Psychiatric disorders and major spine surgery: epidemiology and perioperative outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN: Analysis of the National Hospital Discharge Survey database from 1990 to 2007. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of preoperative depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or dementia on in-hospital (1) adverse events, (2) mortality, and (3) nonroutine discharge in patients undergoing major spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Psychiatric comorbidity is a known risk factor for impaired health-related quality of life and poor long-term outcomes after spine surgery, yet little is known about its impact in the perioperative spine surgery setting. METHODS: Using the National Hospital Discharge Survey database, all patients undergoing either spinal fusion or laminectomy between 1990 and 2007 were identified and separated into groups with and without psychiatric disorders. Multivariable regression analysis was performed for each of the outcome variables. RESULTS: Between 1990 and 2007, a total estimated number of 5,382,343 spinal fusions and laminectomies were performed. The prevalence of diagnosed depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia among the study population increased significantly over time. Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and dementia were associated with higher rates of nonroutine discharge. Depression, schizophrenia, and dementia were associated with higher rates of adverse events. Dementia was the only psychiatric disorder associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: Patients with preoperative psychiatric disorders undergoing major spine surgery are at increased risk for perioperative adverse events and posthospitalization care, but its effect in perioperative mortality is more limited. Presurgical psychological screening of candidates undergoing spine surgery might ultimately lead to the enhancement of perioperative outcomes in this growing segment of the US population. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.

Cervical spine manifestations in patients with inflammatory arthritides.

The cervical spine can frequently become involved in patients with rheumatologic disorders, as a result of either the rheumatologic disease itself or age-associated degenerative processes that can also occur in the rest of the population. Awareness of the increased risk of cervical spine manifestations in patients with rheumatologic disorders enables early recognition and initiation of the appropriate treatment regimen. For example, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often have spinal instability which, if left untreated, can lead to neurological deficits. Biologic agents are effective in slowing the progression of the skeletal abnormality as well as for treating the RA, and this approach is often sufficient. However, early surgical intervention is recommended for patients with RA who develop neurologic deficits, as conservative approaches have limited effectiveness in this group. Spinal stability should be the primary surgical objective. For patients with ankylosing spondylitis, cervical spine surgery might be required either for fracture repair or to correct severe kyphosis. Understanding each condition's specific cervical spine manifestation and its natural history can help to clarify the appropriate indications for and timing of surgery to maximize patients' outcomes and limit complications.

Closing the loop between evidence-based medicine and care delivery: a possible role for clinical audits in spinal surgery.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) should be the ultimate force driving change in clinical practice. This process generally occurs through a trickle-down phenomenon by which practice recommendations are revised, modified, and/or changed based on the best published data. Recommendations are subsequently incorporated by individual physicians. The fundamental assumption that drives this paradigm is that adopting evidence-based recommendations and/or treatment guidelines will result in improved outcomes. Unfortunately, to date, the paradigm does not have an effective feedback loop that would then evaluate whether the changes did, in fact, improve outcomes. PURPOSE: To explore the process of clinical audits as a mechanism by which to provide a feedback loop to evaluate the results of spinal surgery on an individual basis and whether those results can be improved. STUDY DESIGN: Review article, discussion. METHODS: A literature review of the current data regarding clinical audits was performed, and a discussion of how they may apply to spinal surgery is offered. RESULTS: Clinical audits have been used outside the United States, particularly in the United Kingdom, to fulfill this function. A clinical audit would allow a practicing spinal surgeon to examine his or her individual experience and determine if it is achieving the expected outcome based on published results. In the most important feature of a clinical audit, the reaudit, if an individual's results are found to be inconsistent with published results, it presents an opportunity to identify if there are reconcilable differences from which potential improvements can be made. Effectively, this "closes the loop" between EBM and actual clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Documenting improved outcomes through the audit process can impact spinal care in several ways. Patients would receive a clear message that their doctors are interested in improving care. Hospitals will use the information to optimize treatment algorithms. Finally, insurers might make the audit process more tenable or attractive by indicating a physician's voluntary participation as a criterion to be a preferred provider.

Minimally invasive thoracolumbar corpectomy and reconstruction.

Minimally invasive surgical approaches have been advocated to approach ventrolateral thoracolumbar pathology. This article describes our technique for performing minimally invasive surgical thoracolumbar corpectomy and reconstruction. Twenty-five consecutive patients at a single institution were treated between 2006 and 2010 for a variety of diagnoses including tumors, infections, and trauma. Treatment variables, including operating time, estimated blood loss, number of levels treated, and complications, were collected, as were visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain.Surgical times (mean, 188.5 minutes) and blood loss (mean, 423 mL) reflect a significant improvement over standard open corpectomy procedures. More than 60% of patients did not need blood products after the corpectomy procedure because substantial blood loss encountered during an open exposure to the spine was obviated. Similarly, operative times and anesthetic load was minimal enough for ≥80% of our patients to be extubated immediately after the corpectomy procedure. A 62% decrease in self-reported VAS scores was observed. No wound complications or radiographic evidence of implant subsidence or failure were observed at last follow-up.The advantages of the minimally invasive approach for corpectomies of the thoracolumbar spine were that an access surgeon was not needed; tissue dissection and surgical exposure were reduced, improving VAS scores postoperatively; and blood loss and operative times were minimized, preventing hemodynamic deterioration in these complex cases. Corpectomies may be performed in this fashion safely, with excellent pain relief and without many of the morbidities and difficulties associated with conventional open procedures.