Faculty Bibliography

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of an administrative database. OBJECTIVE: To observe New York statewide trends in lumbar spine surgery and to compare utilization of fusion according to hospital size and patient population. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Over the last 30 years, studies have indicated increasing rates of spinal fusion procedures performed each year in the United States. There is no study investigating potential variability in this trend according to hospital volume. METHODS: New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System(SPARCS) administrative data were used to identify 228,882 lumbar spine surgerypatients. New York State hospitals were categorized as low-, medium- or high-volume and descriptive statistics were used to determine trends in spinal fusion. RESULTS: The number of fusions per year increased 55% from 2005-2014. The ratio of fusion to non-fusion surgery increased from 0.88 to 2.67 at high-, from 0.84 to 2.30 at medium- and from 0.66 to 1.52 at low-volume hospitals. In 2014, 22% of spine surgery patients at low-volume hospitals were either African American or Hispanic compared to 12% and 14% at high- and medium-volume hospitals, respectively. At high volume hospitals, 33% of patients were privately insured and 3% had Medicare compared to 30% and 6% at low-volume hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The annual number of lumbar spinal fusions continues to increase, especially at high- and medium-volume hospitals. The percentage of patients treated surgically for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) who undergo fusion ranges from 53.2%-66.4% depending on hospital volume. Individual surgeon opinion, patient disease characteristics, and socioeconomic factors may affect surgical decision-making. Caucasians and private insurance patients most often receive care at high-volume hospitals. Minorities and patients with Medicaid are over-represented at low-volume centers where fusions are less often performed. Accessibility to care at high-volume centers remains a major concern for these vulnerable populations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

Prolonged length of stay (PLOS) has been associated with increased hospital resource utilization and worsened patient outcomes in multiple studies. In this study, we defined and identified factors associated with PLOS after posterior surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy in patients over the age of 65. PLOS was defined as length of stay beyond the "prolongation point" (that is, the day after which discharge rates begin to decline). Using the United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, 2742 patients met inclusion criteria, out of whom 16.5% experienced PLOS (stay beyond 6days). After multivariate analysis, increasing age was independently associated with PLOS (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.06). Multiple comorbid conditions were associated with PLOS, including alcohol abuse (OR 3.85, 95% CI 1.87-7.94), congestive heart failure (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.11-2.64), obesity (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.14-2.55), and deficiency anemia (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.01-2.05); the strongest associated operative parameter was blood transfusion (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.75-3.28). Major complications independently associated with PLOS were deep vein thrombosis (OR 18.32, 95% CI 6.50-51.61), myocardial infarction (OR 8.98, 95% CI 2.92-27.56), pneumonia (OR 6.67, 95% CI 3.17-14.05), acute respiratory failure (OR 6.27, 95% CI 3.43-11.45), hemorrhage/hematoma (OR 5.04, 95% CI 2.69-9.44), and implant-related complications (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.24-4.98). Average total hospital charges for patients who experienced PLOS were $122,965 US dollars, compared to $76,870 for the control group (p<0.001). Mortality for patients who experienced PLOS was 2.7% versus 0.5% for patients who did not epxerience PLOS (p<0.001). In conclusion, patients over the age of 65 who underwent posterior surgery for cervical myelopathy and stayed over 6days in hospital were defined as having PLOS. Hospital charges and mortality rates were significantly higher for patients who experienced PLOS. Potentially modifiable and/or preventable risk factors were also identified.

A wide range of neuromuscular diseases, including Parkinson disease, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and myopathy, are associated with spinal deformities. The most common postural deformities include anterocollis, Pisa syndrome (pleurothotonus), scoliosis, and camptocormia. Nonsurgical management of spinal deformity in patients with neuromuscular disease centers on maximizing the medical management of the underlying neurodegenerative pathology before surgical intervention is contemplated. Surgical management can include decompression alone, or decompression and fusion with short or long fusion constructs. Patients with neuromuscular disease are susceptible to postoperative medical complications, such as delirium, epidural hematomas, pulmonary emboli, and cardiac events. Compared with outcomes in the typical patient with spinal deformity, postoperative outcomes in patients with neuromuscular disease have higher rates of surgical complications, such as instrumentation failure, proximal junctional kyphosis, loss of correction, and the need for revision surgery, regardless of the magnitude of surgical treatment.

BACKGROUND: Few reports have focused on treatment of adult cervical deformity (ACD). OBJECTIVE: To present early complication rates associated with ACD surgery. METHODS: A prospective multicenter database of consecutive operative ACD patients was reviewed for early (10 degrees, cervical scoliosis >10 degrees, C2-7 sagittal vertical axis >4 cm, or chin-brow vertical angle >25 degrees. RESULTS: Seventy-eight patients underwent surgical treatment for ACD (mean age, 60.8 years). Surgical approaches included anterior-only (14%), posterior-only (49%), anterior-posterior (35%), and posterior-anterior-posterior (3%). Mean numbers of fused anterior and posterior vertebral levels were 4.7 and 9.4, respectively. A total of 52 early complications were reported, including 26 minor and 26 major. Twenty-two (28.2%) patients had at least 1 minor complication, and 19 (24.4%) had at least 1 major complication. Overall, 34 (43.6%) patients had at least 1 complication. The most common complications included dysphagia (11.5%), deep wound infection (6.4%), new C5 motor deficit (6.4%), and respiratory failure (5.1%). One (1.3%) mortality occurred. Early complication rates differed significantly by surgical approach: anterior-only (27.3%), posterior-only (68.4%), and anterior-posterior/posterior-anterior-posterior (79.3%) (P = .007). CONCLUSION: This report provides benchmark rates for overall and specific ACD surgery complications. Although the surgical approach(es) used were likely driven by the type and complexity of deformity, there were significantly higher complication rates associated with combined and posterior-only approaches compared with anterior-only approaches. These findings may prove useful in treatment planning, patient counseling, and ongoing efforts to improve safety of care. ABBREVIATIONS: 3CO, 3-column osteotomiesACD, adult cervical deformityEBL, estimated blood lossISSG, International Spine Study groupSVA, sagittal vertical axis.