• Eryck Moskven, Étienne Bourassa-Moreau, Raphaele Charest-Morin, Alana Flexman, and John Street.
• Vancouver Spine Surgery Institute and Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: eryckmoskven@rcsi.ie.
• Spine J. 2018 Dec 1; 18 (12): 2354-2369.

Study DesignSystematic review.ObjectivesTo identify currently used measures of frailty and sarcopenia in the adult spine surgery literature. To assess their ability to predict postoperative outcomes including mortality, morbidity, in-hospital length of stay (LOS), and discharge disposition. To determine which is the best clinical measure of frailty and sarcopenia in predicting outcome after spine surgery.Summary Of Background DataFrailty and sarcopenia have been identified as predictors of mortality and adverse-events (AEs) in numerous nonsurgical and nonspine populations. This topic is an emerging area of interest and study in patients undergoing spinal surgery.MethodsA systematic literature review using the PRISMA methodology of MEDLINE, PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases was performed from January 1950 to August 2017. Included studies consisted of those that examined measures of frailty or sarcopenia in adult patients undergoing any spinal surgery. The literature was synthesized and recommendations are proposed based on the GRADE system.ResultsThe initial search yielded 210 results, 11 of which met our complete inclusion criteria. Seven reported on measures of frailty and four reported on measures of sarcopenia. Frailty, assessed using a variety of measurement tools, was a consistent predictor of mortality, major and minor morbidity, prolonged in-hospital LOS, and discharge to a center of higher care for adult patients undergoing spinal surgery. The relationship between sarcopenia and postoperative outcomes was inconsistent due to the lack of consensus regarding the definition, measurement tools, and wide variability in sarcopenia measured in the spinal population.ConclusionsFrailty is predictive of AEs, mortality, in-hospital LOS, and discharge disposition in a number of distinct spinal surgery populations. The impact of sarcopenia on postoperative outcomes is equivocal given the current state of the literature. The relationship between spinal pathology, frailty, sarcopenia, and how they interact to yield outcome remains to be clarified. Frailty and sarcopenia are potentially useful tools for risk stratification of patients undergoing spinal surgery. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO, registration number 85096.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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