What Researchers Did
The researchers looked back at the records of 13 patients who had repeated infections after spine surgery and tracked their pain, daily function, and nerve recovery after a final rebuilding surgery.
What They Found
In this retrospective study of 13 patients with long-lasting spine infections after surgery, pain and disability dropped sharply after reconstruction, with mean pain scores falling from 9.5 to 1.7 at 1 year and mean disability scores improving from 62.4 to 19.2. Patients had a mean age of 47.7 years, a mean of 4.9 earlier spine surgeries, and were followed for a mean of 64 months. Nerve function improved in 53.8% of patients, and 30.8% recovered completely. Spinal alignment improved after surgery, but the size of that correction did not match pain or function results.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
The study was retrospective, had only 13 patients, and had no comparison group, so the authors treated their statistics as hypothesis-generating and the role of hyperbaric oxygen cannot be separated from surgery and antibiotics.