Ultrasonography for lumbar neuraxial block

Ultrasonography can be useful to perform a lumbar neuraxial block. It aids in understanding the anatomy of the lumbar spine before the procedure. Pre-procedural ultrasound imaging provides information about the accurate intervertebral level for puncture, optimal needle insertion point, and depth of needle advancement for a successful neuraxial block. The key ultrasonographic views for lumbar neuraxial block include the transverse midline interlaminar and parasagittal oblique views. Ultrasonography can facilitate lumbar neuraxial block in difficult cases, such as the elderly, obese patients, and patients with anatomical abnormality of the lumbar spine. This review elucidates the basics of spinal ultrasonography for lumbar neuraxial block and the current evidence regarding ultrasound-guided neuraxial block in adults.

Free area of the spinal canal and Torg’s ratio in acute cervical trauma and degenerative disease: MANCOVA and correlational analyses.

Background: The two of the most common indications for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the cervical spine include acute spine trauma and degenerative disease. Objective: We aimed to correlate the measurements of the free area of the spinal canal (FASC), a new approach to the cervical spinal canal compromise, with the Torg´s ratio quantification of the cervical spine. Methods: Cross-sectional study including 50 cervical-spine MR evaluations of patients with acute cervical trauma or degenerative disease. We used multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to identify the type of lesion, intervertebral level and gender differences between FASC and Torg´s ratio quantification of the cervical spine; age was the controlled covariate. Correlates between FASC and Torg´s ratio were obtained at each intervertebral level. Results: There was a non-significant interaction between the type of lesion, gender and intervertebral levels between FASC and Torg´s ratio measurements, F (8, 456) 0.260, p = .978; Wilks' Lambda 0.991; with a small effect size (partial η2 = .005). Among the main effects, only the gender was statistically significant: F (2, 228) = 3.682, p = .027. The age (controlled covariate) was non-significantly related to FASC and Torg´s ratio quantification: F (2, 228) = .098, p = .907. The Pearson´s correlation coefficient depicted a poor, non-significant agreement between FASC and Torg´s ratio. Conclusions: FASC provide an integrative evaluation of the cervical spinal canal compromise in acute, cervical spine trauma and degenerative disease. Further observations and correlation with specific neurological symptoms, surgical findings and outcome are necessary to assess the usefulness of FASC in clinical settings.

Repeated recurrence of thoracic spine stenosis following decompression alone for ossification of the ligamentum flavum: case report

Ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) is a well-recognized but rare cause of thoracic myelopathy. Its subtle and variable clinical presentation often makes the diagnosis challenging. The treatment of symptomatic OLF requires surgical intervention, with the most common surgical procedure being a posterior decompression with or without instrumentation. Recurrence of ossification and stenosis after surgery is rare and usually occurs at the same intervertebral level. Multiple recurrences of ossification and stenosis are exceptionally rare. The authors report the case of OLF in a 60-year-old man who experienced recurrence of ossification and stenosis twice after posterior decompression surgeries alone. The patient was ultimately treated with revision decompression and instrumented fusion. The authors also present a pertinent review of the literature.