Patient Outcomes Following Short-segment Lumbar Fusion Are Not Affected by PI-LL Mismatch.

Area of Science:

• Spine surgery
• Orthopedics
• Biomechanical analysis

Background:

• Limited research exists on spinopelvic parameters and patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) in degenerative lumbar disease.
• Pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) mismatch is a key spinopelvic parameter.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between PI-LL mismatch and surgical outcomes.
• To analyze PROMs in patients undergoing short segment lumbar fusions for degenerative lumbar disease.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 306 patients undergoing 1- or 2-level lumbar fusion.
• Patients were grouped by postoperative PI-LL mismatch: ≤10 degrees (NM) or >10 degrees (M).
• Analyzed outcomes included PCS-12, MCS-12, ODI, and VAS scores; compared absolute scores, recovery ratio, and minimum clinically important difference.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in baseline, postoperative, or change in outcome scores between the NM and M groups.
• PI-LL mismatch was not an independent predictor of any PROM on multivariate analysis.
• The M group had higher preoperative and postoperative PI-LL mismatch than the NM group.

Conclusions:

• A significant PI-LL mismatch does not appear to negatively affect patient-reported outcomes after short segment lumbar fusion for degenerative disease.
• Clinical outcomes are not solely determined by PI-LL mismatch in this patient population.