Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026
Surgical Approach and Complications of Stand-alone Lateral Trans-Psoas Interbody Fusion
Published on: February 14, 2025
Risk of complications in spine surgery: a prospective study
Rodolfo Casimiro Reis1, Matheus Fernandes de Oliveira1, José Marcus Rotta1
1Spine Surgery Section, Hospital do Servidor Puúblico Estadual de São Paulo, São Paulo-SP, Brazil.
Purpose:
Complications are the chief concern of patients and physicians when considering spine surgery. The authors seek to assess the incidence of complications in patients undergoing spine surgery and identify risk factors for their occurrence.
Methods:
Prospective study of patients undergoing spine surgery from 1 February 2013 to 1 February 2014. Epidemiological characteristics and complications during the surgical hospitalization were recorded and analyzed.
Results:
The sample comprised 95 patients (mean age, 59 years). Overall, 23% of patients were obese (BMI =30). The mean BMI was 25.9. Approximately 53% of patients had comorbidities. Complications occurred in 23% of cases; surgical site infections were the most common (9%). There were no significant differences between patients who did and did not develop complications in terms of age (60.6 vs 59.9 years, p = 0.71), sex (56% female vs 54% female, p = 0.59), BMI (26.6 vs 27.2, p = 0.40), or presence of comorbidities (52% vs 52.8%, p = 0.87). The risk of complications was higher among patients submitted to spine instrumentation than those submitted to non-instrumented surgery (33% vs 22%), p=0.8.
Conclusion:
Just over one-quarter of patients in the sample developed complications. In this study, age, BMI, comorbidities were not associated with increased risk of complications after spine surgery. The use of instrumentation increased the absolute risk of complications.
