What’s New in Spine Surgery 2019

Every month, JBJS publishes a review of the most pertinent and impactful studies published in the orthopaedic literature during the previous year in 13 subspecialties. Click here for a collection of all OrthoBuzz Specialty Update summaries. This month, Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, MS, coauthor of the June 19, 2019 “What’s New in Spine Surgery,” selected the five most clinically compelling findings from among the 47 noteworthy studies summarized in the article.

Predictive Analytics for Deformity Conditions
–A validated model for predicting outcomes after lumbar spine surgery¹ found that patients with lower preoperative disability scores, those covered by Medicaid or Workers’ Compensation, and current and previous smokers were less likely to improve with lumbar fusion surgery. Invasiveness of surgery and surgeon and hospital type had lower predictive value.

Early-Onset Scoliosis (EOS)
–A 5-year direct-cost estimate² comparing magnetic growing rods and conventional growing rods for the treatment of EOS found the total cost for magnetic growing rods to be £34,741 compared with £52,293 for conventional growing rods.

Pediatric Neuromuscular Scoliosis
–A Level-II study investigated patient factors associated with postoperative pulmonary complications among patients with neuromuscular scoliosis who underwent posterior spinal fusion.³ Patients with a history of pneumonia or gastrotomy tube at the time of surgery had an elevated risk of postoperative respiratory infections.

Opioid Consumption
–Findings from a retrospective study of >27,000 patients who underwent lumbar decompression with or without fusion revealed that the majority of patients using prescription opioids discontinued those medications postoperatively. However, among the patients with opioid use >90 days after surgery, the duration of preoperative opioid use was the most important predictor of postoperative opioid use.

Neurological Decline after Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery
–In a retrospective analysis of 265 patients who underwent corrective surgery for adult spinal deformity,⁴ 23% of patients experienced a neurological injury; among those, 33% experienced a major neurological decline. Among the patients with major decline, full recovery was observed in 24% at 6 weeks and 65% at 6 months, but one-third of those patients experienced persistent neurological deficits at 24 months postoperatively. Among patients who experienced a minor neurological injury, 49% reported full recovery at 6 weeks and 70% reported full recovery at 6 months. About one-quarter of those patients showed no improvement at 24 months.

References

1. Khor S, Lavallee D, Cizik AM, Bellabarba C, Chapman JR, Howe CR, Lu D, Mohit AA, Oskouian RJ, Roh JR, Shonnard N,Dagal A, Flum DR. Development and validation of a prediction model for pain and functional outcomes after lumbar spine surgery. JAMA Surg.2018 Jul 1;153(7):634-42.
2. Harshavardhana NS, Noordeen MHH, Dormans JP. Cost analysis of magnet-driven growing rods for early-onset scoliosis at 5 years. Spine (Phila Pa 1976).2019 Jan 1;44(1):60-7.
3. Luhmann SJ, Furdock R. Preoperative variables associated with respiratory complications after pediatric neuromuscular spine deformity surgery. Spine Deform.2019 Jan;7(1):107-11.
4. Kato S, Fehlings MG, Lewis SJ, Lenke LG, Shaffrey CI, Cheung KMC, Carreon LY, Dekutoski MB, Schwab FJ, Boachie-Adjei O, Kebaish KM, Ames CP, Qiu Y, Matsuyama Y, Dahl BT, Mehdian H, Pellisé F, Berven SH. An analysis of the incidence and outcomes of major versus minor neurological decline after complex adult spinal deformity surgery: a subanalysis of Scoli-RISK-1 study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976).2018 Jul 1;43(13):905-12.