Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;18(3):524-532.
doi: 10.14245/ns.2040628.314. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

A Comparison of Mortality and Morbidity Between Complex and Degenerative Spine Surgery in Prospectively Collected Data From 2,280 Procedures

Stian Solumsmoen  1   2 , Tanvir Johanning Bari  3 , Sarah Woldu  1 , Oliver Bremerskov Zielinski  1 , Martin Gehrchen  3   4 , Benny Dahl  5 , Rachid Bech-Azeddine  1   4
Affiliations

A Comparison of Mortality and Morbidity Between Complex and Degenerative Spine Surgery in Prospectively Collected Data From 2,280 Procedures

Stian Solumsmoen et al. Neurospine. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: The reported incidence of complications and/or adverse events (AEs) following spine surgery varies greatly. A validated, systematic, reproducible reporting system to quantify AEs was used in 2 prospective cohorts, from 2 spine surgery centers, conducting either complex or purely degenerative spine surgery; in a comparative fashion. The aim was to highlight the differences between 2 distinctly different prospective cohorts with patients from the same background population.

Methods: AEs were registered according to the predefined AE variables in the SAVES (Spine AdVerse Events Severity) system which was used to record all intra- and perioperative AEs. Additional outcomes, including mortality, length of stay, wound infection requiring revision, readmission, and unplanned revision surgery during the index admission, were also registered.

Results: A total of 593 complex and 1,687 degenerative procedures were consecutively included with 100% data completion. There was a significant difference in morbidity when comparing the total number of AEs between the 2 groups (p < 0.001): with a mean number of 1.42 AEs per patient (n = 845) in the complex cohort, and 0.97 AEs per patient (n = 1,630) in the degenerative cohort.

Conclusion: In this prospective study comparing 2 cohorts, we report the rates of AEs related to spine surgery using a validated reproducible grading system for registration. The rates of morbidity and mortality were significantly higher following complex spine surgery compared to surgery for degenerative spine disease.

Keywords: Adverse events; Complex spine surgery; Complications; Degenerative spine surgery; Prospective study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have nothing to disclose.

References

    1. Yadla S, Malone J, Campbell PG, et al. Early complications in spine surgery and relation to preoperative diagnosis: a single-center prospective study. J Neurosurg Spine. 2010;13:360–6. - PubMed
    1. Boakye M, Patil CG, Ho C, et al. Cervical corpectomy: complications and outcomes. Oper Neurosurg. 2008;63(suppl_4):ONS295-302 - PubMed
    1. Street JT, Lenehan BJ, DiPaola CP, et al. Morbidity and mortality of major adult spinal surgery. A prospective cohort analysis of 942 consecutive patients. Spine J. 2012;12:22–34. - PubMed
    1. Dea N, Versteeg A, Fisher C, et al. Adverse events in emergency oncological spine surgery: a prospective analysis. J Neurosurg Spine. 2014;21:698–703. - PubMed
    1. Kalanithi PS, Patil CG, Boakye M. National complication rates and disposition after posterior lumbar fusion for acquired spondylolisthesis. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2009;34:1963–9. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources