Objective:To explore the characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes in sepsis patients with different blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels.Methods:From January 2017 to December 2018, 252 sepsis patients, who were admitted in the Department of Intensive Care Unit of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine) and met the inclusion criteria, were divided into lower level group (BUN<9.25 mmol/L) and higher level group (BUN≥9.25 mmol/L) according to BUN levels. The baseline data, complications, infection sites and other data were collected. TCM syndromes were judged according to the four diagnostic information of TCM and BUN levels. Variables with P<0.2 in univariate analysis were introduced as candidate variables, and the correlation between TCM syndrome elements and BUN was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results:The comparison of TCM syndromes showed that the proportion of blood stasis syndrome in higher level group was significantly higher than that of the lower level group [74.60% (94/126) vs. 53.17% (67/126), P<0.01)], and the proportion of toxic heat syndrome in the higher level group was significantly lower than that of the lower level group [52.38% (66/126) vs. 65.87% (83/126), P=0.029]. The comparison of TCM deficiency syndromes showed that the proportion of qi deficiency syndrome and yang deficiency syndrome in the higher level group was significantly higher than that of the lower level group [67.46% (85/126) vs. 45.24% (57/126), P<0.01; 11.90% (15/126) vs. 3.97% (5/126), P=0.032, respectively]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the higher blood urea nitrogen level was correlated with the increased incidence of qi deficiency syndrome ( OR=3.425, 95% CI: 1.934-6.068, P<0.01), yang deficiency syndrome ( OR=3.460, 95% CI: 1.160-10.325, P=0.026) and kidney deficiency syndrome ( OR=2.212, 95% CI: 1.173-4.173, P=0.014) in sepsis patients. Conclusion:Sepsis patients with higher blood urea nitrogen level have a higher proportion of blood stasis syndrome, qi deficiency syndrome and yang deficiency syndrome and may be related to the increased incidence of qi deficiency syndrome, yang deficiency syndrome and kidney deficiency syndrome.

Spinal tuberculosis is one of the common causes of severe kyphosis. The formation of spinal tuberculosis kyphosis is multi-factors, including age at the time of infection, the cumulative number of segments, the height of vertebral body loss before treatment, and "spine danger signs" . Although the use of anti-tuberculosis drugs has achieved good results, for patients with spinal tuberculosis cured by drug treatment, the kyphosis will continue to progress and gradually develop into a severe kyphosis. Then there are a series of problems such as appearance, psychology, rib-pelvic impingement, cardiopulmonary dysfunction, and nerve and spinal cord compression. The X-ray signs of the height of the vertebral body loss and "spine danger signs" before treatment can help predict the severity of future deformities. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the formation of kyphosis of spinal tuberculosis and individualized selection of surgical methods according to the specific conditions of the disease as soon as possible can effectively prevent the formation of kyphosis and reduce the incidence of neurological damage and delayed paralysis.

With the large use of vertebral augmentation in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (OTLF), the complication of cement leakage has become an increasing concern. Although most cement leakage has no obvious clinical symptoms, some patients still sustain serious complications such as vertebral fracture, pulmonary embolism and spinal nerve compression. Cement leakage is closely related to patients′ own factors, cement factors and perioperative related factors. To clarify the risk factors of cement leakage with implementation of preventive measures accordingly is of great guiding significance to improve the clinical efficacy and surgical safety. Therefore, the authors discuss bone cement leakage in aspects of the risk factors and preventive measures so as to provide a reference for reducing the incidence of cement leakage.

Re-fracture of the injured vertebrae is a serious complication after vertebral augmentation for osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures (OTLF), manifested by recurrent lower back pain, limitation of spinal motion and increased retroflexion deformity. The clinical treatment of re-fracture of the injured vertebrae is difficult, and some patients even need spinal function reconstruction to stabilize the fractured vertebrae, which has a serious impact on their postoperative rehabilitation, quality of life and economic burdens. Re-fracture of the injured vertebrae after vertebral augmentation for OTLF is closely related to patient factors, bone cement factors and perioperative factors. To this end, the authors discuss the risk factors for re-fracture of the injured vertebrae after vertebral augmentation for OTLF and propose corresponding management methods to provide a reference for understanding the risk of re-fracture of the injured vertebrae and improving the clinical treatment.

The incidence of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF) is increasing year by year. OVCF is manifested by thoracolumbar back pain, kyphosis and limitation of motion, which severely reduces the quality of life and life expectancy of the patients. It is often caused by minor violence with an insidious onset, and has a high rate of missed diagnoses on routine examination. Currently, percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) are effective treatments for OVCF, but postoperative complications such as cement leakage and vertebral re-fracture occur often. Digital orthopedic technology is an emerging interdisciplinary discipline that combines computer digital technology with orthopedic clinics. As a new orthopedic clinical technology, digital orthopedic technology is pushing the boundaries of spinal surgery research and clinical application due to its advantages in individualization, precision, and minimally invasiveness, and is currently at a rapid development stage with high endurance and high throughput. To this end, the authors outlined the current application of digital orthopedic technology in OVCF, so as to provide a reference for achieving rapid and accurate diagnosis of OVCF and formulating reasonable treatment plans.

Cervical spinal cord injury without fracture-dislocation (CSCIWFD) in adults is a condition in which the cervical spinal cord is injured by an external force to the cervical spine, but the cervical spine itself is not fractured or dislocated on X-ray films or CT. Since CSCIWFD is caused by a second-strike injury to the body, with a compression formed by spinal cord edema and ligamentous hematoma, signs of neurological function impairment that may not appear until several days after the injury which often cause incomplete or complete paralysis, thus resulting in chronic pain and loss of work. Inadequate treatment in the early stages of injury can exacerbate delayed neurological deficits, seriously offecting the patients' quality of life and life expectancy. Currently, there are problems related to the diagnosis and treatment of CSCIWFD, such as the of clinical manifestations varying severity, complex mechanism of injury, high rates of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and controversial treatment methods. Besides, standardized diagnostic and treatment regimens, multimodal diagnostic approach, and individualized treatment plans should be adopted to improve the diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic effects and maximize the prognosis of patients. In this regard, the authors discussed the clinical characteristics and key issues requiring urgent attention in the diagnosis and treatment of CSCIWFD to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy of femoral neck system (FNS) and cannulated screw fixation in the treatment of femoral neck fracture in the young and middle-aged patients.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 76 young and middle-aged patients with femoral neck fracture admitted to Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi′an Jiaotong University from March 2018 to September 2020, including 45 males and 31 females, aged 23-63 years [(49.5±8.2)years]. Garden classification of the fracture was 25 patients with type II, 34 with type III and 17 with type IV. Pauwels classification of the fracture was 16 patients with type I, 31 with type II and 29 with type III. A total of 40 patients were treated with cannulated screw fixation (cannulated screw group) and 36 patients with FNS fixation (FNS group). Operation time, frequency of fluoroscopy, length of hospital stay, weight-bearing time and bone union time were compared between the two groups. Hip function was assessed by Harris hip score at 6, 12 months after operation. The incidence of postoperative complications was observed.Results:All patients were followed up for 12-20 months [(15.2±1.7)months]. The frequency of fluoroscopy [(13.4±1.9)times], weight-bearing time [(11.1±1.9)weeks] and bone union time [(13.8±1.6)weeks] in FNS group were lower or shorter than those in cannulated screw group [(18.2±2.6)times, (15.7±1.6)weeks, (14.6±1.6)weeks] (all P<0.05 or 0.01). There were no significant differences in operation time, length of hospital stay and Harris hip score at 6, 12 months after operation between the two groups (all P>0.05). No postoperative infection occurred in both groups. In cannulated screw group, there were 4 patients with femoral neck shortening, 3 with deep venous thrombosis, 2 with internal fixation loosening, 2 with nail withdrawal and 1 with fracture non-union, showing the incidence of complications of 30% (12/40). In FNS group, there was 2 patients with femoral neck shortening, 1 with deep vein thrombosis and 1 with internal fixation loosening, showing the incidence of complications of 11% (4/36) ( P<0.05). Conclusion:For femoral neck fracture in the young and middle-aged patients, both FNS and cannulated screw fixation can obtain satisfactory efficacy, but FNS has the advantages of decreased frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, early weight bearing, reduced time to bone union and low incidence of complications.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) under enhanced regional and conventional anesthesia for multisegmental acute symptomatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures (m-ASOTLF).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the data of 91 patients with m-ASOTLF who were admitted to Honghui Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University from January 2021 to December 2022, including 36 males and 55 females, aged 55-80 years [(67.4±7.3)years]. According to American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification system, 18 patients were classified as grade I, 52 grade II, and 21 grade III. Injured segments included T 6-T 10 in 23 patients, T 11-L 2 in 47 and L 3-L 5 in 21. All the patients were treated with PVP, among whom 45 were given enhanced regional anesthesia (enhanced anesthesia group) and 46 regional conventional anesthesia (conventional anesthesia group). The following indicators were compared between the two groups: the operation time, intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative heart rate, intraoperative mean arterial pressure (MAP), number of intraoperative fluoroscopies, and total amount of bone cement injected; the visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI) before surgery, at 1 day, 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up; the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) before surgery, at 1, 6, and 12 hours after surgery; the anterior vertebrae height (AVH), middle vertebrae height (MVH), and vertebral kyphosis angle (VKA) before and at 1 day after surgery; the incidence of complications such as bone cement leakage. Results:All the patients were followed up for 12-20 months [(15.8±2.6)months]. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the operation time, intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative heart rate, intraoperative MAP, number of intraoperative fluoroscopies or total amount of bone cement injected ( P>0.05). No significant differences were found between the two groups in VAS or ODI before surgery and at the last follow-up ( P>0.05). The VAS scores in the enhanced anesthesia group were (2.5±0.4)points and (1.8±0.3)points at 1 day and 1 month postoperatively respectively, which were both lower than (3.5±0.4)points and (2.0±0.5)points in the conventional anesthesia group ( P<0.01). The ODI values in the enhanced anesthesia group were 39.8±3.3 and 26.5±5.0 at 1 day and 1 month postoperatively respectively, which were both lower than 43.8±7.5 and 30.3±6.4 in the conventional anesthesia group ( P<0.01). The VAS and ODI at all postoperative time points decreased in both groups compared with those before surgery, with significant differences among those at all postoperative time points ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the MMSE scores before, at 1, 6, and 12 hours after surgery ( P>0.05). The MMSE scores at 1 and 6 hours postoperatively were lower than that preoperatively in both groups ( P<0.05), and it was increased at 6 hours compared with that at 1 hour postoperatively ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the MMSE scores at 12 hours postoperatively and preoperatively in both groups ( P>0.05). The differences between the two groups in AVH, MVH, or VKA preoperatively were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The AVH and MVH at 1 day postoperatively in the enhanced anesthesia group were (22.4±4.2)mm and (22.7±3.7)mm respectively, which were both higher than those in the conventional anesthesia group [(19.3±3.7)mm and (20.1±6.3)mm] ( P<0.05 or 0.01); the VKA at 1 day postoperatively in the enhanced anesthesia group was (13.9±3.7)°, which was lower than that in the conventional anesthesia group (15.8±4.1)° ( P<0.05). The AVH, MVH, and VKA in both groups were all improved at 1 day postoperatively compared with those preoperatively ( P<0.05). The incidence of bone cement leakage in the enhanced anesthesia group was 6.7% (3/45), which was lower than 21.7% (10/46) in the conventional anesthesia group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with conventional regional anesthesia, PVP under enhanced regional anesthesia for m-ASOTLF has more advantages in early postoperative pain relief, improvement of spinal function, restoration of vertebral height and reduction of bone cement leakage.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors associated with the occurrence of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) after posterior long-segment internal fixation for type IV chronic symptomatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (CSOTLF) in the elderly.Methods:A case-control study was used to analyze the clinical data of 95 elderly patients with type IV CSOTLF treated in Honghui Hospital affiliated to Xi′an Jiaotong University from January 2013 to June 2018, including 32 males and 63 females, aged from 60 to 85 years［(67.4±6.5) years］. Injured segments were T 11 in 17 patients, T 12 in 37, L 1 in 30 and L 2 in 11. All patients were treated with posterior long-segment internal fixation and divided into PJK group ( n=30) and non-PJK group ( n=65) according to whether PJK occurred after surgery. Univariate analysis was performed for the correlation of the following indices with the incidence of postoperative PJK, including general information such as gender, age, body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density (BMD), history of smoking, cause of injury, comorbidities, injury segments, American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) classification and time from injury to surgery, preoperative imaging data such as posterior junctional angle (PJA), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis difference (PI-LL), pelvic tilt (PT) and sacral slope (SS), basic surgical data such as posterior ligament complex (PLC) injury, location of upper instrumented vertebrae (UIV), location of lower instrumented vertebrae (LIV) and number of fixed segments. Multifactorial Logistic regression analysis was used to measure the independent risk factors associated with the occurrence of postoperative PJK. Results:Univariate analysis showed that the incidence of postoperative PJK was correlated with age, BMI, BMD, preoperative PJA, preoperative SVA, preoperative PI-LL, PLC injury, location of UIV, location of LIV and number of fixed segments (all P<0.05), rather than gender, history of smoking, cause of injury, comorbidities, injury segments, ASIA classification, time from injury to surgery, preoperative PT and preoperative SS (all P>0.05). Multifactorial Logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥70 years ( OR=32.28, 95% CI 3.83-272.29, P<0.01), BMI>28.0 kg/m 2 ( OR=7.88, 95% CI 1.63-37.99, P<0.01), BMD T value<-3.5 SD ( OR=20.84, 95% CI 2.36-183.93, P<0.01), preoperative PI-LL>20° ( OR=13.30, 95% CI 1.54-113.87, P<0.05) and PLC injury ( OR=13.98, 95% CI 1.37-142.34, P<0.05) were significantly associated with the occurrence of postoperative PJK. Conclusions:Age≥70 years, BMI>28 kg/m 2, BMD T value<-3.5 SD, preoperative PI-LL>20° and PLC injury are independent risk factors for the incidence of PJK after posterior long-segment internal fixation in elderly patients with type IV CSOTLF. Attention should be paid to soft tissue protection and sagittal balance restoration of the spine intraoperatively and weight control and anti-osteoporosis treatment postoperatively.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of intramedullary plus extramedullary fixation in the treatment of fractures of distal radial diametaphyseal transition zone in children.Methods:The data were retrospectively analyzed of the 49 children who had been admitted to Pediatric Orthopedic Hospital, Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi'an Jiaotong University from July 2018 to April 2020 for fractures of distal radial diametaphyseal transition zone. There were 30 males and 19 females; 21 left sides, 27 right sides, and one case of bilateral sides. In the operation, an elastic intramedullary nail or Kirschner wire was used for intramedullary fixation while another Kirschner wire was used to fix the cortex at the distal and proximal ends of the fracture. The ranges of wrist motion and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) scores at 1 and 9 months after operation were recorded and compared; the incidence of postoperative complications was also recorded.Results:The operation time for the 49 children averaged 45.0 min (from 39 to 51 min). The patients were followed up for 6 to 36 months (mean, 18.6 months). The fracture union time averaged 8.6 weeks (from 6.8 to 10.4 weeks). Needle tract infection developed in one case but the wound was healed after removal of the K-wire after callus formation and oral use of antibiotics for 3 days. Another case reported skin irritation the symptoms of which disappeared after the child reduced activities. The ranges of pronation, supination, flexion and extension of the wrist and DASH score were 47.9°±2.5°, 45.5°±3.0°, 51.2°±1.6°, 53.4°±1.7° and (36.7±4.5) points at one month after operation while they were 85.6°±3.1°, 87.6°±2.1°, 88.8°±2.0°, 88.0°±1.2° and (23.2±8.6) points at 9 months after operation. There were statistically significant differences in the above indexes between one and 9 months after operation ( P<0.05). Conclusion:In the treatment of fractures of distal radial diametaphyseal transition zone in children, intramedullary plus extramedullary fixation is simple in surgical techniques, easily repeatable, slightly invasive, and reliable in fixation.