The early treatment principles of spinal cord injury (SCI) included early drug using, early surgery and early rehabilitation.The literatures on how to use drug early and how to control the time for SCI before surgery were reviewed.

BACKGROUND:Percutaneous vertebroplasty has been extensively applied in treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, and now it is also used in spinal metastatic tumor. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty for metastatic tumor of thoracic lumbar vertebrae by bone cement perfusion at different times and temperature gradient. METHODS:A total of 24 cases (38 vertebrae) of metastatic tumor receiving percutaneous vertebroplasty and bone cement perfusion at different times and temperature gradient were reviewed retrospectively. Al patients were classified into group A (11 vertebrae in 9 cases) featured with apparent vertebral compression (≥ 1/4) and group B (27 vertebrae in 15 cases) of no obvious compression (<1/4). The percutaneous vertebroplasty was conducted with C-arm fluoroscopy positioning. Bone cement was injected by perfusion at different times and temperature gradient method. Visual Analogue Scales and Owestry Disability Index were recorded to assess pain al eviation and functional restoration before and after bone cement injection at different times and temperature gradient. The height of treated vertebrae was also analyzed. Fol ow-up was performed for 12 to 56 months. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Al 24 patients successful y underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty and bone cement perfusion at different times and temperature gradient. Bone cement (4±1) mL was averagely injected into each thoracic vertebra. Bone cement (5±1) mL was injected into each lumbar vertebra. Postoperative recheck radiographs revealed good bone cement distribution, no nerve root injury or spinal compression occurred. Vertebral height was significantly higher posttreatment compared with pretreatment in both groups (P<0.05). Visual Analogue Scales and Owestry Disability Index scores were significantly lower at 1 day, 1 month after treatment and during final fol ow-up compared with preoperation in al patients (P<0.05). No significant difference in Visual Analogue Scales and Owestry Disability Index scores was detected between two groups at the same time point. Results suggested that percutaneous vertebroplasty and bone cement perfusion at different times and temperature gradient for metastatic tumor of thoracic lumbar vertebrae could reduce the occurrence of bone cement leakage, and could ease the pain quickly for apparent and non-apparent compressed tumor metastatic vertebrae. It is an effective method to treat metastatic tumor of vertebrae.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility and clinical efficacy of the treatment of lumbar spine steno-sis by modified unilateral approach for bilateral decompression under microendoscope.Method:217 cases with degenerative lumbar spine stenosis from September 2003 to December 2008 were treated by modified unilater-al approach for bilateral decompression of central spinal canal and nerve root canal under microendoscope.A-mong them laminectomy of one segment was done in 163 cases,two segments were done in 54 cases.After surgery,the routine radiograph were carried out and the Nakai criterion was used for assessment.Result:The mean operative time was 48±13min (range,25 to 95min),the average blood loss was 37±9ml (range,25 to 180ml),the average skin incision length was 2.2±0.2cm(1.8 to 2.4cm).2 cases had dural matter tearing,which healed after filling with gelatin foam and 2 weeks bed rest,after that no cerebrospinal fluid leakage was noted after surgery.Mislocation was noted in 1 case.No nerve inury and postoperative infection oceurred.Postoperative CT scan demonstrated complete decompression of the central spinal canal and nerve root canal.All patients were followed-up for an average of 14 months (range,3 months to 24 months).The Nakai criterion at final follow-up showed clinical excellent in 134 cases,good in 63 cases,fair in 16 cases and worse in 4 cases, with the excellent and good rate of 90.8%.No lumbar spine instability was noted.Conclusion:Treatment of de-generative lumbar spine stenosis by modified unilateral approach for bilateral decompression under mieroendo-scope has the merit of minimal invasive,less complications and reliable therapeutical effect.

Objective To investigate the causes and clinical significance of cement leakage into disc space during kyphoplasty. Methods Since 2002, 178 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures underwent kypboplasty and 15 of them were detected intradiscal cement leakage and followed up more than 2 years (mean 2 years and 8 months). The mean injection of cement in these patients was 4.2ml.The series comprised 10 females and 5 males, with an average of 71.2 years old ( range, 54～84 years old).Visual analog scale was used to score back pain pre- and postoperatively. The height and MRI index of the involved disc were recorded and compared. Results The discs involved were as following: T10-11 for 4 cases,T11-12 for 1, T12L1for 4, L1-2 for 2, L2-3 for 3, L3-4 for 1. Cement leakage was detected in the disc above the fractured vertebrae in 10 cases, and in the disc below the fractured vertebrae in 5 patients. The back pain significantly alleviated and the average visual analog scale (VAS) score was decreased from 8.5±2.1 preoper-atively to 3.3±1.4 postoperatively (P< 0.05). The anterior disc height was (5.1±2.1)mm preoperatively and (4.8±1.9) mm at the final follow-up, the middle disc height was (7.4±3.2) mm preoperatively and (7.3±2.9) mm at the final follow-up, the posterior disc height was (4.9±2.5) mm preoperatively and (5.0±1.8) mm at fi-nal follow-up, the heights of intervertebral space were well maintained. The signal intensity decreased and became inconsistent in some discs, and the preoperative MRI index significantly decreased from 25482.4± 3467.5 to 18927.6±2519.4 at the final follow-up (t=1.967,P< 0.05). Conclusion Pain relief is impressive in patients with intradiseal cement leakage during kyphoplasty. However, cement leakage into disc space may accellerate the process of disc degeneration.

Objective To evaluate the long term outcome of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis treated with Steffee system and posterolateral fusion. Methods Thirty- four patients were followed up for an average of 77.2 months. The follow- up study include slipping percentage, slipping angle, heights of intervertebral space and foramen, fusion rate, screw broken rate and clinical outcomes. Results 1) Solid fusion was obtained in 88.2％ of patients. screw broken rate was 2.9％ . 2) Comparison of pre- and post- operative slip showed correction rate of 45.1％ . The heights of intervertebral space and foramen increased, slipping angle decreased. 3) During the period of follow- up, recurrence of deformity was found. 4) The subjective outcome was better than the objective outcome. Conclusion 1) Lumbar spondylolytic spondylolisthesis with radicular symptom need complete decompression and reduction as much as possible. 2) A positive slipping angle indicates significant shearing force and the need of an interbody fusion to restore the weight- bearing capacity. 3) Objective criteria is more suitable to evaluate surgical outcome.

[Objective]To develop an animal pulmonary cement embolism model,by which the effect of polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA),calcium phosphate cement(CPC) and silk fibroin/calcium phosphate cement composite(SF/CPC) on the hemodynamic change,respiratory function and the antithrombin activity were measured after the pulmonary embolism caused by cement injection.The efficiency of SF reducing the risk of cardiovascular complication was evaluated.[Method]Twenty-four pigs were assigned to 3 groups randomly,with 8 pigs in each group.After general anesthesia,animals were endotracheal intubated and mechanically ventilated by a respirator.The pulmonary trunk was exposed via sternotomy and each kind of cement was injected into the main pulmonary artery.Hemodynamic parameters were continuously monitored.Blood samples were drawn at certain time points for blood gases analyzing and measurement of AT Ⅲ.Postmortem lungs were subject to computer tomography(CT) examination along with three-dimensional reconstructions of cement casts.[Result]The injection of CPC caused severe pulmonary hypertension and arterial hypotension,with a maximum elevation of 20.93?5.04 mmHg in PAP(20 min post-injection) and a maximum decrease of-26.59?6.8 mmHg in MABP(50 min post-injection).The changes in SF/CPC group were relatively slighter,which is similar with PMMA group,having a statistically significant difference from CPC groups(P

Objective To investigate therapeutical methods on lumbar disc herniation with posterior edge separation of the vertebral body. Methods Different methods were applied to 31 patients, including 24 males and 7 females whose ages ranged from 18 to 61 years. Except that 2 patients with mild lumbar pain were treated with conservative therapy, the other 29 patients were treated with operation. The operations were made according to the relationship between compressive hernia and vertebral canal. For instance, for cases that the herniated mixtures were lateral, decompression with fenestration or amplified fenestration was applied to the trouble side; for cases that mixtures were central or paracentral, the same treatment was applied to both sides; and posterior lumbar interbody fusion(PLIF) or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) was applied to those that the mixtures occupied most part of the front canal. Results The follow-up studies were made for all the patients for 1 to 4 years with an average period of 2.6 years. For the two patients treated with conservative therapy, one was fully recovered and the other, who took no effect from former therapy, was finally recruited after decompression with fenestration on the trouble side. Among the patients who were treated with operation, those with lateral herniated mixtures received significant effect, while only 60% of those with central or paracentral mixtures recovered (the unrecovered or even worsened patients after operation finally recruited by PLIF), and for those with mixtures occupying most part of the front canal, satisfactory effect were achieved. Conclusion Operation treatment should be applied to patients as early as possible when conservative therapy has no obvious effect. Different operation methods should be taken according to the relationship between compressive hernia and vertebral canal: 1) Decompression with fenestration or amplified fenestration on the trouble side be applied to those with lateral herniated mixtures; 2) Decompression with fenestration on both sides be applied to those with paracentral mixtures but no lateral crypt narrowness, and PLIF or TLIF to those with central mixtures or lateral crypt narrowness; 3) PLIF or TLIF be applied to those with mixtures occupying most part of the front canal.

Objective To discuss the individual method and its feasibility and security of balloon kyphoplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral fractures with vertebral body wall incompetence. Methods Thirty-nine vertebral bodies were performed for kyphoplasty in 35 osteoporotic patients with vertebral compression fractures with incompetence of vertebral body wall. During operation, the cement was injected twice to avoid anterior leaking in the patients with anterior wall incompetence, while in the patients with posterior or lateral wall incompetence, the cement was injected with continuously X-ray monitoring by C-arm to prevent lateral or posterior leaking. The symptoms improvement, vertebral height restoration and complications were observed. Results All patients tolerated the procedure well with immediate relief of back pain after kyphoplasty. No symptomatic complications were found in all patients. The vertebral height had a recovery rate of 68.46%, and the mean Cobb angle was improved 8.6?. There was significant difference in Cobb angles between preoperation and postoperation (P

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of balloon kyphoplasty in the treatment of painful multi-vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures. Methods From October 2002 to April 2007, 42 patients (96 vertebrae) with painful multi-vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures underwent kyphoplasty. The group included 14 men and 28 women with an average age of 72.5 years (range 56-91 years). Each pro-cedure included insertion and insertion of balloon, fracture reduction and cement filling under "C"-arm monitoring. Preoperative and postoperative pain level, SF-36 score, vertebral height restoration, local kypho-sis correction and complications were recorded and analysed. Results All 42 patients tolerated the opera-tion well and were followed up for average 31.4 months (range 12-71 months). The mean VAS pain score decreased significantly from 7.1±2.4 preoperatively to 2.7±1.3 postoperatively, the mean height of anterior and medial vertebral body were (1.8±0.5) cm, (1.6±0.6) cm preoperatively and (2.3±0.6) cm, (2.2±0.7) cm postoperatively. No significant change of posterior vertebral height was recorded postoperatively.The mean correction of local kyphosis was 9.2°at each level. 6 of 8 subscahs measured by SF-36, including physical function, role function, bodily pain, vitality, role emotion, mental health, were significantly improved by the operation. Complications were found in 7 patients including 6 cases of cement leakage with no clinical symptoms (intradiscal cement leakage in two cases, paravertebral vessel leakage in two cases, paravertebral leakage in one case and cement leakage into canal in one case), and 1 case of pulmonary embelization with symptoms relieved after conservative treatment. Conclusion Kyphoplasty is effective and relatively safe for multi-vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures.

Objective To study the method of isolating and culturing stem cells from rat adipose tissue and to determine if adipose-derived stem cells(ADSCs)harvest from rat could differentiate into osteogenic and chondrogenic in vitro.Methods ADSCs were isolated from rat inguinal fat pads after extensive washing with phosphate-derived saline and digesting with collagenase.After primary culture in control medium and expanded to two passages,the cells were incubated in either an osteogenic medium or an chondrogenic medium for 2-4 weeks to induce osteogenesis and chondrogenesis,respectively.Evidences of Osteogenic differentiation,were detected by a ALP solution,and while chondrogenic differentiation was confirmed using the histologic Alcian blue staining at acidic pH.Expressions of osteocyte and chondrocyte specific genes were confirmed by RT-PCR.Results ADSCs can be isolated from rat adipose tissue and,expanded rapidly.It exhibited a heterogeneous population of fibroblast like cells morphologically.ADSCs induced to osteogenesis were stained positively for alkaline phosphatase activity after 2 weeks and formed mineralized nodular structures,as conformed by Von kossa staining.Expression of osteocyte specific genes,such as ALP,osteopontin,osteocalcin,was detected.ALP and osteopontin,were expressed constitutively in osteogenic medium after 2 and 4 weeks of culture.Expression of osteocalcin,was induced by osteogenic growth factors at 4 weeks.Induced to chondrogenesis cells were positive of Alcian blue staining under acidic conditions and expression of aggrecan and typeⅡ/Ⅹ collagen genes.Aggrecan and typeⅡcollagen genes were abundant after 2 weeks in chondrogenic medium.TypeⅩ collagen gene was detected at 4 weeks.Conclusion Adipose-derived stem cells can be isolated from rat adipose tissue.Their biological characteristics are similar with mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs),and have the potential to differentiate into osteogenic and chondrogenic lineage.It may be an idea source of ADSCs for tissue engineering.