Patients with abnormal microarchitecture have an increased risk of early complications after spinal fusion surgery

Spine fusion is one of the most common orthopedic surgeries, with more than 400,000 cases performed annually. While these procedures correct debilitating pain and deformities, complications occur in up to 45%. As successful fusion rests upon early stability of hardware in bone, patients with structural skeletal deficits may be at particular risk for complications. Few studies have investigated this relationship, and none have used higher order imaging to evaluate microstructural mechanisms for complications. Standard DXA measurements are subject to artifact in patients with spinal disease and therefore provide limited information. The goal of this prospective study was to investigate pre-operative bone quality as a risk factor for early post-operative complications using high resolution peripheral QCT (HR-pQCT) measurements of volumetric BMD (vBMD) and microarchitecture. We hypothesized that patients with low vBMD and abnormal microarchitecture at baseline would have more skeletal complications post-operatively. Conversely, we hypothesized that pre-operative DXA measurements would not be predictive of complications. Fifty-four subjects (mean age 63 years, BMI 27 kg/m²) were enrolled pre-operatively and followed for 6 months after multi-level lumbar spine fusion. Skeletal complications occurred in 14 patients. Patients who developed complications were of similar age and BMI to those who did not. Baseline areal BMD and Trabecular Bone Score by DXA did not differ. In contrast, HR-pQCT revealed that patients who developed complications had lower trabecular vBMD, fewer and thinner trabeculae at both the radius and tibia, and thinner tibial cortices. In summary, abnormalities of both trabecular and cortical microarchitecture were associated the development of complications within the first six months following spine fusion surgery. Our results suggest a mechanism for early skeletal complications after fusion. Given the burgeoning number of fusion surgeries, further studies are necessary to investigate strategies that may improve bone quality and lower the risk of post-operative complications.