Who gets staged surgery in severe pediatric and adolescent spine deformity?

There is significant debate regarding the indications of staged surgery for severe adolescent spinal deformity, and the factors associated with the decision to perform staged compared to same-day surgery have not been previously investigated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine which factors were most strongly associated with this decision.

A prospective multicenter registry of adolescent patients with severe spinal deformity was reviewed. Two cohorts were identified: those who underwent a planned staged surgical procedure for deformity correction and those who underwent a same-day procedure. Patients who underwent an unplanned staged procedure secondary to complications during the initial procedure were excluded. Comparisons were made between these cohorts with respect to preoperative patient and radiographic variables to determine which factors were associated with the decision to perform a staged procedure. Surgical data was also compared to evaluate for differences in the intraoperative management of staged versus same-day patients.

Two hundred and twenty-nine patients with severe spinal deformities were identified. Forty patients (17%) underwent a planned staged procedure and 189 patients (80%) underwent a same-day procedure. On univariate analysis of preoperative variables, patients who underwent staged surgery had a significantly younger age at surgery, greater major curve magnitude, greater major curve AVT to CSVL, lesser thoracic spine height, greater radiographic trunk shift, and a greater proportion of patients undergoing revision surgery (as opposed to primary correction) compared to those who underwent a planned single-stage procedure. Multivariate logistic regression of pre-operative variables showed that age < 16 years, maximum cobb angle ≥ 120 degrees, major curve AVT to CSVL of ≥ 3.5 cm, and revision surgery were independently associated with the decision to perform a staged procedure. Intraoperatively, patients in the staged cohort more frequently underwent combined anterior and posterior procedures, grade 4 or higher Schwab osteotomies, and had a greater number of levels fused.

There is substantial variability with respect to the decision to perform surgery for severe adolescent spine deformities in a staged versus same-day fashion. This large analysis of prospectively collected data is the first to describe the factors most strongly associated with the decision to perform a staged procedure and may help guide the surgical decision-making for these patients.