Both problems boosted risks linked to back pain

FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking greatly increases the risk of needing spinal surgery to treat low back pain and being overweight boosts the likelihood of having postoperative pain and complications after such surgery, U.S. researchers say.

The study of 185 patients who had surgery for non-traumatic back pain found that smokers were 148 percent more likely than nonsmokers to require the surgery.

The researchers also concluded that each increase in body mass index (BMI) of 5 kg/m2 was linked to a 97 percent increased risk of postoperative pain and a 44 percent increased risk of complications.

Smoking did not increase the likelihood of postoperative pain but nearly quadrupled the risk of complications.

The findings were expected to be presented Friday in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

"Obesity and smoking are growing problems worldwide and are major risk factors for many serious diseases," lead author Dr. Kingsley R. Chin, assistant professor of orthopedics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

"Our data suggest that obesity can be considered a major risk factor for complications and postoperative pain after spine surgery. In addition, our data on smoking demonstrate that it predisposes patients toward requiring surgical intervention for low back pain," Chin said.

"This study is the latest warning signal about the dangers of smoking and obesity. For patients who are already in these at-risk categories, our study should serve as further incentive to stop smoking and try to maintain a healthy weight," Chin said.

More information

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons has more about low back pain.

SOURCE: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, news release, Feb. 16, 2007

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Stimulating spinal cord can restore natural urination, animal study shows

FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Duke University researchers say they've moved a step closer in their efforts to develop a "smart bladder pacemaker" that could restore bladder control in people with spinal cord injury or neurological diseases.

The latest finding of the project, which started in 2004, shows that electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve in the spinal cord can control the contraction and relaxation of muscles involved in bladder control.

In tests on cats, the researchers found that high frequency electrical pulses directed at the pelvic nerve helped empty the bladder, while low frequency pulses increased bladder capacity and improved continence.

This method of manipulating the nervous system is a more flexible way of controlling urinary function than direct bladder stimulation, said Warren Grill of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

"Stimulating the bladder directly can cause it only to contract, not to keep it from contracting. We stimulate the sensory inputs in the spinal cord to orchestrate either the inhibition or activation of urination," Grill said in a prepared statement.

"This illustrates an important principle: We can use the 'smarts' of the nervous system to orchestrate control of complex functions," he said.

It may be possible to use a similar approach to stimulate spinal reflexes that control movement to help people who are paralyzed, Grill said.

The research is expected to be presented Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Francisco.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases explains how nerve damage/diseases affect bladder control.

SOURCE: Duke University, news release, Feb. 16, 2007

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Falls are a major cause of the increase, U.S. study finds

FRIDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- The number of spinal cord injures among people aged 70 and older has risen more than fivefold in the past three decades, U.S. researchers report.

This jump in cases "is likely the result of an aging population and propensity for these patients to have SCI (spinal cord injury) with minor trauma," researcher Dr. James Harrop, an assistant professor of neurological and orthopedic surgery at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, said in a prepared statement.

His team reviewed the cases of almost 3,500 spinal cord injury patients treated at Jefferson Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center from 1978 to 2006. Overall, yearly admissions increased nearly 60 percent since the early 1980s, but admission for patients aged 70 and older increased more than 580 percent.

In 1980, elderly people accounted for 4.2 percent of patients admitted to the spinal cord injury center. By 2006, that had increased to 15.4 percent.

"Falls continue to be the predominant mechanism for geriatric spinal cord injuries with 74 percent of geriatric injuries resulting from a fall in this series," Harrop said.

The study also found that elderly spinal cord patients were about eight times more likely than younger patients to die in hospital or within a year of their injury. The rate of death during hospitalization was 3.2 percent for patients younger than age 70, compared with 27.7 percent for patients aged 70 and older.

Death rates in the year after a spinal cord injury were 5.4 percent for patients younger than age 70 and 44.4 percent for those aged 70 and older.

The findings were presented at a recent meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

More information

For tips on preventing spinal cord injuries, head to the U.S. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

SOURCE: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, news release, March 2007

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