Abstract P31: Surgical Factors Associated with Prolonged Hospitalization After Reconstructive Spinal Surgery
Year: 2017
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: PURPOSE: Posterior trunk reconstruction following oncological resection is increasingly possible as a result of advances in spinal instrumentation, reconstructive approaches, and perioperative critical care. Extensive cases often require a muscle flap or complex closure to obliterate dead space. Postsurgical wound complications and subsequent reoperations can lead to neural injury, higher hospital costs, and longer hospitalizations. We aim to identify risk factors that are associated with increased length of stay (LOS) for patients receiving flaps to close a spinal defect. METHODS: A single institution, retrospective cohort study was performed on all patients from 2002–2014 who received a muscle flap to close a spinal defect. Medical and perioperative variables that were significantly associated with LOS (p<0.05) in univariate analysis were included in a stepwise regression model. RESULTS: A total of 288 cases were included in this study. In terms of tumor etiology, 34.3% of the cohort had primary spinal tumors, 22.6% had metastatic spinal tumors, 28.5% underwent hardware revision or spinal fusion, and the rest had benign lesions or other rare tumors. Presence of instrumentation, pre-operative chemotherapy, wound dehiscence, CSF leak, partial/total flap loss, and medical morbidity occurrence were all independently associated with increased LOS in a combined multivariate model (p<0.02 for each of the six variables). Importantly, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that post-operative wound dehiscence increased length of stay by twelve days (median LOS 11 [95% CI 9–14] versus 23 [95% CI 14–28]). CONCLUSIONS: Spine tumor resections often create large cavitary defects that necessitate the use of muscle flaps for closure. Patients who have received adjuvant chemotherapy, require instrumentation, or those who develop specific wound-related or medical complications are at an increased risk for prolonged hospitalization following spinal reconstruction. Thus, with knowledge of the effects of these complications, simple interventions can be employed to enhance the safety of the post-operative period and reduce the financial burden associated with unnecessarily long post-operative admissions.
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,195
OpenAlex ID: W2607690301