A new study published in Spine examines the medical complications after adult spinal deformity surgery.
The study examines 484 patients who underwent adult spinal deformity surgery. The researchers found:
1. Twenty-six percent of the patients reported at least one medical complication.
2. The possible predictors of complications include:
• Age
• BMI
• Anemia
• Arthritis
• Depression
• Cardiac history
• Lung disease
• ASA
• Smoking
• Sex
• Number of years with spinal problems
3. On the multivariate logistic regression modeling, the independent predictors of complications were hypertension, smoking and the number of years with a spinal problem.
4. The patients reported significant improvements in health-related quality of life measured by SF-36 and the Oswestry disability index, despite the complications.
5. The improvement rate wasn't statistically different between the patients who reported complications and the patients who did not.
"Patients who have one or more of these risk factors should be identified and informed during consent of their increased risks," concluded the study's authors. "They should be optimized preoperatively and followed closely during the postoperative period."