Visible air bubbling at the operative site may herald the onset of massive VAE during multilevel posterior spinal fusion and instrumentation. A prospective multicenter study using precordial Doppler, central venous catheter, and end-tidal CO2 is recommended to determine the true incidence of VAE in spinal deformity surgery and to evaluate monitoring and treatment methods.

A 67-year-old woman presented to our vein clinic for chronic left lower extremity edema, pain, and varicosities. After failed conservative management, a computed tomography scan revealed central venous stenosis secondary to compression of the left common iliac vein by a large osteophyte along the anterolateral aspect of the L5-S1 disk space. An anterior osteophytectomy was performed, followed by iliac venous stenting at a 1-month interval. The patient had resolution of symptoms and remains symptom free at 15 months of follow-up. This report describes a spinal exostosis causing symptomatic venous compression successfully relieved by surgical decompression.

Purpose: This study was performed to assess the accuracy of preoperative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), when justified for other reasons, in locating the apical foramen and establishing the working length. Materials and Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for studies on this subject. All studies, of any type, were included if they compared measurements of working length with preoperative CBCT to measurements using an electronic apex locator (EAL) or histological reference standard. Due to the high levels of heterogeneity, an inverse-variance random-effects model was chosen, and weighted mean differences were obtained with 95% confidence intervals and P values. Results: Nine studies were included. Compared to a histological reference standard, CBCT indicated that the apical foramen was on average 0.40 mm coronal of its histological position, with a mean absolute difference of 0.48 mm. Comparisons were also performed to an EAL reference standard, but the conclusions could not be considered robust due to high levels of heterogeneity in the results. Conclusion: A low level of evidence is produced suggesting that preoperative CBCT shows the apical foramen to be on average 0.40 mm coronal to its histological position, with a mean absolute difference of 0.48 mm.