A study of functional spinal motion in women after instrumentation and fusion for deformity or trauma

Evaluation of lumbar stiffness after long-level fusion for degenerative lumbar scoliosis via a Chinese version of the lumbar stiffness disability index

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

Long-level spinal fusion for degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS)seeks to eliminate spinal motion in an attempt to alleviate pain, improve deformity, and reduce disability. However, this surgery considerably impairs the performance of activities of daily living (ADL) due to the resulting stiffness. The lumbar stiffness disability index (LSDI) is a validated measure of the effect of lumbar stiffness on functional activity, but this index might not be fully applicable to the elderly Chinese population given several specific lifestyle characteristics.

PURPOSE

To evaluate lumbar stiffness in patients with DLS after long-level fusion by Chinese-LSDI (C-LSDI).

STUDY DESIGN

A retrospective study.

PATIENT SAMPLE

A total of 129 DLS patients who underwent long-level (≧4 levels) fusion surgery with at least one-year follow-up from June 2009 to September 2017 were retrospectively included.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The C-LSDI was designed by modifying LSDI and Korean-LSDI (K-LSDI) based on elderly Chinese lifestyles and the internal consistency and retest repeatability of the patient-reported outcome questionnaire in the measurement of the impact of lumbar stiffness on functional abilities was assessed.

METHODS

The radiographic parameters including Cobb angle, apical vertebral translation (AVT), coronal vertical axis (CVA), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), thoracic kyphosis (TK), thoracolumbar kyphosis (TLK), pelvic tilt (PT), pelvic incidence (PI), sacral slope (SS), lumbar lordosis (LL), and PI-LL, and clinical symptoms including visual analogue scale (VAS) for back and low extremity pain; Oswestry disability index (ODI), Japanese Orthopedic Association-29 (JOA-29), Scoliosis Research Society⁃22 (SRS-22), 36⁃Item short form survey (SF-36), physical component scores (PCS) and mental component scores (MCS) were measured preoperatively and at the last follow-up.

RESULTS

Compared with LSDI and K-LSDI, the C-LSDI demonstrated higher internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.902) and retest reliability (Internal consistency coefficients, ICC=0.904) in the elderly Chinese population. All patients showed increased lumbar stiffness and significant improvement in pain and deformity postoperatively. Regarding items, such as performing personal hygiene after toileting and getting out of a car, people reported more inconvenience with increasingly fixed levels.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that the C-LSDI questionnaire was a reliable and valid instrument for assessing functional limitations due to lumbar stiffness among elderly Chinese patients with DLS after long-level fusion. Although the effects of stiffness did trend toward greater impacts among patients who underwent longer fusions, most patients were satisfied with trade-offs of function and pain relief in exchange for perceived increases in lumbar stiffness.

Comparison of Functional Outcome and Quality of Life in Patients With Idiopathic Scoliosis Treated by Spinal Fusion

Longer spinal fusions have been shown to result in improved deformity correction; however, loss of normal flexibility in the fusion area should not be ignored. Current consensus was to achieve a shorter fusion in primary surgery, with the goal of preserving as much of the distal motion segment as possible. However, the correlation between the length of fusion and functional outcome remains controversial. To the best of our knowledge, a previous study has demonstrated the function outcomes and the differences in HRQoL with specific fusion levels.In this cross-sectional study, 172 patients (mean age, 17.8 y) with idiopathic scoliosis treated by spinal fusion (mean time since surgery, 29.7 mo) were included to measure lumbar spine mobility and quality of life using validated outcome instruments in the study population. Patients were assigned to 5 groups according to the lower instrumented vertebra (LIV) level: group A (fusion above L2) 26 patients; group B (fusion to L2) 21 patients; group C (fusion to L3) 46 patients; group D (fusion to L4) 53 patients; and group E (fusion to L5) 26 patients. At each follow-up, patients were asked to complete the Scoliosis Research Society 22 (SRS-22) Questionnaire. Lumbar mobility was assessed using a dual digital inclinometer.Average spinal range of motion (ROM) was 41.4 degrees (SD, 20.7), forward flexion was 29.2 degrees (SD, 15.0), and backward extension was 12.2 degrees (SD, 9.5). The total spinal range of motion and forward flexion dropped noticeably as the LIV got more distal. Statistically significant between-group differences (1-way ANOVA) were found for ROM (P < 0.001), forward flexion (P < 0.001), or backward extension (P < 0.001). The motion segments preserved significantly correlated with ROM (r = 0.76, P < 0.001), ROMF (r = 0.76, P < 0.001), and ROME (r = 0.39, P < 0.001). However, no significant between-group differences was found for each domain of SRS-22 questionnaire.The motion segments preserved strongly correlated with lumbar mobility. Less fusion levels can preserve better lumbar flexibility by keeping more motion segments.

Effect of Lowest Instrumented Vertebra on Trunk Mobility in Patients With Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Undergoing a Posterior Spinal Fusion

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of posterior spinal fusion surgery terminating at different lowest instrumented vertebrae (LIV) on trunk mobility in individuals with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Posterior spinal fusion with instrumentation is the standard surgical technique employed in AIS for correcting spine deformities with Cobb angles exceeding 50°. Surgical correction of curve deformity reduces trunk mobility and range of motion. However, conflicting findings from previous studies investigating the impact of different LIV levels on the reduction in trunk mobility after surgery have been reported.

METHODS

The study was designed as a prospective study with 47 patients (7 males and 40 females) with AIS who underwent posterior spinal fusion. Patients were classified into 5 groups based on their surgical LIV level (ie, T12, L1, L2, L3, and L4). Trunk flexion-extension (sagittal plane), lateral bending (coronal plane), and axial rotation (transverse plane) kinematics were assessed during preoperative, 1 year postoperative, and 2 years postoperative evaluation visits.

RESULTS

There were postoperative reductions of 41%, 51%, and 59% in trunk range of motion in the sagittal, coronal, and transverse planes, respectively (p < .0001). A trend toward greater postoperative reductions in peak forward flexion at more distal LIVs was observed (p = .04).

CONCLUSIONS

Fusion reduces trunk mobility in the sagittal, coronal, and transverse planes. More distal LIV fusions limit peak forward flexion to a greater extent which is considered clinically significant. After fusion, the reductions seen in axial rotation, lateral bending, and backward extension do not differ significantly at more distal LIVs.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis - to operate or not? A debate article

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) represents a rare condition with a potentially detrimental impact on young patients. Despite vast clinical research and published treatment guidelines and algorithms, the optimal therapeutic choice for these patients remains highly controversial. While advocates of early surgery emphasize the benefits of surgical deformity correction with regard to physical and psychological outcome, the opponents base their arguments on the high risk of complications and a lack of documented subjective long-term outcome. In the present paper, the authors were invited to debate the opposite positions of "pro" versus "contra" surgical treatment of AIS, based on the currently available evidence and published guidelines.

Rate of complications in scoliosis surgery - a systematic review of the Pub Med literature

Background

Spinal fusion surgery is currently recommended when curve magnitude exceeds 40–45 degrees. Early attempts at spinal fusion surgery which were aimed to leave the patients with a mild residual deformity, failed to meet such expectations. These aims have since been revised to the more modest goals of preventing progression, restoring 'acceptability' of the clinical deformity and reducing curvature.

In view of the fact that there is no evidence that health related signs and symptoms of scoliosis can be altered by spinal fusion in the long-term, a clear medical indication for this treatment cannot be derived. Knowledge concerning the rate of complications of scoliosis surgery may enable us to establish a cost/benefit relation of this intervention and to improve the standard of the information and advice given to patients. It is also hoped that this study will help to answer questions in relation to the limiting choice between the risks of surgery and the "wait and see – observation only until surgery might be recommended", strategy widely used. The purpose of this review is to present the actual data available on the rate of complications in scoliosis surgery.

Materials and methods

Search strategy for identification of studies; Pub Med and the SOSORT scoliosis library, limited to English language and bibliographies of all reviewed articles. The search strategy included the terms; 'scoliosis'; 'rate of complications'; 'spine surgery'; 'scoliosis surgery'; 'spondylodesis'; 'spinal instrumentation' and 'spine fusion'.

Results

The electronic search carried out on the 1^st February 2008 with the key words "scoliosis", "surgery", "complications" revealed 2590 titles, which not necessarily attributed to our quest for the term "rate of complications". 287 titles were found when the term "rate of complications" was used as a key word. Rates of complication varied between 0 and 89% depending on the aetiology of the entity investigated. Long-term rates of complications have not yet been reported upon.

Conclusion

Scoliosis surgery has a varying but high rate of complications. A medical indication for this treatment cannot be established in view of the lack of evidence. The rate of complications may even be higher than reported. Long-term risks of scoliosis surgery have not yet been reported upon in research. Mandatory reporting for all spinal implants in a standardized way using a spreadsheet list of all recognised complications to reveal a 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 20-year rate of complications should be established. Trials with untreated control groups in the field of scoliosis raise ethical issues, as the control group could be exposed to the risks of undergoing such surgery.

Impact of spine surgery on signs and symptoms of spinal deformity

Paediatric scoliosis is associated with signs and symptoms including reduced pulmonary function, increased pain and impaired quality of life, all of which worsen during adulthood, even when the curvature remains stable. Spinal fusion has been used as a treatment for nearly 100 years. In 1941, the American Orthopedic Association reported that for 70% of patients treated surgically, outcome was fair or poor: an average 65% curvature correction was reduced to 27% at >2 year follow-up and the torso deformity was unchanged or worse. Outcome was worse in children treated surgically before age 10, despite earlier intervention. Today, a reduced magnitude of curvature obtained by spinal fusion in adolescence can be maintained for decades. However, successful surgery still does not eliminate spinal curvature and it introduces irreversible complications whose long-term impact is poorly understood. For most patients there is little or no improvement in pulmonary function. Some report improved pain after surgery, some report no improvement and some report increased pain. The rib deformity is eliminated only by rib resection which can dramatically reduce respiratory function even in healthy adolescents. Outcome for pulmonary function and deformity is worse in patients treated surgically before the age of 10 years, despite earlier intervention. Research to develop effective non-surgical methods to prevent progression of mild, reversible spinal curvatures into complex, irreversible structural deformities, is long overdue.

A comparison of methods for measuring spinal motion in female patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Noninvasive surface measures of spine motion are validated in adult patients but are infrequently used in adolescent scoliosis patients. The agreement between surface and radiographic measurements of spinal motion is not known. We performed a comparative prospective analysis of 3 methods to measure spinal motion in female patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) to establish normative data of spinal motion in AIS patients and evaluate the relationship between surface and radiographic measurements of spine motion. Measurements were obtained using a cloth tape measure, dual inclinometers, and a 3-dimensional electrogoniometer in 37 female patients with AIS. Radiographic parameters of the deformity were correlated with the spine motion. Differences between methods were evaluated by paired t tests. The Bland-Altman method was applied to evaluate agreement in measuring flexion. The average spinal flexion was 5.7 +/- 2.2 cm by the modified Schober method, 49 +/- 11 degrees by the dual inclinometers method, and 64 +/- 10 degrees by the 3-dimensional electrogoniometer. Spinal motion did not vary with magnitude of the scoliosis. In addition, surface measurements of spinal motion did not correlate with radiographic measurements of scoliosis flexibility. In this study, the amount of spinal motion varied, depending on the method of measurement. Surface measurements of motion cannot predict the magnitude or flexibility of the scoliosis.

Impairment of perineal care functions after long fusions of the lumbar spine

The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of perineal care impairment after extended thoracolumbar and thoracolumbosacral spinal fusions. Fourteen adult patients with fusions from the thoracic spine to L5 or the sacrum completed a questionnaire regarding their ability to do perineal care. The mean number of vertebral levels fused was 9.5 (range, 6-16 levels) with five patients having spinal fusion to L5 and nine having fusion to the sacrum. Thirty-six percent (five of 14 patients) reported difficulty doing perineal care after fusion. Maintenance of L5-S1 segmental motion did not seem to reduce occurrence of perineal care problems. We think that extended thoracolumbar fusion and thoracolumbosacral fusion can produce postoperative difficulty in doing perineal care.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic study, Level IV (case series--no, or historical control group). See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Sagittal range of motion after a spinal fracture: does ROM correlate with functional outcome?

Literature regarding the effect of a spinal fracture and its treatment in terms of resulting spinal range of motion (ROM) is scarce. However, there is need for data regarding sagittal spinal ROM, since many patients who sustain a spinal fracture are concerned about the back mobility they will have after treatment. In addition, the relationship between ROM and impairment is not clear. The literature gives conflicting results. To study spinal ROM after a spinal fracture, we measured thoracolumbar ROM in operatively and non-operatively treated patients (n=76, average 3.7 years follow-up) as well as controls (n=41). In order to study the relation between ROM and subjective back complaints, we calculated the correlation between thoracolumbar ROM and scores derived from the VAS spine score and RMDQ. To assess impairment after a spinal fracture, we compared RMDQ and VAS scores between operatively and non-operatively treated patients and healthy controls. Operatively treated patients were found to have lower thoracolumbar ROM than controls (56.7 degrees vs 70.0 degrees , respectively; p<0.01). There was no difference between operatively treated and non-operatively treated patients (56.7 degrees vs 62.7 degrees , respectively); nor was a difference found between non-operatively treated patients and controls. Correlation between ROM and subjective impairment was very weak and only significant for ROM and RMDQ scores in the whole study group (rho= -0.25; p<0.01). Patients were more impaired than controls, there was no difference between operatively and non-operatively treated patients (VAS score 76.3 vs 72.6; RMDQ score 4.5 vs 4.4, respectively). We conclude that patients treated operatively for a thoracolumbar spinal fracture have a lower thoracolumbar ROM than controls. Spinal ROM, however, does not influence impairment. A spinal fracture results in impairment, no matter what therapy is chosen.