A new study published in Spine examines how age and complications rates are associated in adult scoliosis surgery patients.
The researchers examined the Scoliosis Research Society morbidity and mortality databases for patients who underwent surgery for scoliosis between 2004 and 2007. There were 5,470 adult scoliosis patients included in the study. Here are five tings to know:
1. The overall complication rate was 13.5 percent. There was a 0.3 percent mortality rate.
2. The patients who experienced complications were significantly older than patients who didn't. The patients who experienced complications were around 56 years old, compared with patients who didn't at 51 years old on average.
3. There was a statistically significant trend of increasing complication rates with each decade of life. The researchers stratified complications according to the decade of age to reach this finding.
4. The most common complication in patients 50 years old or older was dural tears.
5. The most common complication for patients younger than 50 years old were implant-related complications.
"There was a clear association between increasing age and higher rates of major short-term complications, a factor that ought to be taken into account during treatment decision making and patient counseling," concluded the study authors.