Publications by authors named "Pierce D Nunley"

Study Design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This trial was designed to understand safety and effectiveness outcomes in subjects with three-level cervical degenerative disc disease treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) alone or supplemented with a posterior cervical fusion (PCF) performed using an investigational posterior cervical stabilization system (PCSS).

Background: ACDF remains the most common surgical treatment for cervical disc disease.

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Purpose: To determine if iatrogenic posterior translation (UIV SPi) at the upper instrumented vertebrae (UIV) is associated with increased mechanical complications and secondarily to generate and validate a UIV SPi threshold for increased complications.

Methods: Two patient databases were utilized: one for generating a UIV SPi threshold and another for validation. Patients with a UIV between T8-L1 and a LIV at ilium were included.

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Objective: The goal of this study was to compare the impact of using a lower thoracic (LT) versus upper lumbar (UL) level as the upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) on clinical and radiographic outcomes following minimally invasive surgery for adult spinal deformity.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective study design was used. Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 18 years, and one of the following: coronal Cobb angle > 20°, sagittal vertical axis > 50 mm, pelvic tilt > 20°, pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis mismatch > 10°.

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Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospective multicenter adult spinal deformity (ASD) database.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and prognosis of postoperative coronal malalignment following LLIF for ASD with Qiu type A coronal alignment.

Summary Of Background Data: Qiu Type A coronal alignment is defined as coronal vertical axis (CVA) <30mm.

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Article Synopsis
  • Understanding preoperative deformity in lumbar spine revisions can help improve outcomes and prevent failures in future surgeries.
  • A study compared patients with no prior surgery (PRIMARY) and those with short (SHORT) or long (LONG) fusions, highlighting how different failure modes correlate with shorter fusions.
  • Results showed that revision patients experienced significant alignment issues and often required more invasive correction techniques, indicating a need for better alignment strategies in future operations.
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The traditional open midline posterior cervical spine fusion procedure has several shortcomings. It can cause soft tissue damage, muscle atrophy, compromise of the lateral masses and painful prominent posterior cervical instrumentation or spinous process if there is dehiscence of the fascia. Additionally, patients frequently experience the rapid development of adjacent segment disease, which can result in the reemergence of debilitating pain and functional impairment.

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Study Design: Prospective trial comparing the investigation group to propensity-matched historic control group.

Objective: To evaluate five-year results of single-level PEEK-on-ceramic cervical total disc replacement (TDR) compared with a propensity-matched anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) control group.

Summary Of Background Data: Cervical TDR has gained acceptance as a treatment for symptomatic disk degeneration.

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Background: Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is common in patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD). Limited data exist on the prevalence of hip OA in patients with ASD, or on its impact on baseline and postoperative alignment and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Therefore, this paper will assess the prevalence and impact of hip OA on alignment and PROMs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Severe sagittal plane deformity, particularly with significant loss of L4-S1 lordosis, can be effectively improved through surgical techniques like ALIF, PSO, and TLIF, but there’s limited data on their comparative effectiveness.
  • A study included 96 patients with severe spinal deformity, undergoing ALIF, PSO, or TLIF, and assessed their demographics, surgical outcomes, and complications.
  • Results showed that ALIF had similar lordosis correction to PSO but with fewer intraoperative complications, making it a preferable option for surgery when applicable.
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Background And Objectives: We sought to compare long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes in patients who underwent staged vs same-day circumferential minimally invasive surgery (cMIS) for adult spinal deformity (ASD).

Methods: We reviewed staged and same-day cMIS ASD cases in a prospective multi-institution database to compare preoperative and 2-year clinical and radiographic parameters between cohorts.

Results: A total of 85 patients with a 2-year follow-up were identified (27 staged, 58 same-day).

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The objective of this study was to evaluate if imbalance influences complication rates, radiological outcomes, and patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) following adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. ASD patients with baseline and 2-year radiographic and PROMs were included. Patients were grouped according to whether they answered yes or no to a recent history of pre-operative loss of balance.

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Study Design: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data.

Objective: To investigate the effect of lower extremity osteoarthritis on sagittal alignment and compensatory mechanisms in adult spinal deformity (ASD).

Background: Spine, hip, and knee pathologies often overlap in ASD patients.

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Objective: Depression has been implicated with worse immediate postoperative outcomes in adult spinal deformity (ASD) correction, yet the specific impact of depression on those patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) requires further clarity. This study aimed to evaluate the role of depression in the recovery of patients with ASD after undergoing MIS.

Methods: Patients who underwent MIS for ASD with a minimum postoperative follow-up of 1 year were included from a prospectively collected, multicenter registry.

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Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of correcting normative segmental lordosis values on postoperative outcomes.

Background: Restoring lumbar lordosis magnitude is crucial in adult spinal deformity surgery, but the optimal location and segmental distribution remain unclear.

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Background: Pedicle screw loosening and breakage are common causes of revision surgery after lumbar fusion. Thus, there remains a continued need for supplemental fixation options that offer immediate stability without the associated failure modes. This finite element analysis compared the biomechanical properties of a novel cortico-pedicular posterior fixation (CPPF) device with those of a conventional pedicle screw system (PSS).

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Study Design: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data.

Objective: To analyze the impact of operative room (OR) time in adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery on patient outcomes.

Background: It is currently unknown if OR time in ASD patients matched for deformity severity and surgical invasiveness is associated with patient outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of a hydrogel injection (Hydrafil) in 20 patients aged 22-69 with chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease that did not respond to regular treatment.
  • - After an average follow-up of 131 days, results indicated significant reductions in pain (from a median score of 7 to 1) and disability (from a median score of 54 to 2) after 6 months.
  • - Although there were 5 serious adverse events, only 4 were linked to the treatment, suggesting that the hydrogel implant is safe and effective in alleviating pain and improving function in these patients.
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Spine surgeons are often faced with a profoundly difficult challenge in surgically treating adult degenerative scoliosis. Deformity correction surgery is complicated by the difficulty in offering extensive surgical corrections to the elderly, complication-prone population it commonly affects. As spine surgeons attempt to offer minimally invasive solutions to this disease process, the need for fusion of the fractional curve at L4, L5, and S1 may be discounted.

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Background: Height gain following a surgical procedure for patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) is incompletely understood, and it is unknown if height gain correlates with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing ASD surgery. Patients with baseline, 6-week, and subanalysis of 1-year postoperative full-body radiographic and PROM data were examined.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to calibrate an updated predictive model incorporating novel clinical, radiographic, and prophylactic measures to assess the risk of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) and failure (PJF).

Methods: Operative patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) and baseline and 2-year postoperative data were included. PJK was defined as ≥ 10° in sagittal Cobb angle between the inferior uppermost instrumented vertebra (UIV) endplate and superior endplate of the UIV + 2 vertebrae.

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Objective: Circumferential minimally invasive surgery (cMIS) may provide incremental benefits compared with open surgery for patients with increasing frailty status by decreasing peri- and postoperative complications.

Methods: Operative patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) ≥ 18 years old with baseline and 2-year postoperative data were assessed. With propensity score matching, patients who underwent cMIS (cMIS group) were matched with similar patients who underwent open surgery (open group) based on baseline BMI, C7-S1 sagittal vertical axis, pelvic incidence to lumbar lordosis mismatch, and S1 pelvic tilt.

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Background: Over the past 20 years, multiple randomized controlled trials have shown cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) to be safe and effective for treating 1- and 2-level degenerative disc disease (DDD). The purpose of this postmarket study is to compare 10-year outcomes between CDA and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) from a randomized study at 3 centers.

Methods: This study was a continuation of a randomized, prospective, multicenter clinical trial comparing CDA with the Mobi-C cervical disc (Zimmer Biomet) vs ACDF.

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Objective: Pedicle screw fixation is a commonly utilized adjunct for lumbar interbody fusion, yet risks include screw malposition, pullout, loosening, neurovascular injury, and stress transfers leading to adjacent segment degeneration. This report describes the preclinical and initial clinical results of a minimally invasive, metal-free cortico-pedicular fixation device used for supplemental posterior fixation in lumbar interbody fusion.

Methods: Safety of arcuate tunnel creation was evaluated in cadaveric lumbar (L1-S1) specimens.

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