Objective To investigate the necessity and tolerance of operation for hip fracture in patients aged 75 years and over. Methods The general tolerance including the self-care ability, comorbidities and postoperative complications was retrospectively analyzed in 70 elderly patients with hip fracture. Then the relationship between operation and survival status was estimated. Results The average tolerance score was significantly higher in 46 patients who accepted the operation than in 24 patients who didn't C(76. 1±12. 2) vs. (65. 5±13. 9), P<0. 01]. The median survival period was significantly higher in operation group than in non-operation group ( 97 mouths vs. 48 mouths, P< 0. 05). Kaplan Meier analysis showed that the survival status was better in operation group than in non-operation group. Conclusions For elderly patients over 75 years old with hip fracture, comprehensive evaluations of surgical tolerance before operation are very important for assessing the perioperative risk and feasibility of surgery. The operative treatment is a reasonable choice, as long as the operation is well tolerated by the patients.

Objective To enhance understanding of the vertebral compressed fracture in old patients so as to reduce its misdiagnosis. Methods 30 aged patients with vertebral compressed fracture were treated from 1998 to 2004 in our department. Their clinic data were retrospectively analyzed. There were 27 males and 3 females, aged from 70 to 90 years (averaging 82.5 years). Results All the patients were diagnosed definitely. There were 2 cases of T11 fracture, 13 cases of T12 fracture, 11 cases of L1 fracture, 3cases of L2 fracture, and 1 case of L3 fracture. At first 1 case was overlooked, and segmental positioning was wrong in 3 cases but the mistakes were corrected later. Conclusion Meticulous review of the history and clinical manifestation in addition to supplemental imageological examination are essential to early diagnosis of the majority of vertebral compressed fractures. As for some difficult early diagnoses, fat suppression MRI and nuclide bone scanning are helpful.

Objective To evaluate the surgical results of spinal stenosis in the elderly and to investigate the indications , surgical technique and factors which may contribute to the outcome. Methods A retrospective study was held, 304 patients aged 65 and over who had different kinds of decompression laminectomy for lumbar spinal stenosis between Jan 1990 and Jun 2005 were recruited. The mean patient age at surgery was 70.4 years (65-86 years old). Results One hundred and seventy-five cases had co-existing illnesses, 62 had concomitant degenerative spondylolisthesis, 138 had spinal instrumentation. Functional results were graded as excellent, good, fair and poor: 86. 8% excellent or good, 11. 2% fair and 6 cases poor. Four patients had re-operations because of post operation hematomas. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, sex, co-morbidity score, number of levels decompressed, and degenerative spondylolisthesis did not predict bad outcomes. Conclusions The surgical results of spinal stenosis in the elderly are favourable and comparable to those reported for the general population . Carefully perioperative preparation is very important in the treatment of elderly patient with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Objective To evaluate efficacy,safety and complication of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) in≥90 years patients.Methods Clinical data of 56 cases aged ≥ 90 years with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture undergoing percutaneous kyphoplasty were retrospectively analyzed.Visual analog scale (VAS) score,analgesics administration score,locomotor activity score,bone cement leakage and incidence of refracture were evaluated before and 3 days after treatment,and at the last follow-up.Results The mean follow-up was 18.6 months (6-32 months) in all patients.The mean VAS score was (7.1 ±2.1) before treatment,(2.6±1.1) at 3 days after the procedure,and (1.8±0.7) at last follow-up,respectively (F=455.794,P＜0.001).Analgesics administration score were (2.0±1.7),(1.4±0.5) and (1.1±0.7) respectively before and 3 days after treatment,and at the last follow-up (F=9.631,P＜0.001).Locomotor activity score were (2.5±0.6),(1.2±0.5) and (1.0±0.3)before and 3 days after treatment,and at the last follow-up (F=63.254,P＜ 0.001) respectively.Bone cement leakage occurred in 10 cases(17.9％),recurrent fracture in 6 cases(10.7％),cerebrospinal leak in 3 cases (5.3％),and nerve root stimulation in2 cases(3.6％).Total complication rate was 33.9％(19/56),and all complications were transient and well tolerated.Conclusions Kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture in the very elderly is effective and safe.It alleviates fracture-induced pain,reduces analgesic drug use and improves spinal activity,and provides a better choice for minimal invasive treatment for nonagenarian OVCF patients.

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of open-door laminoplasty with lateral mass screw fusion in the treatment of multisegmental cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM)with segmental instability.Methods Forty-one patients with multisegmental cervical spondylotic myelopathy combined with instability underwent open-door laminoplasty with lateral mass screw fusion.The JOA(Japanese Orthopaedic Association)scoring system and Neck Disability Index(NDI) were applied to evaluate neurological function and axial neck/shoulder pain before and after surgery,respectively.In addition,the Ishihara method was used to measure the cervical curvature index(CCI),and spinal cord expansion was calculated with MRI.Results After 43 months of postoperative follow-up,there were significant differences in JOA scores[(7.12±0.91) vs.(14.73± 1.12),t =35.28,P＜0.001],areas of the dural sac at the level of maximum stenosis in MRI[(0.22±0.05)]cm2 vs.(0.62±0.09)cm2,t=14.15,P＜0.001],and NDI scores[(24.46±6.61) vs.(12.90±3.46),t=15.59,P ＜ 0.001],compared with those before treatment.However,there were no significant differences in pre-and post-operation CCI[(10.36±1.69) vs.(10.87±2.05),t=1.11,P＞0.05].Conclusions Open-door laminoplasty with lateral mass screw fusion can improve neurological function and maintain the normal cervical curvature.Therefore,it is effective in the treatment of multisegmental cervical spondylotic myelopathy with segmental instability.