The study also found that patients undergoing complex spinal fusion had higher rates of life-threatening complications (5.6 percent) when compared with patients undergoing decompression (2.3 percent). Similarly, the study found that rehospitalization within 30 days was greater for patients undergoing fusion (13 percent) than for patients with decompression (7.8 percent).
The study, led by Richard Deyo, MD, MPH, a researcher at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, also pointed out the costs for spinal fusion (average hospital charges of $80,888) were significantly higher than the costs associated with decompression (average hospital charge of $23,724).
The study’s authors said it is unclear what led to the increase in complex fusions. “It seems implausible that the number of patients with the most complex spinal pathology increased 15-fold in just six years,” they said in the article, suggesting that such complex procedures may be overutilized.
Read the JAMA study on complex spinal fusion.
