title: Perioperative complications and clinical outcomes of multilevel circumferential lumbar spinal fusion in the elderly.
abstract: Combined anterior-posterior lumbar fusion across multiple levels is thought to be associated with increased perioperative morbidity and worse clinical outcomes when performed in elderly patients. We conducted a retrospective review of the medical, surgical, and radiological records of 73 patients who underwent multilevel anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with posterolateral lumbar fusion with instrumentation for symptomatic lumbar degenerative disc disease. Mean follow-up was 19 months. Thirty patients were at least 65 years old and 43 patients were younger. There were no significant differences in the number of levels fused, operative time, mean length of hospital stay or perioperative complication rates in either group. Similarly, there were no statistically significant differences in the improvement in back pain or in the rates of fusion between the groups at last follow-up. Perioperative events, intermediate-term clinical outcomes, and fusion rates after multilevel 360-degree lumbar fusion in the elderly are comparable to those of younger patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue,S-225, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. acostaf@neurosurg.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Frank L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.forename: Jordan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cloyd
authors.forename: Henry E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Aryan
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Ames
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005853:Geriatrics; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult