Purpose
The current study aims to report the results of analyzed factors that ultimately undergo surgical treatment after selective nerve root block in patients with spinal structural pathology that cause lower back pain and radiating pain in the lower extremities. Material and methods: A retrospective study was performed on 537 patients diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis or disc herniation among patients who underwent selective nerve root block at our hospital for five years from May 2015 to December 2017. The patients were divided into Group A (patients with an only selective spinal nerve root, n=99) and Group B (patients with surgical treatment, n=20). We evaluated the primary demographic factors, including age, sex, onset, symptom duration, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, angina, osteoporosis. The clinical variables included in the analysis were the preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, the Korean version of the Oswestry Disability Index (K-ODI), and the Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ).
Results
The average symptom duration was 22.6±1.2 weeks in group A, and 35.7±0.9 in group B. Of a total of 20 patients (16.8%), four males (20%) and 16 females (80%) were underwent surgical procedures because there was no improvement in symptoms. Group B had a significantly higher proportion of female patients and longer symptom duration than group A. And there were no statistically significant differences between groups in other variables.
Conclusions
Although the frequency of surgical treatment decreased after selective nerve root block, the longer symptom duration and the female gender might be related to the risk factors for surgical treatment.

Purpose
There were few available data regarding the prognosis after the surgical treatment for spinal metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) despite its great frequency. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors for patients who underwent the surgical treatment for spinal metastases from NSCLC.
Materials and Methods
Eighty-seven patients who underwent surgical treatment for spinal metastases from NSCLC were followed up semi-prospectively. There were 43 patients with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) and 44 patients without MSCC. The prognosis analysis was performed according to 3-categorical variables: patients’ , oncologic, and treatments’ factors. Major complications and mortality rate were recorded. The impact of postoperative chemotherapy was evaluated separately.
Results
The overall survival time was median 6.8 months. Postoperative ECOG-PS (0-2 vs. 3, 4) was shown as a significant prognostic factors in both MSCC and non-MSCC groups with HR (hazards ratio) of 2.46 and 2.54, respectively. Major complications developed in 26 patients and 30-day mortality rate was 8.0%. The presence of major complications was also prognostic factor in both groups with HR of 2.55 and 4.47. Earlier surgery within 72 hours showed better prognosis in MSCC group with HR of 2.46. Patients who underwent postoperative chemotherapy survived longer significantly than those who couldn’t with median survival time of 12.0 vs 2.8 months.
Conclusions
Postoperative ECOG-PS and complications were significant prognostic factors in both groups and earlier surgery in MSCC group. The postoperative chemotherapy was another independent prognostic factor affecting the survival time

Lumbar degenerative scoliosis (LDS) has been increased with increased aging population. The conventional surgical treatment method of LDS was posterior decompression followed by lumbar fusion. However, these surgeries usually require long-level fusion with increased risk of much bleeding and perioperative morbidity especially in old patients. The correction of sagittal or coronal imbalance is also important in the surgical treatment of LDS, thus osteotomy may be sometimes required. Direct lateral interbody fusion (DLIF) has been introduced as a part of minimally invasive surgery. With DLIF technique, the stenotic canal or foramen can be decompressed indirectly without laminectomy and the lumbar lordosis can be restored through the disc height distraction. Recently, DLIF has been also used for the surgical treatment of LDS. With use of DLIF for LDS, it has been reported that the lumbar lordosis and coronal curve angle were restored and the clinical outcome was also favorable without significant surgical morbidities. The lateral approach sometimes carries the risk of the lumbar plexus palsy or vessel injuries. DLIF can be a good alternative to the posterior fusion technique for the treatment of LDS in that it can minimize the perioperative morbidity and it can also restore the sagittal or coronal radiographic profiles effectively.