What Researchers Did
Researchers reported on two cases of craniocervical osteoradionecrosis treated with neoadjuvant and adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with posterior spinal fusion.
What They Found
Both patients, who underwent posterior occipital-cervical fusions with an average operative time of 301 minutes and 250 mL blood loss, stayed in the hospital for 5 days without periprocedural complications. Outcomes included a 30% improvement in global assessment of function, solid bony fusion on imaging, and both patients returned to full work duty.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients suffering from craniocervical osteoradionecrosis, this report suggests that a combination of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and spinal fusion may be a viable treatment option. This approach could potentially improve function and allow a return to normal activities for those with this severe complication of head and neck cancer radiation.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was not conducted in Canada or by Canadian researchers.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation of this study is its very small sample size, reporting on only two cases.