A study published in Spine examines whether surgeon specialty makes a difference for single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
A study published in the journal earlier this month examined whether specialty itype impacted elective spine surgery outcomes. The study authors examined the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project Databse for more than 50,000 patient outcomes. Around 66 percent of the procedures were preformed by neurosurgeons. The researchers found the 30-day postoperative differences between neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons who performed the MIS TLIF procedures were minimal.
However, the patients treated by orthopedic surgeons were more likely to receive a perioperative transfusion, have complications and require discharge with continued care.
This new study on spinal fusions was conducted in much the same manner and included 1,944 patients who underwent single-level ACDF. Around 20 percent of the procedures were performed by orthopedic spine surgeons and 80 percent were performed by neurosurgeons. Here are three findings:
1. The patients who underwent ACDF from neurosurgeons had higher comorbidities. However, propensity matching showed not all preoperative variables vary significantly between the two cohorts.
2. There was little difference between the orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons for single-level ACDF; no specialty was associated with higher complication odds.
3. Neither specialty was associated with higher surgical site complications or medical complications.
"Spine surgeons specialty is not a risk factor for any reported postoperative complication in patients undergoing single-level ACDF," the study authors concluded.