Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34889999›Full record

ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2022

Dural tear repair surgery comparative analysis: a stitch in time saves nine.

Charles Taylor, Amad Khan, Emad Shenouda, Nicholas Brooke, Ali Nader-Sepahi

Open access · hybridAbstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Observational
  7. Incidental durotomy in lumbar decompressive surgery: incidence and risk-factors, and the effect of durotomy on hospital and patient metrics.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Clinical management of dural defects: A review.World journal of clinical cases · 2023
    Review
  10. Tensile properties of human spinal dura mater and pericranium.Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Charles TaylorFaculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK. ct1g17@soton.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-1386-5244
Amad KhanDepartment of Neurosurgery, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Emad ShenoudaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Nicholas BrookeDepartment of Neurosurgery, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Ali Nader-SepahiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Southampton General Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeA dural tear is a common iatrogenic complication of spinal surgery associated with a several post-operative adverse events. Despite their common occurrence, guidelines on how best to repair the defect remain unclear. This study uses five post-operative outcomes to the compare repair methods used to treat 106 dural tears to determine which method is clinically favourable.

methodsData were retrospectively collected from Southampton General Hospital's online databases. 106 tears were identified and grouped per repair method. MANOVA was used to compare the following five outcomes: Length of stay, numbers of further admissions or revision surgeries, length of additional admissions, post-operative infection rate and dural tear associated neurological symptoms. Sub-analysis was conducted on patient demographics, primary vs non-primary closure and type of patch. Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was calculated via the Delphi procedure.

resultsAge had a significant impact on patient outcomes and BMI displayed positive correlation with three-fifth of the predefined outcome measures. No significant difference was observed between repair groups; however, primary closure ± a patch achieved an MCID percentage improvement with regards to length of original stay, rate of additional admissions/surgeries and post-operative infection rate. Artificial over autologous patches resulted in shorter hospital stays, fewer readmissions, infections and neurological symptoms.

conclusionThis study reports primary closure ± dural patch as the most efficient repair method with regards to the five reported outcomes. This study provides limited evidence in favour of artificial over autologous patches and recommends that dural patches be used in conjunction with primary closure. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE I: Diagnostic: individual cross-sectional studies with consistently applied reference standard and blinding.

Indexed as

Dura MaterNeurosurgical ProceduresCross-Sectional StudiesHumansReoperationRetrospective StudiesDural patchDural tearIncidental durotomyPrimary closure

Identifiers

PMID34889999
OpenAlexW4200243082

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.