• Jeffrey W Chen, Hani Chanbour, Gabriel A Bendfeldt, GangavarapuLakshmi SuryatejaLSVanderbilt University, School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA., Mohana B Karlekar, Amir M Abtahi, Byron F Stephens, Scott L Zuckerman, and Silky Chotai.
• Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2023 Oct 1; 178: e549e558e549-e558.

ObjectiveIn patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastasis, we sought to: (1) describe patterns of palliative care consultation, (2) evaluate the factors that trigger palliative care consultation, and (3) determine the association of palliative care consultation on longer-term outcomes.MethodsA single-center, retrospective, case-control study was conducted for patients undergoing spinal metastasis surgery from February 2010 to January 2021. The primary outcome was receiving a palliative care consultation, and the timing of consultation was divided into same hospital stay consultation, preoperative versus postoperative consultation, and early (ResultsOf 363 patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastasis, 62 (17.0%) patients received palliative care consultation during the same hospitalization, 11 (17.7%) were preoperative, and 51 (82.2%) were postoperative. Among same-stay consultations, 32 (51.6%) were early and 30 (48.4%) were late. Palliative care consultation recipients had worse preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score (P < 0.001), were more likely to have other organ metastases (P = 0.005) or cord compression (P = 0.026), had longer hospitalization (P < 0.001), and were less likely to be discharged home (P < 0.001). Patients presenting with mechanical pain were more likely to receive preoperative consults compared with postoperative (P = 0.029), and earlier compared with later consultations (P = 0.046). Regarding long-term outcomes, patients with same-stay palliative care consultation had significantly shorter overall survival (log-rank; P < 0.001), worse KPS postoperatively (P = 0.017), and worse KPS and Modified McCormick Scale at the last follow-up (P < 0.001).ConclusionsOnly 1 in 6 patients received palliative care consultation. Patients receiving same-stay palliative care consultation had more advanced local and systemic disease burden. Increased utilization of palliative care consultation in patients with spine metastasis is needed.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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