Indicators for Nonroutine Discharge Following Cervical Deformity-Corrective Surgery: Radiographic, Surgical, and Patient-Related Factors.

Abstract

Background

Nonroutine discharge, including discharge to inpatient rehab and skilled nursing facilities, is associated with increased cost-of-care. Given the rising prevalence of cervical deformity (CD)-corrective surgery and the necessity of value-based healthcare, it is important to identify indicators for nonroutine discharge.

Objective

To identify factors associated with nonroutine discharge after CD-corrective surgery using a statistical learning algorithm.

Methods

A retrospective review of patients ≥18 yr with discharge and baseline (BL) radiographic data. Conditional inference decision trees identified factors associated with nonroutine discharge and cut-off points at which factors were significantly associated with discharge status. A conditional variable importance table used nonreplacement sampling set of 10 000 conditional inference trees to identify influential patient/surgical factors. The binary logistic regression indicated odds of nonroutine discharge for patients with influential factors at significant cut-off points.

Results

Of 138 patients (61 yr, 63% female) undergoing surgery for CD (8 ± 5 levels; 49% posterior approach, 16% anterior, and 35% combined), 29% experienced nonroutine discharge. BL cervical/upper-cervical malalignment showed the strongest relationship with nonroutine discharge: C1 slope ≥ 14°, C2 slope ≥ 57°, TS-CL ≥ 57°. Patient-related factors associated with nonroutine discharge included BL gait impairment, age ≥ 59 yr and apex of CD primary driver ≥ C7. The only surgical factor associated with nonroutine discharge was fusion ≥ 8 levels. There was no relationship between nonhome discharge and reoperation within 6 mo or 1 yr (both P > .05) of index procedure. Despite no differences in BL EQ-5D (P = .946), nonroutine discharge patients had inferior 1-yr postoperative EQ-5D scores (P = .044).

Conclusion

Severe preoperative cervical malalignment was strongly associated with nonroutine discharge following CD-corrective surgery. Age, deformity driver, and ≥ 8 level fusions were also associated with nonroutine discharge and should be taken into account to improve patient counseling and health care resource allocation.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1093/neuros/nyz016

Publication Info

Bortz, Cole A, Peter G Passias, Frank Segreto, Samantha R Horn, Virginie Lafage, Justin S Smith, Breton Line, Gregory M Mundis, et al. (2019). Indicators for Nonroutine Discharge Following Cervical Deformity-Corrective Surgery: Radiographic, Surgical, and Patient-Related Factors. Neurosurgery, 85(3). pp. E509–E519. 10.1093/neuros/nyz016 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/28185.

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Scholars@Duke

Passias

Peter Passias

Instructor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Shaffrey

Christopher Ignatius Shaffrey

Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

I have more than 25 years of experience treating patients of all ages with spinal disorders. I have had an interest in the management of spinal disorders since starting my medical education. I performed residencies in both orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery to gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire range of spinal disorders. My goal has been to find innovative ways to manage the range of spinal conditions, straightforward to complex. I have a focus on managing patients with complex spinal disorders. My patient evaluation and management philosophy is to provide engaged, compassionate care that focuses on providing the simplest and least aggressive treatment option for a particular condition. In many cases, non-operative treatment options exist to improve a patient’s symptoms. I have been actively engaged in clinical research to find the best ways to manage spinal disorders in order to achieve better results with fewer complications.


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