title: Back Muscle Morphometry: Effects on Outcomes of Spine Surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This review seeks to synthesize emerging literature on the effects of back muscle size on outcomes in spine surgery. Risk factors that contribute to poor surgical outcomes continue to be an area of interest in spine surgery because proper risk stratification can result in reduction in morbidity and enhanced patient care. However, the impact of muscle size on spine surgical outcomes is an understudied avenue with paucity of data evaluating the relationship among back muscles and surgical outcomes, patient's quality of life, and functional improvement postoperatively.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review was centered around identifying studies that assessed the impact of back muscle size on spine surgery outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five retrospective studies were selected for review. All studies set out to see if differences in muscle size existed in patients with disparate post-operative outcomes as a primary objective. The studies support the association between larger back muscles and improved outcomes. The size and relative cross sectional area of paraspinal muscles and the size of the psoas muscle were associated with functional outcomes, incidence of complications and also fusion rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With reduction in surgical complications and improvement in postoperative functional outcomes, back muscle morphometry ought to be included in the preoperative surgical planning as a predictor of outcomes.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: A Basit
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Emma Hobdy
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, UT Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Abdul Wali
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; Department of Surgery, American University of Beirut, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Omeis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: verla@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Verla
mesh_terms: D064131:Back Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D009929:Organ Size; D064170:Paraspinal Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D016658:Psoas Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Back muscle; Morphometry; Outcomes; Spine surgery