Poor Nutrition Status and Lumbar Spine Fusion Surgery in the Elderly: Readmissions, Complications, and Mortality.
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2017-07
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Abstract
Study design
Retrospective database review.Objective
To quantify the medical and surgical risks associated with elective lumbar spine fusion surgery in patients with poor preoperative nutritional status and to assess how nutritional status alters length of stay and readmission rates.Summary of background data
There has been recent interest in quantifying the increased risk of complications caused by frailty, an important consideration in elderly patients that is directly related to comorbidity burden. Preoperative nutritional status is an important contributor to both sarcopenia and frailty and is poorly studied in the elderly spine surgery population.Methods
The full 100% sample of Medicare data from 2005 to 2012 were utilized to select all patients 65 to 84 years old who underwent elective 1 to 2 level posterior lumbar fusion for degenerative pathology. Patients with diagnoses of poor nutritional status within the 3 months preceding surgery were selected and compared with a control cohort. Outcomes that were assessed included major medical complications, infection, wound dehiscence, and mortality. In addition, readmission rates and length of stay were evaluated.Results
When adjusting for demographics and comorbidities, malnutrition was determined to result in significantly increased odds of both 90-day major medical complications (adjusted odds ratio, OR: 4.24) and 1-year mortality (adjusted OR: 6.16). Multivariate analysis also demonstrated that malnutrition was a significant predictor of increased infection (adjusted OR: 2.27) and wound dehiscence (adjusted OR: 2.52) risk. Length of stay was higher in malnourished patients, though 30-day readmission rates were similar to controls.Conclusion
Malnutrition significantly increases complication and mortality rates, whereas also significantly increasing length of stay. Nutritional supplementation before surgery should be considered to optimize postoperative outcomes in malnourished individuals.Level of evidence
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Puvanesarajah, Varun, Amit Jain, Khaled Kebaish, Christopher I Shaffrey, Daniel M Sciubba, Rafael De la Garza-Ramos, Akhil Jay Khanna, Hamid Hassanzadeh, et al. (2017). Poor Nutrition Status and Lumbar Spine Fusion Surgery in the Elderly: Readmissions, Complications, and Mortality. Spine, 42(13). pp. 979–983. 10.1097/brs.0000000000001969 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/28381.
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Christopher Ignatius Shaffrey
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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