Adult spinal deformity surgical decision-making score. Part 2: development and validation of a scoring system to guide the selection of treatment modalities for patients above 40 years with adult spinal deformity

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to develop and internally validate a scoring system, the adult spinal deformity surgical decision-making (ASD-SDM) score, to guide the decision-making process for ASD patients aged above 40 years.

Methods: A multicentre prospective ASD database was retrospectively reviewed. The scoring system was developed using data from a derivation set and was internally validated in a validation set. The performance of the ASD-SDM score for predicting surgical management was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Results: A total of 702 patients were included for analysis in the present study. The scoring system developed based on 562 patients, ranging from 0 to 12 points, included five parameters: leg pain scored by the numerical rating scale; pain and self-image domains in the Scoliosis Research Society-22 score; coronal Cobb angle; and relative spinopelvic alignment. Surgical indication was graded as low (score 0 to 4), moderate (score 5 to 7), and high (score 8 to 12) groups. In the validation set of 140 patients, the AUC for predicting surgical management according to the ASD-SDM score was 0.797 (standard error = 0.037, P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval = 0.714 to 0.861), and in the low, moderate, and high surgical indication groups, 23.7%, 43.5%, and 80.4% of the patients, respectively, were treated surgically.

Conclusions: The ASD-SDM score demonstrated reliability, with higher scores indicating a higher probability of surgery. This index could aid in the selection of surgery for ASD patients in clinical settings. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Keywords: Adult scoliosis; Adult spinal deformity; Decision-making process; Scoring system; Surgical indication; Surgical management.