Hyperguides

Orthopaedics

Spine

Spine resources from the Orthopaedics Hyperguide.

29 resourcesAlphabetical A–Z
Spine · Article

Back Pain: A Brief Overview

Marco T. Silva, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Back pain is the fifth most common cause for a medical visitation. Back pain is benign in most patients; only a select group of patients require further work-up and treatment. Annually, back pain is accountable for more…

Spine · Article

Brachial Plexus Surgery

John Ratliff, MD

When preparing a patient for brachial plexus exploration, the shoulder is elevated, usually by a folded sheet, and the patient’s head is rotated away from the side to be exposed. On this cadaver, blue towels are used to…

Spine · Article

Cervical Facet Dislocations

Brian K. Kwon, MD, FRCSC John Beiner, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Facet dislocations or fracture-dislocations are relatively common injuries in the subaxial cervical spine. Facet dislocations are often caused by flexion and distractive forces, with or without an element of rotation.…

Spine · Article

Cervical Radiculopathy

Brian K. Kwon, MD, FRCSC John Beiner, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Degeneration of the intervertebral disk is a universal, age-related process; therefore, radiculopathy secondary to cervical spondylosis is a relatively common phenomenon. A population-based survey performed in Minnesota…

Spine · Article

Degenerative Disk Disease

Rahul Shah, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Many physicians believe that degenerative disk disease is the most common cause of chronic, disabling low back pain (also know as diskogenic pain or internal disk disruption).1,2 In patients with degenerative disk…

Spine · Article

Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis

John M. Beiner, MD Brian Kwon, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Adult scoliosis can be loosely divided into two categories - either an extension of a preexisting scoliosis, such as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, or a de novo scoliosis, also known as senescent scoliosis or adult…

Spine · Article

Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis

John M. Beiner, MD Brian Kwon, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

The term spondylolisthesis comes from the concatenation of two Greek words - spondylo (vertebra) and olisthesis (slipping). In the lumbar spine, spondylolisthesis is classified into several types according to the system…

Spine · Article

Lumbar Disk Herniations

Rahul Shah, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Ninety-five percent of herniated disks are located in the lumbar spine.1 Lumbar herniated disks present as back pain or radicular leg pain or weakness (which is commonly referred to as sciatica). This pathologic…

Spine · Article

Lumbar Stenosis

Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Brian K. Kwon, MD John M. Beiner, MD Alan S. Hilibrand, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Lumbar stenosis is a narrowing of the space available for the neural elements in the lumbar spine. Although the concept of lumbar stenosis was introduced by Protal in 1803, it was not popularized until the 1950s when it…

Spine · Article

Lumbosacral Disk Herniation

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD

The prevalence of symptomatic lumbosacral disk herniation is relatively small. It is important to differentiate between the reasonably well-defined entity of sciatica resulting from a herniated intervertebral disk and…

Spine · Article

Lumbosacral Spinal Imaging

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD

Plain radiographs, myelography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the core imaging modalities used in the evaluation of the lumbosacral spine. Despite the increased sophistication and…

Spine · Article

LUMBOSACRAL SPINE Metastatic Disease

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD Laura S. Phieffer, MD

The spine is the most common site of skeletal metastasis, with the lumbar vertebrae being the most frequently affected. Metastatic disease to the spine may occur with almost any of the solid tumors of the body as well…

Spine · Article

LUMBOSACRAL SPINE Spine

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD Laura S. Phieffer, MD

The spinal column consists of 33 vertebrae that form a firm, but flexible, shaft that supports the trunk and appendages and provides protection for the spinal cord. The lumbar spine is characterized by five robust…

Spine · Article

LUMBOSACRAL SPINE Vertebral Osteomyelitis

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD Laura S. Phieffer, MD

Spinal infections may involve the vertebral body (vertebral osteomyelitis), the intervertebral disc (infectious discitis), or the spinal canal and its contents (spinal epidural abscess). Vertebral osteomyelitis is…

Spine · Article

Metastatic disease of the thoracic spine

Rongming Xu, MD Nabil A. Ebraheim, MD

Pain is followed by weakness of the lower extremities, sensory loss and bladder and bowel changes. Complete paraplegia may be the final sequence of thoracic metastatic disease. In patients whose paraplegia develops…

Spine · Article

Metastatic Spine Disease

Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Alan S. Hilibrand, MD John M. Beiner, MD Brian K. Kwon, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Jaffe estimated that more than 70% of patients who die from cancer have skeletal metastases that often involve the spine.1 The spine is the most common site for metastases within the skeletal system. Management requires…

Spine · Article

Odontoid Fractures

John M. Beiner, MD Brian Kwon, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Fractures of the odontoid process make up 7% to 14% of all cervical spine fractures.1 Odontoid fractures are frequently missed due to an altered mental status of a patient (e.g., head trauma or alcohol intoxication) or…

Spine · Article

Pyogenic Vertebral Osteomyelitis in the Thoracic Spine

Rongming Xu, MD Nabil A. Ebraheim, MD

Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis in the thoracic spine is not rare, and is associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Infection of the thoracic spine mostly results from hematogenous spread of bacteria from…

Spine · Article

Spinal Cord Injury and Lesions

Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, MS

Heary RF, Vaynman AY. Spinal cord injury and paralysis. In: Orthopaedic Surgery Essentials Spine. Bono CM, Garfin SR, eds. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams and Wilkings; 2004:58-62.

Spine · Article

Spinal Cord Injury and Regeneration

Brian K. Kwon, MD, FRCSC David S. Stirling, BSc Todd J. Albert, MD

Spinal cord injuries represent one of the most survivable, yet disabling injuries known to man. An estimated 10,000 North American people are injured in the spinal cord each year, most of whom are younger than 30 years…

Spine · Article

Spinal Cord Injury and Repair

Sepehr Sani, MD Norman Ajiboye, BS John Ratliff, MD

Advances in intensive medical care and rehabilitative care have changed the paradigm on spinal cord injuries. Early in the 20th century, a spinal cord injury was considered a universally fatal illness within a few years…

Spine · Article

Spine Anatomy Facts: Core Concepts

Frank J. Frassica, MD

Core knowledge1 The normal range of degrees of thoracic kyphosis is 20° to 50°. The mean in normal adults is 35°. The normal range of degrees of lumbar lordosis is 40° to 80°. The mean in normal adults is approximately…

Spine · Article

Surgical Management of Spinal Cord Tumors

Sepehr Sani, MD Adam Smith, BS John Ratliff, MD

Spinal cord tumors represent between 4% and 15% of all central nervous system (CNS) tumors.1 The majority of tumors are located inside the dural compartment and are further described as either intramedullary or…

Spine · Article

Thoracolumbar Fractures

John M Beiner, MD Brian K. Kwon, MD Jonathan N. Grauer, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Traumatic injuries of the thoracolumbar spine make up approximately 40% of all spine injuries. Up to 60% of spinal injuries occur between the T11 and L1 segments due to anatomic considerations detailed below.1,2 Perhaps…

Spine · Article

Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures

Oren G. Blam, MD Todd J. Albert, MD

Differences in the presentation and treatment of spinal fractures exist among thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar spine regions because of the differing biomechanical properties and neuroanatomy of the areas.…

Spine · Article

Vertebral Osteomyelitis

Edward N. Hanley Jr., MD Updated by: John K. Ratliff, MD

Vertebral osteomyelitis is the most common extradural infectious process affecting the spine.1 However, the diagnosis is frequently missed or delayed until major vertebral destruction or neural compromise has occurred.…