Adjacent segment degeneration and topping off. Never stop at the apex!

We investigated if applying the Transition system (® Globus Medical) as topping off can prevent Adjacent Segment Degeneration (ASD) and if rate of ASD is increased if instrumentation stopped at the apex of the Lumbar Lordosis (LL). We enrolled 99 consecutive patients in a retrospective study who hav...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Markus R. Konieczny, Shejda Mokhaberi, Rüdiger Krauspe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Open Medical Publishing 2019-06-01
Series:Orthopedic Reviews
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/or/article/view/7781
Description
Summary:We investigated if applying the Transition system (® Globus Medical) as topping off can prevent Adjacent Segment Degeneration (ASD) and if rate of ASD is increased if instrumentation stopped at the apex of the Lumbar Lordosis (LL). We enrolled 99 consecutive patients in a retrospective study who have been operated by instrumented fusion of the lumbar spine. Thirty patients were treated by topping of (Group 1), 69 patients received the standard procedure (Group 2). 18 patients of group 1 (60%) and 38 patients of group 2 (55%) developed ASD. The difference was not significant (p>0.05). In 17 patients (17%) instrumentation stopped at apex of LL. 14/17 patients (82%) developed an ASD. This influence was significant (p<0.05). Instrumented fusion of the lumbar spine should not stop at the apex of the lumbar curve. Topping off by hybrid dynamic fixation does not reduce the rate of ASD.
ISSN:2035-8237
2035-8164