Urgent versus elective surgical disparities among American Indian and Alaska Native patients.

BACKGROUND: American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) health issues are understudied despite documentation of lower-than-average life expectancy. Urgent surgery is associated with higher rates of postsurgical complications and postoperative death. We assess whether American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) patients in Washington State are at greater risk of requiring urgent rather than elective surgery compared with non-Hispanic Whites (NHW). METHODS: We accessed data for the period 2009-2014 from the Washington State Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System (CHARS) database, which captures all statewide hospital admissions, to examine three common surgeries that are performed both urgently and electively: hip replacements, aortic valve replacements, and spinal fusions. We extracted patient race, age, insurance status, comorbidity, admission type, and procedures performed. We then constructed multivariable logistic regression models to identify factors associated with use of urgent surgical care. RESULTS: AIAN patients had lower mean age at surgery for all three surgeries compared with NHW patients. AIAN patients were at higher risk for urgent surgery for hip replacements (OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.19-1.88), spinal fusions (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.04-1.87), and aortic valve replacements (OR = 2.06, 95% CI 1.12-3.80). CONCLUSION: AIAN patients were more likely to undergo urgent hip replacement, spinal fusion, and aortic valve replacement than NHW patients. AIAN patients underwent urgent surgery at younger ages. Medicaid insurance conferred higher risks for urgent surgery across all surgeries studied. Further research is warranted to more clearly identify the factors contributing to disparities among AIAN patients undergoing urgent surgery.

Trends in the surgical treatment for metastatic spinal tumor in Japanese administrative data between 2012 and 2020.

BACKGROUND: Both cancer diagnosis/treatment modality and surgical technique for the spine have been developed recently. Nationwide trends in the surgical treatment for metastatic spinal tumors have not been reported in the last decades. This study aimed to examine recent trends in the surgical treatment for spinal metastasis and in-hospital patient outcomes using nationwide administrative hospital discharge data. METHODS: The Diagnosis Procedure Combination database from 2012 to 2020 was used to extract data from patients who underwent surgical procedures for spinal metastasis with the number of non-metastatic spinal surgery at the institutions that have performed metastatic spine surgeries at least one case in the same year. Trends in the surgical treatment for spinal metastasis, patients' demographics, and in-hospital mortality/outcomes were investigated. RESULTS: This study analyzed 10,321 eligible patients with spinal metastasis. The surgical treatment for spinal metastasis increased 1.68 times from 2012 to 2020, especially in fusion surgery, whereas the proportion of metastatic spinal surgery retained with a slight increase in the 2%s. Distributions of the primary site did not change, whereas age was getting older. In-hospital mortality and length of stay decreased over time (9.9-6.8%, p < 0.001; 37-30 days, p < 0.001). Postoperative complication and unfavorable ambulatory retained stable and slightly decreased, respectively. CONCLUSION: During the last decade, surgical treatment for spinal metastasis, especially fusion surgery, has increased in Japan. In-hospital mortality and length of stay decreased. Recent advances in cancer treatment and surgical techniques might influence this trend.

Spinal fusion surgery use among adults with low back pain enrolled in a digital musculoskeletal program: an observational study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare 12-month spinal fusion surgery rates in the setting of low back pain among digital musculoskeletal (MSK) program participants versus a comparison cohort who only received usual care. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study with propensity score matched comparison cohort using commercial medical claims data representing over 100 million commercially insured lives. METHODS: All study subjects experienced low back pain between January 2020 and December 2021. Digital MSK participants enrolled in the digital MSK low back program between January 2020 and December 2021. Non-participants had low back pain related physical therapy (PT) between January 2020 and December 2021. Digital MSK participants were matched to non-participants with similar demographics, comorbidities and baseline MSK-related medical care use. Spinal fusion surgery rates at 12 months post participation were compared. RESULTS: Compared to non-participants, digital MSK participants had lower rates of spinal fusion surgery in the post-period (0.7% versus 1.6%; p < 0.001). Additionally, in the augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW) model, digital MSK participants were found to have decreased odds of undergoing spinal fusion surgery (adjusted odds ratio: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.51-0.81). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that participation in a digital MSK program is associated with a lower rate of spinal fusion surgery.

Very Low Residual Dystrophin Quantity Is Associated with Milder Dystrophinopathy.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine whether a low residual quantity of dystrophin protein is associated with delayed clinical milestones in patients with DMD mutations. METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicentric cohort study by using molecular and clinical data from patients with DMD mutations registered in the Universal Mutation Database-DMD France database. Patients with intronic, splice site, or nonsense DMD mutations, with available muscle biopsy Western blot data, were included irrespective of whether they presented with severe Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or milder Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Patients were separated into 3 groups based on dystrophin protein levels. Clinical outcomes were ages at appearance of first symptoms; loss of ambulation; fall in vital capacity and left ventricular ejection fraction; interventions such as spinal fusion, tracheostomy, and noninvasive ventilation; and death. RESULTS: Of 3,880 patients with DMD mutations, 90 with mutations of interest were included. Forty-two patients expressed no dystrophin (group A), and 31 of 42 (74%) developed DMD. Thirty-four patients had dystrophin quantities < 5% (group B), and 21 of 34 (61%) developed BMD. Fourteen patients had dystrophin quantities ≥ 5% (group C), and all but 4 who lost ambulation beyond 24 years of age were ambulant. Dystrophin quantities of <5%, as low as <0.5%, were associated with milder phenotype for most of the evaluated clinical outcomes, including age at loss of ambulation (p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION: Very low residual dystrophin protein quantity can cause a shift in disease phenotype from DMD toward BMD. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:280-292.

Focused versus conventional radiotherapy in spinal oncology: is there any difference in fusion rates and pseudoarthrosis?

INTRODUCTION: Radiotherapy is considered standard of care for adjuvant peri-operative treatment of many spinal tumors, including those with instrumented fusion. Unfortunately, radiation treatment has been linked to increased risk of pseudoarthrosis. Newer focused radiotherapy strategies with enhanced conformality could offer improved fusion rates for these patients, but this has not been confirmed. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients at three tertiary care academic institutions with primary and secondary spinal malignancies that underwent resection, instrumented fusion, and peri-operative radiotherapy. Two board certified neuro-radiologists used the Lenke fusion score to grade fusion status at 6 and 12-months after surgery. Secondary outcomes included clinical pseudoarthrosis, wound complications, the effect of radiation timing and radiobiological dose delivered, the use of photons versus protons, tumor type, tumor location, and use of autograft on fusion outcomes. RESULTS: After review of 1252 spinal tumor patients, there were 60 patients with at least 6 months follow-up that were included in our analyses. Twenty-five of these patients received focused radiotherapy, 20 patients received conventional radiotherapy, and 15 patients were treated with protons. There was no significant difference between the groups for covariates such as smoking status, obesity, diabetes, intraoperative use of autograft, and use of peri-operative chemotherapy. There was a significantly higher rate of fusion for patients treated with focused radiotherapy compared to those treated with conventional radiotherapy at 6-months (64.0% versus 30.0%, Odds ratio: 4.15, p = 0.036) and 12-months (80.0% versus 42.1%, OR: 5.50, p = 0.022). There was a significantly higher rate of clinical pseudoarthrosis in the conventional radiotherapy cohort compared to patients in the focused radiotherapy cohort (19.1% versus 0%, p = 0.037). There was no difference in fusion outcomes for any of the secondary outcomes except for use of autograft. The use of intra-operative autograft was associated with an improved fusion at 12-months (66.7% versus 37.5%, OR: 3.33, p = 0.043). CONCLUSION: Focused radiotherapy may be associated with an improved rate of fusion and clinical pseudoarthrosis when compared to conventional radiation delivery strategies in patients with spinal tumors. Use of autograft at the time of surgery may be associated with improved 12-month fusion rates. Further large-scale prospective and randomized controlled studies are needed to better stratify the effects of radiation delivery modality in these patients.

Conventional versus stereotactic image guided pedicle screw placement during spinal deformity correction: a retrospective propensity score-matched study of a national longitudinal database.

PURPOSE/AIM: To compare complications, readmissions, revisions, and payments between navigated and conventional pedicle screw fixation for treatment of spine deformity. METHODS: The Thomson Reuters MarketScan national longitudinal database was used to identify patients undergoing osteotomy, posterior instrumentation, and fusion for treatment of spinal deformity with or without image-guided navigation between 2007-2016. Conventional and navigated groups were propensity-matched (1:1) to normalize differences between demographics, comorbidities, and surgical characteristics. Clinical outcomes and charges were compared between matched groups using bivariate analyses. RESULTS: A total of 4,604 patients were identified as having undergone deformity correction, of which 286 (6.2%) were navigated. Propensity-matching resulted in a total of 572 well-matched patients for subsequent analyses, of which half were navigated. Rate of mechanical instrumentation-related complications was found to be significantly lower for navigated procedures (p = 0.0371). Navigation was also associated with lower rates of 90-day unplanned readmissions (p = 0.0295), as well as 30- and 90-day postoperative revisions (30-day: p = 0.0304, 90-day: p = 0.0059). Hospital, physician, and total payments favored the conventional group for initial admission (p = 0.0481, 0.0001, 0.0019, respectively); however, when taking into account costs of readmissions, hospital payments became insignificantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Procedures involving image-guided navigation resulted in decreased instrumentation-related complications, unplanned readmissions, and postoperative revisions, highlighting its potential utility for the treatment of spine deformity. Future advances in navigation technologies and methodologies can continue to improve clinical outcomes, decrease costs, and facilitate widespread adoption of navigation for deformity correction.

What is the Optimal Surgical Method for Achieving Correction and Avoiding Neurological Complications in Pediatric High-grade Spondylolisthesis?

BACKGROUND: Controversy persists in the treatment of high-grade spondylolisthesis (HGS). Surgery is recommended in patients with intrusive symptoms and evidence debates the competing strategies. This study compares the radiologic outcomes and postoperative complications at a minimum of 2 years follow-up for patients with HGS treated with instrumented fusion with partial reduction (IFIS) with those treated with reduction, decompression, and instrumented fusion (RIF). We hypothesize that IFIS leads to a lower rate of complication and revision surgery than RIF. METHODS: A retrospective comparative methodology was used to analyze consecutive HGS treated surgically between 2006 and 2017. Patients diagnosed with ≥grade 3 spondylolisthesis treated with arthrodesis before the age of 18 years with a minimum of 2 years follow-up were included. Patients were excluded if surgery did not aim to achieve arthrodesis or was a revision procedure. Cases were identified through departmental and neurophysiological records. RESULTS: Thirty patients met the inclusion criteria. Mean follow-up was 4 years. Ten patients underwent IFIS and the remaining 20 underwent RIF. The 2 groups showed no difference in demographics, grade of slip, deformity or presenting symptoms. Of 10 treated with IFIS, the SA reduced by a mean of 10 degrees and C7 sagittal vertical line changed by 31 mm. In the RIF cohort, SA reduced by 16 degrees and C7 sagittal vertical line reduced by 26 mm. PT was unchanged in both groups. In IFIS cohort, 2 patients showed postoperative weakness, resolved by 2 years. None required revision surgery. In the RIF group, 4 sustained dural tears and 1 a laminar fracture, 7 showed postoperative weakness or dysaesthesia, 3 of which had not resolved by 2 years. Eight patients underwent unplanned further surgery, 3 for pseudarthrosis. CONCLUSIONS: RIF and IFIS show similar radiologic outcomes. RIF shows a higher rate of unplanned return to surgery, pseudarthrosis and persisting neurological changes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III-retrospective comparative study.

Comparison of long fusion terminating at L5 versus the sacrum in treating adult spinal deformity: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Choosing an optimal distal fusion level for adult spinal deformity (ASD) is still controversial. To compare the radiographic and clinical outcomes of distal fusion to L5 versus the sacrum in ASD, we conducted a meta-analysis. METHODS: Relevant studies on long fusion terminating at L5 or the sacrum in ASD were retrieved from the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Google Scholar databases. Then, studies were manually selected for inclusion based on predefined criteria. The meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: Eleven retrospective studies with 1211 patients were included in meta-analysis. No significant difference was found in overall complication rate (95% CI 0.60 to 1.30) and revision rate (95% CI 0.59 to 1.99) between fusion to L5 group (L group) and fusion to the sacrum group (S group). Significant lower rate of pseudarthrosis and implant-related complications (95% CI 0.29 to 0.64) as well as proximal adjacent segment disease (95% CI 0.35 to 0.92) was found in L group. Patients in S group obtained a better correction of lumbar lordosis (95% CI - 7.85 to - 0.38) and less loss of sagittal balance (95% CI - 1.80 to - 0.50). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggested that long fusion terminating at L5 or the sacrum was similar in scoliosis correction, overall complication rate, revision rate, and improvement in pain and disability. However, fusion to L5 had advantages in lower rate of pseudarthrosis, implant-related complications, and proximal adjacent segment disease, while fusion to the sacrum had advantages in the restoration of lumbar lordosis, maintenance of sagittal balance, and absence of distal adjacent segment disease. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Prospective Comparison of Patient-selected Operative Versus Nonoperative Treatment of Scheuermann Kyphosis.

BACKGROUND: Scheuermann kyphosis (SK) can be managed operatively or nonoperatively. Few studies compare the effect of operative versus nonoperative treatment on patient health-related quality of life. We compare 2-year radiographic and the Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire (SRS-22) results of patients who self-selected either conservative or surgical treatment. METHODS: Single institution review of prospectively collected data for patients presenting with SK from 2006 to 2014. Forty-five of 55 patients returned for 2-year follow-up. Patients were divided into operative (n=27) or nonoperative (n=18) groups based upon their self-selected method of treatment. Radiographic data and SRS-22 scores were collected at initial presentation and 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: Operatively treated patients had larger initial sagittal Cobb angles and lower SRS-22 scores in the pain and appearance domains. Two years postoperatively, surgically treated patients had smaller Cobb angles and improved scores in these SRS-22 domains. Nonoperatively treated patients did not deteriorate over time. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who elect to receive operative treatment for SK have improved radiographic and SRS-22 parameters at 2-year follow-up compared with patients who elect nonoperative treatment. Not surprisingly, patients selecting surgical treatment had greater sagittal Cobb angles and greater levels of pain and dissatisfaction with their appearance. However, at 2-year follow-up, surgical patients experience greater (and significant) change on all parameters; exhibiting smaller Cobb angles, less pain, and greater satisfaction with their outcomes. Nonoperatively treated patients do not deteriorate over 2 years. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II-prognostic study.

Pediatric Scoliosis Surgery-A Comprehensive Analysis of Treatment-Specific Variables and Trends in Latvia.

Background and Objectives: There are currently no data available regarding pediatric scoliosis surgery in Latvia. The aim of this article is to present treatment specific variables, investigate their interrelation, and identify predictors for the length of stay after surgical pediatric scoliosis correction. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included all surgical pediatric scoliosis corrections in Latvia for the years 2012 to 2016. Analyzed parameters were chosen to portray the patients' demographics, pathology, as well as treatment specific variables. Descriptive, inferential, and linear regression statistics were calculated. Results: A total of 69 cases, 74% female and 26% male, were identified. The diagnostic subgroups consisted of 62% idiopathic (IDI) and 38% non-idiopathic (non-IDI) scoliosis cases. Non-IDI cases had significantly increased operation time, hospital stay, Cobb angle before surgery, and instrumented levels, while IDI cases showed significantly higher Cobb angle percentage correction. For all operated cases, the operation time and the hospital stay decreased significantly over the investigated time period. Early post-operative complications (PCs) occurred in 15.9% of the cases and were associated with increased hospital stay, instrumented levels, and Cobb angle before surgery. The linear regression analysis revealed that operation time and the presence of PCs were significant predictors for the length of the hospital stay. Conclusions: This is the first study to provide comprehensive insight into pediatric scoliosis surgery since its establishment in Latvia. Our regression model offers clinically applicable predictors and further underlines the significance of the operation length on the hospital stay. These results build the foundation for international comparison and facilitate improvement in the field.