International Journal of Radiation Research

en A clinical study of unilateral biportal endoscopy after radiotherapy for the treatment of short-segment lumbar brucella spondylitis Radiation Biology Radiation Biology تحقيق بديع Original Research <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: To evaluate the efficacy of unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE) following radiotherapy in patients with short-segment lumbar Brucella spondylitis (LBS). Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 45 patients with LBS treated between January 2020 and January 2022. All patients underwent radiotherapy as an adjunct to standardized anti-Brucella pharmacological therapy before surgical intervention. Radiotherapy was delivered to the affected lumbar region with a fractionated dose of 30–40 Gy (2 Gy per fraction, 5 fractions per week), aimed at controlling local infection and reducing inflammatory granulomas. Patients were subsequently assigned to two groups: UBE (n=21) or posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF, n=24). Clinical outcomes were compared using operative time, intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization duration, visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, inflammatory markers (CRP, ESR), neurological recovery, and complication rates. Results: Compared with PLIF, the UBE group demonstrated significantly shorter operative times (136.1±31.6 vs. 178.5±33.5 min, P<0.01), less blood loss (223.7±160.2 vs. 434.4±230.8 mL, P<0.01), and reduced hospitalization (12.2±7.6 vs. 15.6±4.1 days, P=0.028). Both groups showed marked postoperative improvements in VAS, ODI, JOA, CRP, and ESR, with normalization of inflammatory markers at 6 months. Neurological improvement exceeded 79% in both groups. Although not statistically significant, complication rates were lower with UBE (4.8% vs. 12.5%). Conclusion: Radiotherapy combined with UBE provides effective infection control and functional recovery in LBS, with advantages in reduced surgical trauma, faster recovery, and comparable long-term outcomes to PLIF.</div> Brucella infections, spondylitis, radiotherapy, adjuvant, endoscopy, spinal fusion, treatment outcome, minimally invasive surgical procedures. 359 364 http://ijrr.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-1503&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Y.L. Jia 15530390080@163.com 7900319475328460033428 7900319475328460033428 No Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhanjiakou, China X.H. Zuo 7900319475328460033429 7900319475328460033429 No Department of Nursing, Zhangjiakou College, Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China X.M. Yang 7900319475328460033430 7900319475328460033430 No Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhanjiakou, China Y. Zhang 7900319475328460033431 7900319475328460033431 No Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhanjiakou, China Y. Yao 7900319475328460033432 7900319475328460033432 No Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhanjiakou, China Y.L. Yin 7900319475328460033433 7900319475328460033433 No Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhanjiakou, China