Objective To investigate the common causes of hypokalemia of inpatients in department of endocrinology.Methods Fifty-nine inpatients with hypokalemia were analyzed retrospectively.Results 84.7％(50/59) of patients with hypokalemia was clearly caused by endocrine diseases,among which 33.9％ (20/59) was diabetes mellitus,25.4％ (15/59) was hyperthyreosis,others were rare endocrine diseases,for example primary hyperaldosteronism and Cushing syndrome,et al.Conclusions Endocrine disease is an important reason of hypokalemia.The doctor should attach importance to the diagnosis and treatment of hypokalemia caused by endocrine disease.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical effects of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) or posterior lumbar interbody fusion(PLIF) using microendoscopic discectomy under X-Tube system in treatment of lumbar degenerative disc diseases.MethodsFrom December 2007 to April 2008,32 patients with low back disorders were treated by microendoscopic discectomy TLIF or PLIF under X-Tube system,including 19 cases in TLIF and 13 in PLIF.Etiologies including lumbar disc herniation combined with segmental instability in 21 cases,and spondylolisthesis in 11 cases.All patients were under regular postoperative follow-up and radiological examination.The clinical functional outcomes were evaluated according to Oswestry disability questionnaire.ResultsThe mean operation time was 120 min(range,90-180),and the average blood loss was 190 ml (range,100-400).There were no complications,such as infection and internal fixation failure.Bony fusion was achieved in all patients.The follow-up was from 14 months to 41 months with 21 months in the average.The average 0swestry scores decreased from preoperative 40.1％±4.1％ to 9.5％±3.7％ three months after the operation.The outcomes of this operation were rated as excellent.ConclusionMicroendoscopic discectomy TLIF or PLIF under X-Tube system in treatment of lumbar degenerative disc diseases has the characteristics of less blood loss,tissue trauma and quick recovery.

Objective To explore the clinical outcomes of anterior plate fixation through transoral approach in the treatment of unstable atlas fractures.Methods From March 2004 to May 2010,20 patients with unstable atlas fractures were treated by anterior plate fixation through transoral approach,including 12 males and 8 females,aged from 23 to 68 years (average,47.7±13.9 years).Of the 20 cases of unstable atlas fractures,4 cases were classified as anterior 1/2 Jefferson fracture,8 cases as 1/2 ring Jefferson fracture,and 8 cases as anterior 3/4 ring Jefferson fracture.The preoperative average VAS scores were 6.0±1.3 points,ranged from 4 to 8 points.Clinical and imaging examinations were performed during follow-up period to evaluate the outcomes.Results All patients were followed up for 12 to 81 months,with an average of 48.5±20.0 months.There were no screw loosing and breakage,no plate displacement,and no spinal cord and vertebral artery injury during operation.A total of 20 plates were placed and all 40 screws were inserted into atlas lateral mass.Computed tomography scans demonstrated 2 screws were placed too close to the vertebral artery canal,but without clinical consequences.The postoperative VAS scores were from 0 to 3 points with an average of 1.3±1.0 points.Static and dynamic films 6 months after surgery demonstrated that fusion was achieved in all cases.Atlantoaxial rotational function was restored satisfactorily.No plate-related complication was observed in all patients in the whole follow-up period.Conclusion Anterior plate fixation through transoral approach is an effective method for management of unstable atlas fractures,which has advantages such as solid bony fusion and low incidence of complication.

Objective To investigate the preliminary clinical application of anterior pedicle screws in treatment of the lower cervical spine injuries. Methods The study involved 22 patients with lower cervical spine injuries treated with anterior pedicle screw technique from January 2009 to December 2011.X-ray and CT images of the patients were taken postoperatively to evaluate whether the position,orientation and length of the screws were appropriate and whether there involved pedicle cortex perforation,transverse foramen or spinal canal invasion.MRI was also performed to ascertain the situation of decompression,the formation of epidural hematoma and the degeneration of cervical spinal cord.The improvement of JOA score was compared statistically. Results All the patients were followed up for 3-36 months ( mean,15.5 months).A total of 44 anterior lower cervical screws were implanted and all screws were inserted smoothly.All the patients had bone healing after average 4.5 months,which showed no loosening,prolapse or breakage of the screws or no loosening of the plate.One patient showed hoarseness postoperatively,which was probably due to the long-term distraction of recurrent laryngeal nerve.The symptom disappeared at around three weeks after neurotrophic support.Two patients complained of dysphagia postoperatively,and were informed of keeping a soft diet.The symptom was remarkably alleviated after three months or so.The X-ray films indicated satisfactory position of the implanted screws.Before discharge,the transaxial CT images showed that two screws perforated the medial pedicle cortex ( 1 ° ) and that two screws perforated the lateral cortex (1 °) and affected the medial margin of the transverse foramen.Before discharge,the MRI indicated obvious alleviation of the anterior spinal cord compression in all patients and a small amount of anterior epidural hematoma in four patients,with no obvious spinal cord compression.At 12 months after operation,the MRI showed significant improvement of spinal cord degeneration in three patients.JOA score was increased from preoperative (8.5 ± 0.7) to ( 14.5 ± 0.8 ) before discharge (P ＜0.01 ).JOA score was (15.7 ±0.7) at six months postoperatively,which was significantly improved as compared with that before discharge. Conclusions Anterior pedicle screw fixation is a reliable and safe method for reconstruction of the anterior lower cervical injuries.Surgical indications should be strictly controlled in its clinical application.

Objective To discuss the strategies for treatment of lower cervical distractive flexion injuries. Methods Sixty-eight patients including 43 males and 25 females at age range of 18-72 years (average 43 years) suffered from lower cervical distractive flexion injuries were operated from January 2002 to June 2007. According to Allen's classification, there were 7 patients at grade Ⅰ, 19 at grade Ⅱ,29 at grade Ⅲ and 13 at grade Ⅳ. Temporary skull traction was used for each subject before surgery. Only posterior approach was performed in 26 patients who were fixated by pedicle screw system,lateral mass screw system or transarticular screw system. Combined anterior and posterior approach was applied for the other 42 patients at one stage. The curative effect was followed up for all patients after the procedures. Results All patients were followed up for 6-65 months ( average 34 months), which showed posterior incision infection in 2 patients who were cured after debridement or change dressing. Two patients with aggravated neural symptome were cured following treatment with methylprednisolone. Neural function was improved at least for one level in all patients except for 18 patients (Frankel A). Of 11 patients at grade B, there were 4 patients improved to grade C and 5 to grade D. Of 10 patients at grade C, there were 6 patients recovered to grade D and 4 to grade E. All 15 patients at grade D reached grade E. It was not found loosening, breakage or defuxion. The graft bone was fused within 3-4 months, with no any complications related to surgical fixation. Conclusions The strategies for lower cervical distractive flexion injuries should be taken according to Allen' s classification. Single posterior procedure is suitable for grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ injuries. While combined posterior and anterior procedure can be used for grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ injuries.

Purpose: Laparoscopy is being increasingly accepted for pancreaticoduodenectomy. Stapled anastomosis (SA) is used extensively to facilitate laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD); however, the incidence of anastomotic bleeding after stapled gastrointestinal anastomosis is still high. Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine patients who underwent LPD using Whipple method were enrolled in our study. We performed the SA with our reinforced method (n = 68, R method) and without the method (n = 71, NR method). We compared the clinical characteristics and anastomosis methods of patients with or without gastrointestinal-anastomotic hemorrhage (GAH), and operative parameters were also compared between the anastomotic methods. Results: Of the 139 patients undergoing LPD, 15 of them developed GAH. The clinical characteristics of patients with or without GAH were not significantly different except in the anastomotic method (P < 0.001). In the univariate logistic regression analyses, only the anastomotic method was associated with GAH. Furthermore, patients with the NR method had significantly higher incidences of GAH (P < 0.001) and Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ III complications (P < 0.001). Conclusion Our retrospective analysis showed that the SA performed with reinforced method might be a reform of SA without the reinforcement, as indicated by the lower incidence of GAH. However, further research is necessary to evaluate the utility of this reinforced method.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the biomechanical effects of the anterior cervical transpedicular-screw system (ACTPS), compared to the anterior cervical screw plate system (ACLP), in the subaxial cervical spine after 2-level corpectomy.

METHODSA verified intact finite element subaxial cervical (C3-C7) model was established and analyzed by Mimics 10.0, Rapidform XOR3, Hypermesh 10.0, CATIA5V19, ANSYS 14.0 softwares based on the CT data (C1-T1) was collected from a 28 years old male volunteer. The axial force of 75 N and moment couple of 1N·m was loaded on the upper surface of C3, which made the model movement in flexion extension, lateral bending, rotating direction, respectively. Then, recorded the range of motion, and compared the results with the in vitro biomechanical experimental data to verify the effectiveness of the model. The ACTPS model and the ACLP model were analyzed using the finite element method. The range of motion at the operation segments (C4-C7), the range of motion at the adjacent segment (C3-C4) and stress distribution under flexion, extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation were calculated, and compared the range of motion with intact model.

RESULTSThere were 85,832 elements and 23,612 nodes in the intact model of subaxial cervical spine (C3-C7) in this experiment,and the range of motion of intact model validated with the reported cadaveric experimental data. In ACTPS group the stress was been well-distributed, but the stress concentrated on the interface between screw and the titanium plate in ACLP group. There were obvious differences of the maximum stress value between the two groups. The range of motion of fixed segments in ACTPS group was smaller than ACLP group, however adjacent segment range of motion showed no significant difference. Compared with the intact group, the range of motion in flexion extension, lateral flexion, rotation direction was decreased respectively about 25°, 20° and 8°, the range of motion at adjacent segment (C3-C4) was correspondingly compensated about 0.3°, 3° and 0.1°.

CONCLUSIONSACTPS is better than ACLP in terms of biomechanical properties. It offers rigid stability, and may be more suitable for reconstruction stability of 2-level and more than 2 levels corpectomy in the subaxial cervical spine. Meanwhile, the risk of fracture of ACTPS system is lower than that of the ACLP system.

Adult ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Bone Screws ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Anatomic ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rotation

Objective To analyze the causes of revision surgery after percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) for lumbar spinal stenosis,and to provide references for indications and operative methods.Methods From January 2015 to October 2017,206,491 and 60 patients of lumbar spinal stenosis were treated with PTED in Tianjin Hospital,Shanxi People's Hospital,Ningbo Sixth Hospital,respectively;among them,4,10 and 4 cases received revision surgery.Another 13 patients of lumbar spinal stenosis were treated with revision surgery due to poor results after PTED in other hospitals.Among 31 cases of reoperation,there were 16 males and 15 females,aged 27-82 years (average,66.2±12.7 years).The lesion segments included 1 case of L3,4,23 cases of L4,5,5 cases of L5S1,1 cases of L3-L5,and 1 cases of L4-S1.Patients were followed up after reoperation from 3 to 24 months (average,12.1 months).The causes of poor result and revision surgery were analyzed according to preoperative,intraoperative and postoperative data.Results All of 757 cases of lumbar spinal stenosis were treated with PTED in three hospitals,of which 18 cases (2.4％) were re-operated.The causes of reoperation included:bone slice displacement in 1 case;nerve injury in 4 cases;lumbar instability in 4 cases;disc protrusion in 10 cases (residual or recurrence);insufficient decompression in 21 cases;planed staging operation in 4 cases with bilateral or two-level stenosis.32 revision surgeries were performed for 31 patients,including PTED in 15 cases,microendoscopic discectomy (MED) in 1 case,mobile MED (MMED) in 5 cases,MMED assisted fusion in 2 cases,transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in 4 cases,Minimally invasive TLIF (Mis-TLIF) in 2 cases,and open decompression and fusion in 3 cases.All patients experienced relieve of symptoms after revision surgery.At final follow-up,VAS leg pain deceased form 7.1±3.9 before revision surgeries to 1.9±1.2,VAS low back pain decreased form 6.3±3.2 to 1.8±1.3,ODI score decreased from 35％± 14％ to 7.6％±5％.According to the MacNab score,the result was excellent in 11 cases,good in 16 cases,and fair in 4 cases.Conclusion The treatment of lumbar stenosis with PTED has high technical requirements,the indications of PTED for lumbar stenosis should be strictly controlled according to technical conditions,and appropriate operative methods should be chosen according to the specific conditions of the lesions.Insufficient decompression,disc protrusion,lumbar instability and nerve injury are the common causes of reoperation.Suitable indications and proper operation should be selected.

Objective:To compare the therapeutic results between axis pedicle screwing assisted by intraoperative 3-D navigation and freehand axis pedicle screwing in the treatment of Hangman fracture.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed of the 64 patients with Hangman fracture who had received posterior axis pedicle screwing at Department of Spinal Surgery, The Sixth Hospital of Ningbo from May 2014 to December 2019. According to the placement methods of axis pedicle screws, they were divided into a navigation group ( n=34, subjected to axis pedicle screwing assisted by intraoperative 3-D navigation) and a freehand group ( n=30, subjected to freehand axis pedicle screwing). Pedicle screw placement time, operation time, intraoperative bleeding, fluoroscopy time, hospital stay, total hospitalization cost and complications were recorded and compared between the 2 groups. The accuracy of axis pedicle screw placement was evaluated according to the postoperative cervical CT and screw grading criteria proposed by Park et al. At admission, 3 months postoperation, and the last follow-up, neurological function of the patients was evaluated by modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score, neck pain was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS), and C2/3 vertebral body angulation and C2 forward displacement were measured. The clinical efficacy was evaluated by Moon grading at the last follow-up. Results:The navigation group and the freehand group were comparable due to insignificant differences between them in the preoperative general data ( P>0.05). The accuracy of screw placement in the navigation group (98.2%, 54/55) was significantly higher than that in the freehand group (85.2%, 46/54) ( P<0.05). The screw placement time, operation time, fluoroscopy time and total hospitalization cost in the navigation group were significantly more than those in the freehand group ( P<0.05). Vertebral artery injury occurred in 3 cases in the freehand group. Screw loosening, screw breakage or rod breakage occurred in none of the patients after operation. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the intraoperative bleeding, hospital stay or follow-up time ( P>0.05). In both groups, the VAS score, mJOA score, C2/3 vertebral body angulation and C2 forward displacement were significantly improved at 3 months postoperation and the last follow-up compared with those at admission ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the contemporary comparisons ( P>0.05). At the last follow-up, Moon grading in the navigation group was significantly better than that in the freehand group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:In the treatment of Hangman fracture, compared with freehand screw placement, axis pedicle screwing assisted by intraoperative 3-D navigation can improve accuracy and safety of screw placement and reduce postoperative complications, leading to better clinical efficacy.

Objective: This study was carried out to analyze the clinical characteristics of pseudohypopara-thyroidism(PHP) type 1b, and to improve the understanding and diagnosis of the disease. Methods: Five patients with molecular diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b in our hospital during 2018 were enrolled, their clinical data, biochemical indicators, imaging, and gene detection results were analyzed. Results: There were 4 females and 1 male, with low calcium, high phosphorus and high PTH serum concentrations. The onset age span was large and the onset symptoms were different. Family history may not be obvious. There was abnormal methylation of GNAS gene or deletion of exon STX16 in methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA) detection while gene sequencing result was negative. Conclusion MS-MLPA detection was still needed in patients with suspected PHP but negative gene sequencing result. Different methylation abnormalities and copy number variations might be correlated with the onset symptoms and familial of type 1b PHP.