A new study published in Spine examines osteoporosis in patients who have cervical spine surgery.
The researchers examined the nationwide inpatient sample with the Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification procedure codes for cervical spine procedures and degenerative condition diagnoses. The data was pulled from 2002 to 2011 and patients either had osteoporosis or didn't have osteoporosis.
The researchers found:
1. Two percent of the patients had osteoporosis — 32,557 patients out of 1.6 million who underwent surgery for cervical degenerative conditions.
2. The patients with osteoporosis were more likely to have cervical spinal fusions when compared with others; 11.3 percent of the osteoporosis patients underwent fusions, compared with 5.4 percent of the non-osteoporosis patients.
3. The circumferential fusion occurred three times more frequently among the osteoporosis patients.
4. Patients with osteoporosis had increased odds for postoperative hemorrhage and were more likely to undergo revision surgery when compared to the non-osteoporosis patients.
5. The osteoporotic patients reported 3.5 days in the hospital postoperatively, compared with 2.5 days for the non-osteoporotic patients.