stay in the nasogastric tube for enteral nutrition were selected as the study subjects,pectin was added to achieve the semi-solidification of enteral nutrition,and the patients were divided into pectin group and control group according to the principle of randomized control,with 25 cases in each group.Enteral nutrition was started within 24-48 hours of admission to the ICU in all patients,and pectin plus continuously pumped enteral nutrition preparation was given in the pectin group and continuously pumped enteral nutrition preparation in the control group,all of which was used continuously for more than 7 days.Differences in albumin,prealbumin,Glasgow coma scale(GCS),acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ(APACHEⅡ),sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA),procalcitonin(PCT),interleukin-6(IL-6)and C-reactive protein(CRP)were compared between the two groups before and after 7 days of treatment,and enteral nutrition compliance rates at 3 days and 7 days of treatment,as well as the incidence of enteral nutrition intolerance(including vomiting,diarrhea,constipation,aspiration and bloating),along with the length of ICU stay and 28 days prognosis were observed.Results There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in general clinical data[including gender,age and body mass index(BMI)]and pre-treatment GCS score,APACHEⅡ score,SOFA score,albumin,prealbumin,PCT,IL-6 and CRP levels.The incidence of vomiting,diarrhea,constipation,and bloating during enteral nutrition was significantly lower in the pectin group than those in the control group[vomiting:4.0％(1/25)vs.24.0％(6/25),diarrhea:8.0％(2/25)vs.32.0％(8/25),constipation:20.0％(5/25)vs.65.0％(13/25),bloating:12.0％(3/25)vs.36.0％(9/25),all P<0.05],but the difference in the incidence of aspiration compared with the control group was not statistically significant[4.0％(1/25)vs.16.0％(4/25),P>0.05].Caloric compliance with enteral nutrition was significantly higher in the pectin group than in the control group at both 3 days and 7 days of treatment[3 days of treatment:48.0％(12/25)vs.20.0％(5/25),7 days of treatment:88.0％(22/25)vs.60.0％(15/25),both P<0.05],and the prealbumin level was significantly higher in the pectin group than in the control group at the end of 7 days treatment(mg/L:248.08±43.99 vs.221.64±33.95,P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of GCS score,APACHEⅡ score,SOFA score,PCT,IL-6,CRP,length of ICU stay,and 28 days mortality between the two groups after treatment.Conclusion The administration of semi-solidification enteral nutrition reduces the incidence of enteral nutrition intolerance,improves caloric intake and nutritional status in neurocritical patients,but has no significant effect on infection indicators and prognosis.

Objective:To test and evaluate the reliability and clinical effectiveness of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (OTLF) scoring and classification system.Methods:A multicenter retrospective case series study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 530 OTLF patients admitted to 8 hospitals including Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2021 to June 2022. There were 212 males and 318 females, aged 55-90 years [(72.6±10.8)years]. There were 4 patients with grade C and 18 with grade D according to American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) classification. According to the osteoporotic thoracolumbar injury classification and severity (OTLICS) score, all patients had an OTLICS score over 4 points and required surgical treatment. Among them, 410 patients had acute symptomatic OTLF (ASOTLF), including 24 patients with type I, 159 type IIA, 47 type IIB, 31 type IIC, 136 type IIIA, 8 type IIIB, 2 type IV (absence of neurological symptoms) and 3 type IV (presence of neurological symptoms), and 120 patients had chronic symptomatic OTLF (CSOTLF), including 62 patients with type I, 21 type II, 17 type III, 3 type IV (reducible under general anesthesia), 9 type IV (not reducible under general anesthesia), 1 type V (reducible under general anesthesia), 5 type V (presence of neurological symptoms), and 2 type V (not reducible under general anesthesia). Surgical procedures included percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP), positional repositioning plus PVP, percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP), posterior open reduction combined with bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation, posterior open reduction combined with decompression, bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation, and posterior open reduction combined with osteotomy and orthopedics, bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation. A weighted Kappa was used to test the interobserver and intraobserver reliability of the OTLICS score, the ASOTLF classification, and the CSOTLF classification. The visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), ASIA classification were compared before, at 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up. Incidence of postoperative complications was observed.Results:The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for OTLICS staging was 93.4%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.86, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 93.0%, with a mean confidence kappa value of 0.86. The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for ASOTLF staging was 94.2%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.84, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 92.5%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.83. The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for CSOTLF subtyping was 91.9%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.80, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 91.3%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.81. All the patients were followed up for 6-12 months [(9.0±2.1)months]. The VAS and ODI scores were significantly lower in patients with ASOTLF and CSOTLF classifications at 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up than those before surgery (all P<0.05). The VAS scores in patients with ASOTLF types IIA, IIB, IIC, IIIA, and IV were significantly lower at the last follow-up than that at 1 month after surgery; the ODI scores in patients with ASOTLF types I, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB and IV were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery. The VAS scores in patients with CSOTLF types II, III, IV, and V were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery, and the ODI scores in patients with all CSOTLF types were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery (all P<0.05). Two patients with ASIA grade C recovered to grade D, and the rest recovered to grade E at the last follow-up ( P<0.01). No major vessel or nerve injury or internal fixation failure was found during follow-up. There were 18 patients with cement leakage, none of whom showed relevant clinical symptoms. There were 35 patients with new vertebral fractures, all of whom recovered well after symptomatic treatment. Conclusions:The OTLICS score, ASOTLF classification and CSOTLF classification have a high degree of reliability. Application of stepwise treatment for patients with different levels of injury according to the scoring and classification system can reduce pain, promote recovery of the spinal function, and reduce complications, which is of some significance in guiding the selection of clinical treatment.

According to the pathological characteristics of symptomatic chronic thoracic and lumbar osteoporotic vertebral fracture (SCOVF), the different clinical treatment methods are selected, including vertebral augmentation, anterior-posterior fixation and fusion, posterior decompression fixation and fusion, and posterior correction osteotomy. However, there is still a lack of a unified understanding on how to choose appropriate treatment method for SCOVF. In order to reflect the new treatment concept and the evidence-based medicine progress of SCOVF in a timely manner and standardize its treatment, the clinical guideline for surgical treatment of SCOVF is formulated in compliance with the principle of scientificity, practicability and advancement and based on the level of evidence-based medicine.

A retrospective analysis of audiologic outcome and graft take rate on post-tympanoplasty with different middle ear mucosal conditions in wet ear. According to the characteristics of middle ear mucosal condition and residual eardrum, 80 cases with wet ear of chronic suppurative otitis media were divided into the hydrocele group, the swelling group and the granulation group. The factors in different groups, including gender, age, disease course, sides, size and location of perforations, destruction of ossicular chain and reconstruction methods were analyzed. Moreover, postoperative hearing improvement and graft take rate were compared among the three groups. There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease course, sides, size and location of perforations among the hydrocele group, the swelling group and the granulation group （>0.05）. Overall, the postoperative average Air-Bone Gaps（ABG） were reduced in all wet ear patients after surgery （<0.01）. The ABG was decreased from （25.5 ± 10.8） dB to（15.4 ± 9.4） dB in the hydrocele group, and decreased from （27.6 ± 8.7） dB to （15.2 ± 9.6） dB in the swelling group, and from （29.5 ± 7.7） dB to （17.2 ± 17.2） dB in the granulation group. The graft take rates were 90.0% in totally. There were no significant difference in graft take rates among the three groups, and 84.6% in the hydrocele group, 93.3% in the swelling group and 100.0% in the swelling group（>0.05）. Wet ear is not an absolute contraindication of tympanoplasty for chronic suppurative otitis media. Whether there was effusion, swelling or granulomatous hyperplasia in the tympanoplasty, the patients'hearing improved significantly after tympanoplasty, and the healing rate of the tympanoplasty did not decrease. Further basic and clinical studies are needed to standardize the timing of wet ear surgery, clarify the operative contraindication and elucidate the pathophysiological mechanism of eardrum healing.

Objective: A retrospective analysis of audiologic outcome and graft take rate on post-tympanoplasty with different middle ear mucosal conditions in wet ear. Method: According to the characteristics of middle ear mucosal condition and residual eardrum, 80 cases with wet ear of chronic suppurative otitis media were divided into the hydrocele group, the swelling group and the granulation group. The factors in different groups, including gender, age, disease course, sides, size and location of perforations, destruction of ossicular chain and reconstruction methods were analyzed. Moreover, postoperative hearing improvement and graft take rate were compared among the three groups. Result: There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease course, sides, size and location of perforations among the hydrocele group, the swelling group and the granulation group （P>0.05）. Overall, the postoperative average Air-Bone Gaps（ABG） were reduced in all wet ear patients after surgery （P<0.01）. The ABG was decreased from （25.5 ± 10.8） dB to（15.4 ± 9.4） dB in the hydrocele group, and decreased from （27.6 ± 8.7） dB to （15.2 ± 9.6） dB in the swelling group, and from （29.5 ± 7.7） dB to （17.2 ± 17.2） dB in the granulation group. The graft take rates were 90.0% in totally. There were no significant difference in graft take rates among the three groups, and 84.6% in the hydrocele group, 93.3% in the swelling group and 100.0% in the swelling group（P>0.05）. Conclusion Wet ear is not an absolute contraindication of tympanoplasty for chronic suppurative otitis media. Whether there was effusion, swelling or granulomatous hyperplasia in the tympanoplasty, the patients'hearing improved significantly after tympanoplasty, and the healing rate of the tympanoplasty did not decrease. Further basic and clinical studies are needed to standardize the timing of wet ear surgery, clarify the operative contraindication and elucidate the pathophysiological mechanism of eardrum healing.

Objective: To analyze the differentially expressed microRNA (miRNA) and their target genes in peripheral blood and bone tissue of postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP), and provide basis for the study of pathogenesis as well as biomarkers identification of PMOP. Methods: Two miRNA datasets of PMOP from the public platform NCBI-GEO DataSets were obtained, including GSE64433 (the miRNA expression profile of peripheral blood samples, including 23 PMOP patients and 25 controls) and GSE74209 (the miRNA expression profile of the femoral neck bone tissue sample, including six PMOP patients and six controls). R/Bioconductor was performed for data analysis and differentially expressed miRNA screening, and miRNAs with fold change>2 & P<0.05 between osteoporosis and controls were selected as differentially expressed miRNA. The miRNA target gene prediction was performed by combining TargetScan, miRDB and miRTarBase databases. The miRNA-target gene regulatory network was constructed and analyzed by Cytoscape. Results: There were 224 differentially expressed miRNAs (75 up-regulated miRNAs and 149 down-regulated miRNAs) in the peripheral blood samples of PMOP group (GSE64433 dataset) and 132 differentially expressed miRNAs (58 up-regulated miRNAs and 74 down-regulated miRNAs) in the femoral neck bone tissue of PMOP group (GSE74209 dataset). We combined the results from the two datasets and obtained 8 miRNAs down-regulated in both datasets, and the 8 miRNAs regulated a total of 327 target genes, and 10 of these target genes were co-regulated by two miRNAs. Conclusions The core miRNAs and the target genes regulated by multiple miRNAs in the regulatory network may play important roles in the pathogenesis of PMOP and have potential application values as molecular biomarkers of disease. These findings are meaningful for the studies of PMOP pathogenesis, biomarkers screening and prevention of osteoporotic fractures.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with spinal fractures with thoracic and lumbar fracture as the most common type shows characteristics of unstable fracture, high incidence of nerve injury, high mortality and high disability rate. The diagnosis may be missed because it is mostly caused by low-energy injury, when spinal rigidity and osteoporosis have a great impact on the accuracy of imaging examination. At the same time, the treatment choices are controversial, with no relevant specifications. Non-operative treatments can easily lead to bone nonunion, pseudoarthrosis and delayed nerve injury, while surgeries may be failed due to internal fixation failure. At present, there are no evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with thoracic and lumbar fracture. In this context, the Spinal Trauma Academic Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate the Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of adult ankylosing spondylitis combined with thoracolumbar fracture ( version 2023) by following the principles of evidence-based medicine and systematically review related literatures. Ten recommendations on the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, classification and treatment of AS combined with thoracic and lumbar fracture were put forward, aiming to standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment of such disorder.

The acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults have a higher rate of neurological injury and early death compared with atlas or axial fractures alone. Currently, the diagnosis and treatment choices of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults are controversial because of the lack of standards for implementation. Non-operative treatments have a high incidence of bone nonunion and complications, while surgeries may easily lead to the injury of the vertebral artery, spinal cord and nerve root. At present, there are no evidence-based Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults. To provide orthopedic surgeons with the most up-to-date and effective information in treating acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts in the field of spinal trauma to develop the Evidence-based guideline for clinical diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults ( version 2023) by referring to the "Management of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults" published by American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) in 2013 and the relevant Chinese and English literatures. Ten recommendations were made concerning the radiological diagnosis, stability judgment, treatment rules, treatment options and complications based on medical evidence, aiming to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of acute combination fractures of the atlas and axis in adults.