Active clinical trials for "Spinal Diseases"

PET imaging of activated microglia offers a tool of investigation of a range of brain diseases where neuroinflammation is a component. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the most frequent motoneuronal disease in adult. This study was designed to explore the feasibility of molecular imaging modality by Positron Emission Tomography using 18F-X as an in vivo marker of activated microglia for the assessment of neuroinflammation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PET may help in the diagnosis of the disease and, further, may allow assessment of the efficacy of antiinflammatory treatment.

The collection of data from the myriad of services described is significantly impacted by NIH guidelines defining medical research involving humans as well as the recent implementation of HIPAA constraints which further complicate the conduct of retrospective clinical outcomes research. Simple case reports or case series analysis now involve IRB participation as well as voluminous documentation. The solution to this dilemma lies in developing and promoting secure, confidential prospective clinical databases for storing clinical data for subsequent retrospective de-identified inquiry. These databases function in a way analogous to "tissue banks" for subsequent basic science research. Patients consent to prospective entry of their clinical information into the database so long as they continue to be a patient with the Department of Neurological Surgery or the Departments or Divisions in association with the affiliated programs briefly described above. The consent is obtained during the patient's first inpatient or outpatient encounter in parallel with the HIPAA consent. It can be withdrawn by request of the patient at any time, but it does not expire unless the patient withdraws it, or the patient severs their patient care relationship with UCI Neurosurgery or the affiliated programs. The database is stored on a separate secure server maintained and backed up by the UCIMC Information Technology Department. Access to the database is restricted at multiple levels, with the majority of personnel allowed only limited access for data entry purposes. Only the database programmer/coordinator, the Department Administrator and the Chairman of the Department will have unrestricted access to the database. Authority for permission for levels of security clearance and access to the database, for other individuals, will be vested in the Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery. A separate IRB proposal will be formulated for individual study related to the acquisition of data from the de-identified database. Since these future studies will be performed on data sets derived from the previously consented subjects of this IRB-approved project, the requirement for additional consent forms are not anticipated. As a result IRB research proposals utilizing the database can be expedited. Once the specific study is approved, the investigator(s) are provided with the clinical information from the database in the form of a de-identified data set.

The investigator hopes to learn the incidence of needle placement in both the epidural and intravascular space, and learn mixed epidural-intravascular pattern related to needle type, gauge, and level of injection. We also hope to evaluate the length of fluoroscopy time when using real time fluoroscopy during contrast dye injection, evaluate the radiation exposure to the hands of the physician during this protocol, and confirm the incidence fo intravascular injection and sensitivity of needle flash of blood, In the lumbar spine, vascular contrast patterns are more than twice as likely to appear simultaneous to the anticipated epidural pattern, than they are to occur alone. This is important since practitioners are more likely to miss a vascular pattern that occurs simultaneous to epidural spread, than they are to occur alone. The incidence of intravascular penetration in cervical transforaminal epidural injections is known to exceed that of lumbar injections, however no study has determined the incidence of simultaneous epidural and vascular injection in the cervical spine. This study may prove that real time fluoroscopy during contrast injection is warranted to prevent intravascular injection and resultant side effects to support this as standard of care. Intermittent fluoroscopy can yield false-negative results for intravascular injection when simultaneous epidural and intravascular injection occurs. This could lead to an increased risk of complication from intravascular injection of medications and reduce overall efficacy. No studies to date have quantified the incidence of needle placement located in both the intravascular space and epidural space simultaneously.

To evaluate whether postoperative PROM scores of spine patients are influenced by memory bias

BIS is one of several equipments used to monitor depth of anesthesia.Some studies found BIS can reduce total propofol dose when being used with target controlled infusion (TCI).The objective is to compare awakening time after spine surgery between using clinical signs and bispectral index (BIS) guided target controlled infusion(TCI) of propofol in patients having neurophysiologic monitoring.

There is a clear need in spine surgery to place pedicle screws in the right place in the spine with good accuracy to avoid damage to important structures (spinal cord, nerve roots or vertebral arteries). The objective of the study was to investigate the accuracy of screw placement during spine surgery.

In the present study, the investigators compare intermediate and deep NMB i.e. the two extreme regimes of muscle paralysis (neuromuscular block; NMB), (I) patients receiving intermediate muscle paralysis (''control, conventional NMB'') versus (II) patients with a deep neuromuscular blockade with rocuronium (''Deep NMB''), will be compared during a surgical procedure which is considered to be very sensitive for inadequate muscle relaxation, elective minimally invasive spinal surgery. The primary objective of this trial is to compare the operation time reduction with the help of the decreased stiffness of targeted back muscle surrounding the surgical field. The changed back muscle stiffness also measured as secondary objective goal by a mechanical tension weighing scale and also taking ultrasonography using shear wave elastography (SWE). Other observational objectives are divided into the following categories of stakeholders: patients, surgeons and anesthesiologists', done by collecting the variety of clinical parameters. The following will be collected and compared. For patients Intraoperative radiation amount, post-anesthetic care unit(PACU) stay, transfer rate to SICU for post-op. care, post-operative respiratory complication rate, and total hospital costs. For surgeons Post-operative complications in regard to operation field, and evaluate surgical conditions using a Visual Analogue Scale(VAS score) in surgeon's side. For anesthesiologists Intraoperative ventilation parameters of patients, and evaluate surgical conditions using a Visual Analogue Scale(VAS score) in anesthesiologist's side.

Many patients receiving opioid based analgesia after spinal surgery experience postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) despite prophylaxis and treatment with antiemetic agents. Dehydration caused by fasting prior to surgery is associated with the development of PONV. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of oral carbohydrates loading prior to surgery in patients at high risk of PONV undergoing spinal surgery.

Elderly patients are reportedly at higher risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).The authors hypothesized that the incidence of POCD would be affected by several factors including, the age of the patient, the degree of cerebral oxygenation, type of anesthesia administered, majority of surgery and the patient position during surgery.The investigators examined the relationship between all the previous parameters and (POCD).

1. Compare the effect of virtual single energy imaging and virtual single energy combined with MAR technology to remove metal artifacts in the spine. 2. Discuss the most suitable KeV of virtual single energy imaging combined with MAR technology to remove metal artifacts.