• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2007

Objective : The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that have effects on the neurological deficit in the patients with thoracolumbar fracture. Methods : Forty-eight patients were included. Cause of injury, type of injury, time interval, combined injury, kyphotic angle, spinal canal compromise, sagittal diameter, the most narrow sagittal diameter, transverse diameter, the most narrow transverse diameter, and remained height of vertebra body were concerned as the factors. The patients with American Spinal Injury Association[ASIA] impairment scale grade A to D were considered as having neurology while others with ASIA grade E were considered to be without neurology. The patients with ASIA grade A were classified to paraplegia group and the patients with ASIA grade B to E were not thought to be paraplegia. Statistical analysis for these groups were performed. Results : Spinal canal compromise [P<0.001] have correlation with neurological deficit. The most narrow sagittal diameter was smaller in the group with deficit than that in the group without deficit [P<0.004]. Also, combined injury have correlation with neurology [P=0.028]. Spinal canal compromise [P<0.001], sagittal diameter [P=0.032], the most narrow sagittal diameter [P=0.025], and Denis type [P<0.001] also have correlation with paraplegia. Conclusion : The factors of percentage of spinal canal compromise, the most narrow sagittal diameter, and combined injury are predictive of neurological deficit. The patients with paraplegia may be predicted by the factors such as type of injury, spinal canal compromise, sagittal diameter, the most narrow sagittal diameter, and Denis type.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2024

Background: Manual acupressures in the correction and recovery of spinal deformities are known to be effective. However, they rely on therapists' skill and often require a long treatment time. The shortcomings of the manual therapy are anticipated to be effectively mitigated through self-gravitational acupressures (SGA) which stimulate multiple acupoints simultaneously with acupressure tools. Objective: The study aims to verify the effect of SGA for the correction of sagittal standing posture. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the postural improvements of the 93 subjects who underwent the SGA intervention, leveraging self-gravity for stimulating neck, back, pelvis, and calf areas both overall and sequentially using a set of acupressure tools equipped with multiple acupressing rods. Degree of posture abnormality was assessed before and after the SGA intervention using the photographic images of the subjects' sagittal standing postures, based on the angles of inclination of the upper body (from external auditory meatus to pelvis) and the lower body (from pelvis to malleolus) from the gravitational line passing through the hip joint. Results: After the SGA intervention, the upper body inclination angle was observed to decrease from an average of 3.2° to 1.6° (50.0% reduction, p<.001), and the lower body inclination angle decreased from an average of 3.5° to 3.2° (8.6% reduction, p<.01). Conclusion: The observed results underpin that SGA is effective for the correction of postural deformities. For the clinical application of SGA, prospective research is needed to optimize SGA protocol and acupressing tools and to validate long-term clinical efficacy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1314-1319
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• 2001

Objects : Because of the nonspecific nature of symptoms in tuberculous spondylitis, a delay in the diagnosis can result in progressive neurologic deficits. The authors evaluate the clinical and the radiological results of the 10 cases of surgically treated tuberculous spondylitis. Clinical materials & Methods : We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 10 patients with tuberculous spondylitis who were treated between February 1996 and March 2000. Six patients were female, and four were male. Mean age was 43 years old, and mean follow-up period was 20.5 months. All patients were treated with 12 months of antituberculous medication postoperatively, and were followed by complete blood count, ESR, spine X-ray and MRI. Results : The lumbar spine was involved in 5 patients, the thoracic in 4, and the thoracolumbar in one. The infected vertebral bodies were 2.8 in average. The associated lesions were pulmonary tuberculosis in 3 cases, and renal tuberculosis in one. Five patients were treated by anterior debridement and fusion with bone graft using anterior instrumentation, 2 with anterior debridement and fusion with bone graft(Hong Kong procedure only), 1 with Hong Kong procedure with posterior spinal instrumentation, and 2 were managed with posterior debridement and posterior spinal instrumentation. All patients improved after operation, and the average kyphotic angle decreased postoperatively. Postoperatively, one patient had a fistula at the operative site. Conclusion : The debridement and minimal level fusion of motion segment with instrument fixation is one of surgical option for tuberculous spondyltis to preserve the spine motion segment as much as possible. Spine instability and kyphosis were prevented by anterior and posterior spinal instrumentation. But, large number of cases and longer period follow-up study in future will be needed to confirm the long term results.