Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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This study aims to assess the relationship of comorbidities and postoperative complications to rates of readmission for geriatric patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) involving more than 2 levels on an inpatient or outpatient basis. With the rising costs of healthcare in the United States, understanding the safety and efficacy of performing common surgical interventions (including ACDF) as outpatient procedures could prove to be of great economic impact.Objective This study aims to assess the effect of comorbidities and postoperative complications on the rates of readmission of geriatric patients undergoing multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedures (i.e., ACDF involving 3 or more levels) on an inpatient or outpatient basis. Same-day surgery has been demonstrated to be a safe and cost-effective alternative to the traditional inpatient option for many surgical interventions. With the rising costs of healthcare, understanding the safety and efficacy of performing common surgical interventions as outpatient procedures could prove to be of great economic impact. ⋯ This study suggests that ACDF surgery involving 3 or more levels performed as an outpatient procedure in the geriatric population may be associated with lower rates of readmissions, complications, and surgical charges.
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Nonhome discharge and unplanned readmissions represent important cost drivers following spinal fusion. The authors sought to utilize different machine learning algorithms to predict discharge to rehabilitation and unplanned readmissions in patients receiving spinal fusion. ⋯ In an analysis of patients undergoing spinal fusion, multiple machine learning algorithms were found to reliably predict nonhome discharge with modest performance noted for unplanned readmissions. These results provide early evidence regarding the feasibility of modern machine learning classifiers in predicting these outcomes and serve as possible clinical decision support tools to facilitate shared decision making.
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Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a common cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Recently, it has been shown that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may be a better biomarker than T2-weighted signal intensity (T2SI) on MRI for CSM. However, there is very little literature on a comparison between the quantitative measurements of DTI and T2SI in the CSM patient population to determine disease severity and recovery. ⋯ In this large prospective study of CSM patients, FA at LMC appears to be a better biomarker for determining long-term outcomes following surgery in CSM patients than NT2SI or the combination values at LMC.