A new study published in Clinical Spine Surgery compares posterior cervical spine complications among patients who receive recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 and those who do not.
The study authors examined data from the PearlDiver database for posterior cervical fusions between 2005 and 2011. They examined the 90-day complication rate for 352 patients who underwent surgery in the upper cervical spine and 2,372 patients who had lower cervical spine procedures.
Study authors found:
1. Among patients who had upper cervical fusions, 20.7 percent received rhBMP-2. In the rhBMP-2 group, 9.6 percent of patients reported complications, compared to 12 percent of patients in the non-rhBMP-2 group.
2. Among the patient who had lower cervical fusions, 15.9 percent reported rhBMP-2 use. Among the rhBMP-2 patients, 11 percent reported complications, compared to 14 percent of the non-rhBMP-2 group.
3. The patients who had lower cervical fusions reported significantly higher wound-related complications in the rhBMP-2 group, 6.1 percent, than the non-rhBMP-2 group, 3.8 percent.
4. Study authors concluded rhBMP-2 "does not increase the risk of complications in upper cervical spine fusion procedures." However they did note lower cervical spine rhBMP-2 use increases the risk of wound-related complications.
5. There weren't any major complications associated with rhBMP-2 use.