A study published in the May 15 issue of Spine indicates that complication rates, costs, and hospitalization lengths are longer for African-American patients when compared to Caucasian patients, both who had undergone lumbar spinal stenosis.
Reoperation rates for the two groups, however, were statistically similar.
Shivandad P. Lad, MD, PhD of Duke University in Durham, NC, and his colleagues conducted the study using relevant Medicaid data.
The retrospective study considered patients with at least two years of postoperative data logged.