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en: Return-to-play outcomes after full-endoscopic spine surgery under local anesthesia in professional baseball players: Comparison by timing of surgery.

en: TF-FESS is a good technique for achieving a quick return to play in professional baseball players. In particular, surgery performed during the post-season could allow players to return to play after adequate rehabilitation with no game loss.

ja: All players (100 %) could return to their original level of professional play after FESS surgery. Seven of the 10 patients underwent two-level surgery. The mean time until complete return to play was 4.6 months (range, 2-8 months) and the mean duration of game loss was 1.5 months (range, 0-4 months). The mean duration of game loss was shorter in the post-season group than in the other groups (0.9 vs 2,4 months), and 4 of 6 patients in the post-season group did not miss any games.

en: Journal of Orthopaedic Science

ja: Journal of Orthopaedic Science


en: Morphological Evaluation of Lumbar Facet Joints in Professional Baseball Players.

en: The facet joints of professional baseball players were enlarged asymmetrically, with different tendencies observed between pitchers and fielders. Although pitching and batting are movements that transmit the rotation from the lower limbs to the upper limbs, the effects of rotation and lateral flexion were associated significantly with facet joint hypertrophy.

en: Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine

ja: Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine


en: Advantages of Full-endoscopic Trans-Kambin's Triangle Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis: Illustrative Cases.

en: Various approaches to lumbar interbody fusion have been described. The usefulness of full-endoscopic trans-Kambin's triangle lumbar interbody fusion has recently been reported. This technique has several advantages in patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis, including the ability to improve symptoms without decompression surgery. Moreover, given that the entire procedure is performed percutaneously, it can be performed without increasing the operation time or surgical invasiveness, even in obese patients. In this article, we discuss these advantages and illustrate them with representative cases.

en: NMC Case Report Journal

ja: NMC Case Report Journal


en: Blue light induces apoptosis and autophagy by promoting ROS-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction in synovial sarcoma.

en: Taken together, our results revealed that BL induced apoptosis via the ROS-mitochondrial signaling pathway, and autophagy was activated in response to the production of ROS, which protected SS cells from apoptosis. Therefore, BL is a promising candidate for the development of an antitumor therapeutic strategy targeting SS.

en: Cancer Medicine

ja: Cancer Medicine


en: Anterior Longitudinal Ligament Avulsion Fracture when Changing the Patient's Position from Lateral to Prone during Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion: A Case Report.

en: Spine Surgery and Related Research

ja: Spine Surgery and Related Research


en: Full-Endoscopic Trans-Kambin Triangle Lumbar Interbody Fusion: Surgical Technique and Nomenclature.

en: Kambin's triangle lies immediately behind the psoas major. Therefore, we consider KLIF as a lateral LIF procedure comparable with oblique or extreme LIF. However, unlike oblique or extreme LIF, there are no major vessels and organs in the surgical field; therefore, KLIF is the safest type of lateral LIF. Furthermore, using the endoscope, we can perform decompression directly using the facetectomy technique.

en: Journal of Neurological Surgery. Part A, Central European Neurosurgery


en: SURGICAL TECHNIQUE AND CLINICAL BENEFITS IN FULL-ENDOSCOPIC TRANS-KAMBIN TRIANGLE LUMBAR INTERBODY FUSION (KLIF): A REVIEW

en: Journal of Musculoskeletal Research

ja: Journal of Musculoskeletal Research


en: Full-endoscopic intradiscal surgery: state of the art.

en: Journal of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Technique


en: Full-endoscopic Spine Surgery for Discogenic Low Back Pain with High-intensity Zones and Modic Type 1 Change in a Professional Baseball Player.

en: Non-specific low back pain in athletes can be caused by discogenic back pain, Modic type 1 change, and facet joint arthritis. In this report, we describe a full-endoscopic surgical strategy that we have used to treat a patient with both discogenic pain and Modic type 1 change. The patient was a 32-year-old professional baseball player who played an infield position and had a 2-year history of low back pain. Three years earlier, he had undergone micro-endoscopic discectomy for left herniated nucleus pulposus at L5/S1. His leg symptoms resolved postoperatively, and he returned to playing baseball the following season. However, his low back pain gradually increased. Two years after the initial surgery, he was experiencing low back pain in daily life and found it very difficult to play baseball. Short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed Modic type 1 change and high-signal intensity zones in degenerated discs at L4/5 and L5/S1. Injection of xylocaine 1% reduced the pain temporarily, confirming that the pain generator was at L4/5 and L5/S1. The pathological diagnosis was discogenic pain with Modic type 1 change. We performed full-endoscopic disc cleaning (FEDC) surgery for the Modic type 1 change and thermal annuloplasty (TA) for the discogenic pain at these levels. The patient's low back pain decreased steadily thereafter. Six months after surgery, he returned to baseball, playing for a full season without pain. We have successfully treated a professional baseball player with discogenic pain and Modic type 1 change by full-endoscopic surgery.


en: Transitional vertebrae and numerical variants of the spine : prevalence and relationship to low back pain or degenerative spondylolisthesis.

en: Overall, 24% of subjects had anomalies in the thoracolumbar region: the type of anomaly differed between males and females, which could have significant implications for spinal surgery. A decreased number of vertebrae was associated with DS: numerical variants may potentially be a clinical problem. Cite this article:

en: The Bone & Joint Journal

ja: The Bone & Joint Journal


en: Planned Four-stage Transforaminal Full-endoscopic Lumbar Decompression under Local Anesthesia in a Patient with Severe Comorbidity.

en: A 74-year-old man presented with symptoms of intermittent claudication. A diagnosis of lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) at L3/4 and L4/5 was made based on the clinical and radiological findings. Bilateral lateral recess stenosis was detected at both these levels on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and on computed tomography (CT) scans obtained after myelography. Four nerve roots were impinged bilaterally at L4 and L5. The initial plan was to perform conventional laminectomy at L3/4 and L4/5 under general anesthesia. However, the neurologists pointed out that the patient had comorbidities of parkinsonism and severe carotid artery stenosis, meaning that an increase or decrease in blood pressure during general anesthesia could cause a stroke. Therefore, we changed the surgical plan to four-stage full-endoscopic ventral facetectomy at L3/4 and L4/5 bilaterally under local anesthesia. There were no surgery-related complications after any of the four operations. The patient's symptoms improved after the final operation and the modified MacNab criteria indicated a good clinical outcome. Full-endoscopic lumbar decompression surgery under local anesthesia may be effective in elderly patients who are in poor general health.

en: NMC Case Report Journal


en: Full-endoscopic trans-Kambins triangle lumbar interbody fusion: technique and review of literature.

ja: Journal of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Technique


en: Risk Factor for Additional Intravenous Medication during Transforaminal Full-endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy under Local Anesthesia.

en: Transforaminal full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (TELD) can be performed under local anesthesia. However, there have been no reports on risk factors for a change in vital signs or the need for additional medications to maintain adequate analgesia during this procedure. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for additional intravenous medication during TELD under local anesthesia. The following factors were retrospectively evaluated in 113 consecutive patients who underwent TELD under local anesthesia at our institution: demographic characteristics, radiological features at the intervertebral disc level, distance between the superior articular process and the exiting nerve root, height of the intervertebral disc, height of the bulging disc, height of the intervertebral foramen, and distance from the insertion site to the spinous process on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans of the lumbar spine. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with the need for additional drugs. In all, 23 cases (20.4%) required additional intraoperative medications because of hypertension, hypotension, bradycardia, or pain. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age (partial regression coefficient 0.05, p = 0.02) and bulging disc height (partial regression coefficient -0.7, p = 0.003) influenced the need for additional drugs. There were significant associations of need for additional intravenous medication with older age (>62 years) and a smaller bulging disc height (<8.2 mm). Patients with these factors require close monitoring for changes in vital signs or increasing pain when performing TELD under local anesthesia and may need additional intravenous medication.

en: Neurologia Medico-Chirurgica

ja: Neurologia Medico-Chirurgica


en: Return to the Original Work Activity Following the Full-endoscopic Lumbar Surgery under the Local Anesthesia.

en: Transforaminal full-endoscopic spine (TF-FES) surgery is minimally invasive and can be performed under local anesthesia. Thus, it is expected that the patient can return to work (RTW) quickly. However, information in the literature regarding this is sparse. The purpose of this study is to review the timing of RTW after TF-FES surgery. This study involved 50 patients (14 women, 36 men; mean age 44.5 years, age range: 20-65 years) who underwent TF-FES surgery between January 2016 and April 2018. All the patients were active workers. Occupations varied widely (e.g., physician, nurse, helper, clerk, construction worker, chef, and schoolteacher). There were no surgery-related complications. Median time to RTW was 21 days. More than half of the patients could RTW within 21 days. In all, 12 cases (24%) could have RTW within 7 days. Occupations of 12 patients who achieved RTW within 7 days included physician, company owner, and restaurant owner, with 11 in the Light work, 1 was in the Medium work, and none in the Heavy work. All 12 had a quick RTW because their work was Light and they could not take prolonged sick leave. Prompt RTW is possible with TF-FES surgery. The biggest merit of TF-FES surgery is minimal invasiveness to the muscles of the back. Also, it can be performed under local anesthesia. Our findings reveal quicker RTW after surgery, depending on occupational type.


en: A new surgical strategy for the intractable chronic low back pain due to type 1 Modic change using transforaminal full-endoscopic disc cleaning (FEDC) surgery under the local anesthesia : A case report and literature review.

en: It has been reported that Modic change of the lumbar spine endplate includes three types: i.e. . edema or inflammation for type 1, fatty marrow change for type 2 and sclerotic change for type 3. Basically, type 1 Modic change may be related to the chronic low back pain. There are two kinds of the treatment for the type 1 Modic change to heal the pain : the anti-inflammatory drugs, and intra-discal injection of steroid. When the inflammatory change would be intractable, surgical intervention is needed. The gold standard for the surgical intervention is the segmental fusion of the affected level. The fusion surgery may cause the adjacent degeneration ; thus, motion preservation surgery is better, if possible. Our department started the motion preservation full-endoscopic intradiscal debridement surgery for this pathology, since some of the type 1 Modic change may be chronic discitis by P. Acnes. In this paper, we describe the first patient of type 1 Modic change who was successfully treated by the full-endoscopic intra-discal debridement and drainage under the local anesthesia. We named this procedure as transforaminal full-endoscopic disc cleaning surgery (FEDC). Finally, pathology, conservative and surgical intervention of Modic change was discussed. J. Med. Invest. 68 : 1-5, February, 2021.

en: The Journal of Medical Investigation : JMI


en: An Elite Triathlete with High-grade Isthmic Spondylolisthesis Treated by Lumbar Decompression Surgery without Fusion.

en: The patient was a 48-year-old female recreational triathlete who had been experiencing mild low back pain since high school. She had recently developed right leg pain and had gradually worsening difficulty in running. She preferred to undergo spinal surgery without fusion so that she could return to triathlons as soon as possible, and she was referred to our hospital. Plain radiographs showed Meyerding grade 3 isthmic spondylolisthesis at L5 and a slipped L5 vertebral body. Selective nerve root block at L5 relieved the right leg pain temporarily. The final diagnosis was right L5 radiculopathy due to compression by the ragged edge of the L5 pars defect from the posterior side and by the upside-down foraminal stenosis at L5-S1. An L4-L5 partial laminectomy was performed with resection of the ragged edge and one-third of the caudal pedicle at L5. Adequate decompression was achieved by exposing the L5 spinal nerve root from the branch portion to the outside of the L5 pedicle. The right leg pain disappeared postoperatively and she returned to participating in triathlons. One year after surgery, there was slight radiographic progression of the slip in 5 mm; however, there had been no recurrence of the right leg pain. Several studies have reported excellent outcomes after decompression surgery in patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful lumbar decompression surgery without fusion for high-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis in a triathlete, although in short-term results.


en: Surgical management of stress fracture of the contralateral pedicle in a baseball player with unilateral lumbar spondylolysis : A case report.

en: We describe successful surgical treatment in a case of L5 unilateral spondylolysis with contralateral pedicle stress fracture that was not resolved by conservative treatment in a high-performing college baseball player. The 20-year-old man presented with left low back pain that stopped his sports activities. Over the previous year, he had experienced a couple of episodes of pain that subsided with cessation of sports but reappeared after a return to sports. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a right terminal stage pars fracture and a left pedicle stress fracture at L5. The pain originated from the left pedicle fracture, with no pain from the right unilateral spondylolysis. Given that conservative treatment for 1 year had not been effective, we decided on surgical treatment. Bilateral pedicle screws and the smiley face rod method were applied, and both fractures subsequently healed. In the 2 years since the surgery, the patient has returned to sports and has the potential to become a professional player. J. Med. Invest. 67 : 382-385, August, 2020.

ja: The Journal of Medical Investigation : JMI


en: Consecutive double-level lumbar spondylolysis successfully treated with the double "smiley face" rod method.

en: We report a case of double-level lumbar spondylolysis at L4 and L5 that was successfully treated with the double "smiley face" rod method. A healthy 29-year-old man who presented with a 6-year history of chronic low back pain was referred to us for surgical treatment. Plain radiographs and computed tomography of the lumbar spine revealed bilateral pars defects at L4 and L5 without slip or scoliosis. The patient underwent direct repair of the pars defects using the double smiley face rod method at L4 and L5. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications, and the patient had improved clinically by 1 year after surgery. The low back pain was completely disappeared and visual analog scale was 0. He restarted tennis again as the recreational level. While several techniques for direct repair of lumbar spondylolysis have been described, this is the first report of the double smiley face rod method being used to repair the consecutive double-level lumbar spondylolysis. J. Med. Invest. 67 : 202-206, February, 2020.