• Patawut Bovonratwet, Michael C Fu, Vineet Tyagi, Daniel D Bohl, Nathaniel T Ondeck, Todd J Albert, and Jonathan N Grauer.
• Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
• Spine. 2019 Apr 15; 44 (8): 543-549.

Study DesignRetrospective study of prospectively collected data.ObjectiveTo determine the incidence, timing, risk factors, and clinical implications of postoperative hematoma requiring reoperation after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF).Summary Of Background DataPostoperative hematomas requiring reoperation are rare but potentially catastrophic complications after ACDF. However, there has been a lack of large cohort studies investigating these complications in the ACDF population despite increasing outpatient procedure volume.MethodsPatients who underwent ACDF in the 2012 to 2016 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database were identified. The primary outcome was an occurrence of hematoma requiring reoperation within 30 days postoperatively. Risk factors for this outcome were identified using multivariate regression. Postoperative length of stay, subsequent complications, and mortality were compared between patients who did and did not develop a hematoma requiring reoperation.ResultsA total of 37,261 ACDF patients were identified, of which 148 (0.40%) developed a hematoma requiring reoperation (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.33%-0.46%). Of the cases that developed this complication, 37% occurred after discharge. Risk factors for the development of hematoma requiring reoperation were multilevel procedures (most notably ≥3 levels, relative risk [RR] = 3.14, 95% CI = 1.86-5.32, P < 0.001), preoperative international normalized ratio >1.2 (RR = 2.85, 95% CI = 1.42-5.71, P = 0.006), lower BMI (notably body mass index ≤24, RR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.21-3.67, P = 0.008), American Society of Anesthesiologists classification ≥3 (RR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.47-2.91, P < 0.001), preoperative anemia (RR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.12-2.63, P = 0.027), and male sex (RR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.18-2.37, P = 0.004). In addition, patients who developed a hematoma requiring reoperation before discharge had a longer length of stay. Further, those who developed a hematoma requiring reoperation were at higher risk for subsequent ventilator requirement, deep wound infection, pneumonia, and reintubation.ConclusionPostoperative hematoma requiring reoperation occurred in approximately 1 in 250 patients after ACDF. High-risk patients should be closely monitored through the perioperative period.Level Of Evidence3.

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