A new study published in Spine examines the complication rate after two-level lumbar spine surgery among patients with primary hypercoagulable states and coagulopathies.
The researchers examined PearlDriver database and include 746 patients in the study with coagulopathies and 2,753 with primary hypercoagulable states. The patients underwent posterolateral lumbar spinal fusion surgery from 2005 to 2012. The matched control cohorts had 74,879 patients for the coagulopathies group and 54,007 patients with the primary hypercoagulable states group.
The researchers found:
1. the patients in the hypercoagulable group reported significantly increased complications, infections and venous thromboembolisms three months after surgery when matched with the control group.
2. The hypercoagulable patients reported higher levels of same-day transfusions than the control group.
3. There was an increased rate of infections and transfusions three months after surgery among the patients with von Willebrand disease and hemophilia.
4. The revision rates one and two years after surgery weren’t significantly higher in either group.
5. The researchers concluded, “Both primary hypercoagulable states and coagulopathies increased infection and transfusion rates following one to two-level lumbar spine surgery.”