Intraoperative Death During Cervical Spinal Surgery: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Spine Surgery

Background:

• Cervical spine surgeries, while generally safe, carry a risk of serious complications.
• Intraoperative death is an exceptionally rare complication with limited existing literature on its incidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the intraoperative mortality rates in patients undergoing cervical spine surgery.
• To identify potential risk factors associated with intraoperative death during these procedures.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective multicenter study involving 21 surgical centers from the AOSpine North America Clinical Research Network.
• Review of medical records for 258 patients who underwent cervical spine surgery between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2011.
• Analysis focused on identifying any occurrences of intraoperative death.

Main Results:

• No cases of intraoperative death were recorded among the 258 patients studied.
• The majority of surgeries utilized an anterior approach (53.9%), followed by posterior (39.1%) and circumferential (7%).
• The average patient age was 57.1 years, with a slightly higher proportion of male patients (54.7%).

Conclusions:

• Intraoperative death is a very rare complication of cervical spine surgery, with a 0% mortality rate observed in this study.
• The use of adequate surgical approaches tailored to patient diagnosis and comorbidities likely contributed to the prevention of intraoperative mortality.
• Further research may be warranted to explore specific preventative strategies, although the current findings indicate a high safety profile.