A new study published in Spine examines whether a prolonged surgical wait list impacts the surgical care and perioperative management of patients with scoliosis. There were 13 patients participating in the study who waited more than six months for surgery, and 11 patients available for analysis.
Here are seven things to know from the study:
1. The average wait time was 24 months, with waits ranging from 17 months to 30 months.
2. The average curve progression was 25.3 degrees while patients were on the wait list with a range of 52 degrees to 77 degrees.
3. When the surgical time rolled around, more anterior releases were added to the posterior instrumentation alone in the surgical plan.
4. The average estimated operative time increased by 2.2 hours for the patients on the waitlist.
5. The average length of stay at the hospital increased by one day for the waitlist patients.
6. The estimated difficulty level for the surgery increased 2.33 grades.
7. Predicted estimated blood loss increased for patients who waited.
“From the surgeon’s perspective, lengthy waitlists have a significant negative impact on the perioperative and postoperative care of patients with scoliosis by increasing the complexity of surgery,” concluded the study authors. “The actual course of treatment corresponded to the responses from these different surgeons.”
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