Background

Intermittent claudication is a common symptom of both lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in middle-aged and elderly people. However, the prevalence and clinical characteristics of LSS with PAD (LSSPAD) have not been investigated in a multicenter study. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of LSS associated with PAD.

Methods

570 patients diagnosed with LSS using a clinical diagnostic support tool and MRI at 64 facilities were enrolled. We evaluated each patient’s medical history, physical findings, ankle brachial index, Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) score, and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) score. Statistical analyses were performed to compare LSSPAD patients and LSS patients without PAD using the t test, Mann–Whitney’s U test, and multivariate recurrence analysis. p values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

The LSSPAD group comprised 38 patients (6.7 %); 20 (3.5 %) had pre-diagnosised PAD while 18 (3.2 %) had undetected PAD. The clinical characteristics of these patients were advanced age, diabetes, and a history of ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disorder. 570 patients enrolled, and 448 (78.6 %) of those patients were followed up at three months after enrollment. Pain in buttocks and legs improved less in the LSSPAD group than in the LSS group (p < 0.05). Improvements in the “general health” score in SF-36 were lower in the LSSPAD group than in the LSS group (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Advanced age, diabetes, and a history of cerebrovascular disorder and ischemic heart disease were associated with LSSPAD. Because LSSPAD patients show less improvement in QOL than patients with LSS but without PAD do, clinicians should consider the coexistence of PAD in LSS patients.

Purpose. It has been reported that Th2 cytokines downregulate antitumor immunity, while activation of type T cells promotes antitumor immunity. The aim of this paper was to evaluate host immunity in liver cirrhosis (LC) patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) receiving sorafenib therapy. Methods. Forty-five adult Japanese LC patients received sorafenib for aHCC between 2009 and 2011 at our hospital. Sorafenib was administered at a dose of 200–800 mg/day for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected before and after treatment. Results. Eleven patients were treated with sorafenib at 200 mg/day (200 group), 27 patients received sorafenib at 400 mg/day (400 group), and 7 patients were given sorafenib at 800 mg/day (800 group). There was no significant change in the percentage of Th1 cells after treatment in any group. However, the percentages of Th2 cells and regulatory T cells were significantly decreased after treatment in the 400 group and 800 group compared with before treatment, although there was no significant change after treatment in the 200 group. Conclusions. These results indicate that treatment with sorafenib might induce Th1 dominance and prevent the escape of tumor cells from the host immune system in LC patients with aHCC.

Background

Closed-suction drainage is commonly used for prevention of postoperative hematoma and associated neurologic compromise after lumbar decompression, but it remains unclear whether suction drainage reduces postoperative complications.

Questions/purposes

We evaluated the efficacy of closed-suction drainage in single-level lumbar decompression surgery.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 560 patients who underwent single-level lumbar decompression or discectomy. We routinely used closed-suction drainage in all spinal surgeries until July 2003, and thereafter, we did not use drains in single-level lumbar decompression surgery. These two groups (298 patients in the group that received drains, 262 in the group that did not receive drains) were compared for rates of wound infection and epidural hematoma.

Results

Mean operating time (55 versus 56 minutes) and intraoperative blood loss (64 versus 57 mL) were not different between the two groups. None of 560 patients had a wound infection requiring surgical intervention. The rate of postoperative hematoma was 0.7% in the group that received drains (two of 298 patients) and 0% in the group that did not receive drains (zero of 262 patients).

Conclusions

In this study, the risk of wound infection and hematomas in single-level lumbar decompression surgery was not influenced by use of a drain. The use of postoperative wound drainage in patients with potential risk for epidural bleeding in situations such as multiple-level decompression, instrumentation surgery, anticoagulant therapy, trauma, and tumors or metastases needs additional study.

Level of Evidence

Level III, prognostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.