The free online calculator SpineSage can assist in preoperative planning and counseling for spine surgery patients, according to a study in European Spine Journal.
Here are five things to know:
1. SpineSage is a free online calculator designed to predict medical complications in spine surgery.
2. The tool based its predictive model on the Spine End Results Registry, which includes data on all patients who underwent spine surgery at Seattle-based Harborview Medical Center and UW Medical Center in Seattle from Jan. 1, 2003, to Dec. 31, 2004.
3. Study authors assessed 273 consecutive spinal surgery patients. Researchers used SpineSage to predict the risk of complications for each patient. Based on their predicted risk of complication, patients were divided into three groups.
4. The overall predicted complication risk rate was 14.7 percent. The observed overall complication rate was 16.1 percent.
5. SpineSage predicted a 3.8 percent risk of major medical complications. The observed major medical complication rate was 3.3 percent.