Object The overall incidence of complications or adverse events in spinal surgery is unknown. Both prospective and retrospective analyses have been performed, but the results have not been critically assessed. Procedures for different regions of the spine (cervical and thoracolumbar) and the incidence of complications for each have been reported but not compared. Authors of previous reports have concentrated on complications in terms of their incidence relevant to healthcare providers: medical versus surgical etiology and the relevance of perioperative complications to perioperative events. Few authors have assessed complication incidence from the patient's perspective. In this report the authors summarize the spine surgery complications literature and address the effect of study design on reported complication incidence. Methods A systematic evidence-based review was completed to identify within the published literature complication rates in spinal surgery. The MEDLINE database was queried using the key ...

Complications in spine surgery

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)-or MI-TLIF-has been increasing in prevalence compared with open TLIF (O-TLIF) procedures. The use of MI-TLIF is an evolving technique with conflicting reports in the literature about outcomes. OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of MI-TLIF in comparison with O-TLIF for early and late outcomes by using the Visual Analog Scale for back pain (VAS-back) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Secondary end points include blood loss, operative time, radiation exposure, length of stay, fusion rates, and complications between the 2 procedures. METHODS During August 2014, a systematic literature search was performed identifying 987 articles. Of these, 30 met inclusion criteria. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed by using both pooled and subset analyses based on study type. RESULTS Our meta-analysis demonstrated that MI-TLIF reduced blood loss (P < .001), length of stay (P < .001), and complications (P = .001) but increased radiation exposure (P < .001). No differences were found in fusion rate (P = .61) and operative time (P = .34). A decrease in late VAS-back scores was demonstrated for MI TLIF (P < .001), but no differences were found in early VAS-back, early ODI, and late ODI. CONCLUSION MI-TLIF is associated with reduced blood loss, decreased length of stay, decreased complication rates, and increased radiation exposure. The rates of fusion and operative time are similar between MI-TLIF and O-TLIF. Differences in long-term outcomes in MI-TLIF vs O-TLIF are inconclusive and require more research, particularly in the form of large, multi-institutional prospective randomized controlled trials. ABBREVIATIONS CI, confidence intervalMCID, minimal clinically important differenceMI-TLIF, minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusionODI, Oswestry Disability IndexO-TLIF, open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusionVAS, Visual Analog Scale.

Surgical Outcomes for Minimally Invasive vs Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Object It is hypothesized that minimally invasive surgical techniques lead to fewer complications than open surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD). The goal of this study was to analyze matched patient cohorts in an attempt to isolate the impact of approach on adverse events. Methods Two multicenter databases queried for patients with ASD treated via surgery and at least 1 year of follow-up revealed 280 patients who had undergone minimally invasive surgery (MIS) or a hybrid procedure (HYB; n = 85) or open surgery (OPEN; n = 195). These patients were divided into 3 separate groups based on the approach performed and were propensity matched for age, preoperative sagittal vertebral axis (SVA), number of levels fused posteriorly, and lumbar coronal Cobb angle (CCA) in an attempt to neutralize these patient variables and to make conclusions based on approach only. Inclusion criteria for both databases were similar, and inclusion criteria specific to this study consisted of an age > 45 years, CCA > 20°, 3 or ...

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Complications in adult spinal deformity surgery: an analysis of minimally invasive, hybrid, and open surgical techniques.

Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (MI-TLIF): Surgical Technique, Long-Term 4-year Prospective Outcomes, and Complications Compared with an Open TLIF Cohort

OBJECT Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) has become one of the preferred procedures for circumferential fusion in the lumbar spine. Over the last decade, advances in surgical techniques have enabled surgeons to perform the TLIF procedure through a minimally invasive approach (MI-TLIF). There are a few studies reported in the medical literature in which perioperative complication rates of MI-TLIF were evaluated; here, the authors present the largest cohort series to date. They analyzed intraoperative and perioperative complications in 513 consecutive MI-TLIF-treated patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease. METHODS The authors performed a retrospective review of prospectively collected data on 513 consecutive patients treated over a 10-year period for lumbar degenerative disc disease using MI-TLIF. All patients undergoing either a first-time or revision 1- or 2-level MI-TLIF procedure were included in the study. Demographic, intraoperative, and perioperative data were collected and analyzed using bivariate analyses (Student t-test, analysis of variance, odds ratio, chi-square test) and multivariate analyses (logistic regression). RESULTS A total of 513 patients underwent an MI-TLIF procedure, and the perioperative complication rate was 15.6%. The incidence of durotomy was 5.1%, and the medical and surgical infection rates were 1.4% and 0.2%, respectively. A statistically significant increase in the infection rate was seen in revision MI-TLIF cases, and the same was found for the perioperative complication rate in multilevel MI-TLIF cases. Instrumentation failure occurred in 2.3% of the cases. After analysis, no statistically significant difference was seen in the rates of durotomy during revision and multilevel surgeries. There was no significant difference between the complication rates when stratified according to presenting diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS To the authors' knowledge, this is the largest study of perioperative complications in MI-TLIF in the literature. A total of 513 patients underwent MI-TLIF (perioperative complication rate 15.6%). The most common complication was a durotomy (5.1%), and there was only 1 surgical wound infection (0.2%). There were significantly more perioperative infections in revision MI-TLIF cases and more perioperative complications in multilevel MI-TLIF cases. The results of this study suggest that MI-TLIF has a similar or better perioperative complication profile than those documented in the literature for open-TLIF treatment of degenerative lumbar spine disease.

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Intraoperative and perioperative complications in minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: a review of 513 patients

Background: The previous studies agree that minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) has better function outcomes, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stay, when compared to open-TLIF. However, there are no significance differences on operative time, complication, and reoperation rate between the two procedures. This could be from less relative literatures and lower grade evidence. The further meta-analysis is needed with more and higher grade evidences to compare the above two TLIF procedures. Methods: Prospective and retrospective studies that compared open-TLIF and MIS-TLIF were identified by searching the Medline, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and VIP database (the literature search comprised Medical Subject Heading terms and key words or Emtree term). The retrieval time ranged from the date when the database was founded to January 2015. Pooled risk ratios ( RR s) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the clinical outcomes and perioperative data. Results: Twenty-four studies ( n = 1967 patients) were included in this review ( n = 951, open-TLIF, n = 1016, MIS-TLIF). MIS-TLIF was associated with a significant decrease in the visual analog score (VAS)-back pain score (WMD = −0.44; P = 0.001), Oswestry Disabilities Index (WMD = −1.57; P = 0.005), early ambulation (WMD = −1.77; P = 0.0001), less blood loss (WMD = −265.59; P P RR = 0.99; P = 0.34), VAS-leg pain (WMD = −0.10; P = 0.26), complication rate ( RR = 0.84; P = 0.35), operation time (WMD = −5.23; P = 0.82), or reoperation rate ( RR = 0.73; P = 0.32). Conclusions: MIS-TLIF resulted in a similar fusion rate with better functional outcome, less blood loss, shorter ambulation, and hospital stay; furthermore, it did not increase the complication or reoperation rate based on the existing evidence.

Comparison between Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Conventional Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: An Updated Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) has been successfully used to treat degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine. There are few reports comparing the complications and clinical outcomes in older patients who have undergone one- or two-level MIS-TLIF with those of younger patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of MIS-TLIF in the treatment of degenerative disc disease of lumbar spine of the patients older than 65 years, with an emphasis on perioperative complications compared to the younger patients. METHODS One hundred and fifty-one consecutive cases of one- or two-level degenerative disc disease of lumbar spine treated with MIS-TLIF were reviewed for the radiological and clinical outcomes. They were divided into elderly group (age ≥ 65 years old) and younger group (age < 65 years old), and were followed for at least 6 months. Radiographs were obtained before and after surgery, 3 months postoperatively, and at the final follow-up to determine the presence of fusion, hardware-related problems. The clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) before and after surgery, and at the final follow-up. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score of back and leg pain were evaluated as well. The intra-operative data and peri-operative complications were recorded. RESULTS The mean age of these patients at operation was (57.7 ± 14.2) years (range 26 - 82 years). Of 151 patients, 62 were 65 years or older. The elderly patients had more comorbidities and more porportion of lumbar canal stenosis. The overall fusion rate was 88.4% at the final follow-up, with no significant difference between younger and elderly patients. The ODI, the VAS of back pain and radicular pain of both young and elderly group were significantly improved after surgery and at the final follow-up, without significant difference between two groups. There were 16 complications with an incidence of 10.6%, including 7 major complications and 9 minor complications. There was no significant difference of the incidence of complications between two groups. The incidence of dura tear was significantly related to bilateral deompression. CONCLUSIONS The clinical and radiological outcomes of MIS-TLIF in the treatment of one- or two-level degenerative disc diseases of lumbar spine in the elderly patients were satisfactory. Though there are more pre-operative comorbidities, with proper patient selection, the elderly patients are not at increased risk of perioperative complications compared to younger patients. Screw malposition and dura tear, which are the most frequent complications, were more related to the surgical technique and should be avoided.

Complications and clinical outcomes of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for the treatment of one- or two-level degenerative disc diseases of the lumbar spine in patients older than 65 years.

Background A simple, safe and effective therapeutic strategy for traumatic instability of the subaxial cervical spine, as well as its prognostic assessment, is still controversial. Methods The therapeutic options for 83 patients of traumatic instability of the subaxial cervical spine, whose average age was 35 years, were determined, according to the Allen-Ferguson classification, general health and concomitant traumatic conditions, neurological function, position of compression materials, concomitant traumatic disc herniation/damage, concomitant locked-facet dislocation, the involved numbers and position, and the patients' economic conditions. An anterior, posterior or combination approach was used to decompress and reconstruct the cervical spine. No operations with an anterior-posterior-anterior approach were performed. Results The average follow-up was three years and nine months. Distraction-flexion and compression-flexion were the most frequent injury subtypes. There were 46, 28 and 9 cases of anterior, posterior and combination operations, respectively. The average score of the Japanese Orthopaedics Association, visual analog scale and American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) motor index improved from 11.2, 7.8 and 53.5, respectively, before operation, to 15.3, 2.6 and 67.8, respectively, at final follow-up. For incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), the average ASIA neurological function scale was improved by 1-2 levels. Patients with complete SCI had no neurological recovery, but recovery of nerve root function occurred to different extents. After surgery, radiological parameters improved to different extents. Fusion was achieved in all patients and 12 developed complications. Conclusions The best surgical strategy should be determined by the type of subaxial cervical injury, patients' general health, local pathological anatomy and neurological function.

Wen-Jian Wu

Papers

Comparison between Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Conventional Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: An Updated Meta-analysis.

Complications and clinical outcomes of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for the treatment of one- or two-level degenerative disc diseases of the lumbar spine in patients older than 65 years.

Therapeutic strategy for traumatic instability of subaxial cervical spine