A new study published in Spine examines adult spinal deformity surgery rates and morbidity.
The study authors analyzed data from 8,001 elderly adult spinal deformity patients with their outcomes recorded in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2003 to 2012. The study authors found:
1. The incidence of fusion among elderly adult spinal deformity patients increased 13.8 percent per year on average throughout the study period.
2. Surgical invasiveness among elderly adult patients undergoing spinal deformity surgery increased on the Mirza scale from 2.0 in 2003 to 5.9 in 2012.
3. The Chase Comorbidity Index increased from 0.77 in 2003 to 1.44 in 2012.
4. Complication rate among the patients undergoing adult spinal deformity correction decreased from 26.7 percent to 8.6 percent over the study period. Surgical complications dropped from 11.7 percent to 0.7 percent and respiratory complications decreased from 6.7 percent to 1.4 percent.
5. Even though the number of surgeries and patient comorbidities increased over time, the in-hospital morbidity decreased. "This may indicate increased willingness of surgeons to operate on elderly patients, and reflect a development of overall understanding of deformity in the past decade," concluded the study authors.