Unplanned Readmission Is Associated With Decreased Overall Survival and Performance After Metastatic Spine Surgery

Retrospective case-control study.

In a cohort of patients undergoing metastatic spine surgery, we sought to: (1) identify risk factors associated with unplanned readmission, and (2) determine the impact of an unplanned readmission on long-term outcomes.

Factors affecting readmission after metastatic spine surgery remain relatively unexplored.

A single-center, retrospective, case-control study was undertaken of patients undergoing spine surgery for extradural metastatic disease between 02/2010 and 01/2021. The primary outcome was 3-month unplanned readmission. Preoperative, perioperative, and tumor-specific variables were collected. Multivariable Cox regression was performed, controlling for tumor size, other organ metastasis, and preoperative/postoperative radiotherapy/chemotherapy.

A total of 357 patients underwent surgery for spinal metastases with a mean follow-up of 538.7±648.6 days. Unplanned readmission within 3 months of surgery occurred in 64/357 (21.9%) patients, 37 (57.8%) were medical, 27 (42.2%) surgical, and 21 (77.7%) were related to their spine surgery. No significant differences were found regarding demographics and preoperative variables, except for insurance, where most readmitted patients had private insurance compared with nonreadmitted patients ( P =0.021). No significant difference was found in preoperative radiotherapy/chemotherapy. Regarding perioperative exposure variables, readmitted patients had a higher rate of postoperative complications (68.8% vs. 24.2%, P <0.001) and worse postoperative Karnofsky Performance Score ( P =0.021) and Modified McCormick Scale ( P =0.015) at the time of first follow-up. On multivariate logistic regression, postoperative complications were associated with increased readmissions (odds ratio=1.38, 95% CI=1.25-1.52, P <0.001). Regarding the impact of unplanned readmission on long-term tumor control, unplanned readmission was associated with shorter time to local recurrence (log-rank; P =0.029) and reduced overall survival (OS) (log-rank; P <0.001). On multivariate Cox regression, other organ metastasis [hazard ratio (HR)=1.48, 95% CI=1.13-1.93, P =0.004] and 3-month readmission (HR=1.75, 95% CI=1.28-2.39, P <0.001) were associated with worsened OS, with no impact on LR. Postoperative chemotherapy was significantly associated with longer OS (HR=0.59, 95% CI=0.45-0.77, P <0.001).

Postoperative complications were associated with unplanned readmission following metastatic spine surgery. Furthermore, 3-month unplanned readmission was associated with a shorter time to local recurrence and decreased OS. These results help surgeons understand the drivers of readmissions and the impact of readmissions on patient outcomes.

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