What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to evaluate the relationship between surgical interventions, postoperative outcomes, and hospitalization length in lumbar spine surgeries.

March 12, 2026Open Access

Clinical and Surgical Outcomes in Patients with Lumbar Spine Pathologies: A Retrospective Study

Key Points

The study aims to evaluate the relationship between surgical interventions, postoperative outcomes, and hospitalization length in lumbar spine surgeries.
Conducted a retrospective cohort study at SANADOR Clinical Hospital
Included 86 adult patients with lumbar spine pathologies
Analyzed length of stay, early neurological changes, and unplanned reoperations using statistical software
Spondylolisthesis was the most common diagnosis (60.5%)
Median length of stay was 3 days, most discharged by postop day 4
Early neurological change occurred in 34.9% but resolved for all at discharge
Unplanned reoperation within 90 days occurred in 17.6%
Prolonged hospitalization was associated with early neurological changes, not baseline comorbidity

Abstract

Background: Enhanced recovery pathways and modern fixation systems have shortened admission after lumbar spine surgery, yet the interplay between implant choice, comorbidity, and early morbidity remains incompletely defined. Methods: We undertook a retrospective, single-center cohort study of lumbar procedures performed at SANADOR Clinical Hospital (Bucharest, Romania) between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2024. Eighty-six adult patients (64 women, 22 men; mean age 64.9 ± 10.8 years) met the inclusion criteria. Outcomes included length of stay (LOS), early postoperative neurological change (Frankel/American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale), and unplanned reoperation within 90 days. Analyses were performed in Python 3.11 (pandas, SciPy, statsmodels) and verified in IBM SPSS 28.0; α = 0.05. Results: Spondylolisthesis was the predominant diagnosis (60.5%), followed by lumbar stenosis (17.4%). Instrumentation was used in 75 cases (87.2%). Median LOS was 3 days (mean 3.8 ± 2.1), and most patients were discharged by postoperative day 4. LOS did not differ by interbody cage status (Mann–Whitney p = 0.459; median 3 vs. 3 days). Early postoperative neurological change occurred in 34.9% but improved or resolved in all cases by discharge; no permanent motor deficits were observed. Unplanned reoperation within 90 days occurred in 17.6%. In multivariable logistic regression for prolonged hospitalization (LOS > 4 days), early postoperative neurological change was associated with increased odds of prolonged LOS (OR 4.45, 95% CI 1.29–15.43; p = 0.018), whereas age showed only a borderline association (OR 1.06 per year, 95% CI 1.00–1.14; p = 0.065). Conclusions: In this single-center retrospective cohort, postoperative hospitalization was generally short. Prolonged LOS was more closely associated with early postoperative neurological change than with baseline comorbidity or interbody cage use. These findings should be interpreted as short-term, context-specific observations from a complex, predominantly instrumented referral cohort.

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Cite This Study

Enache et al. (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69b2584996eeacc4fcec7bc3 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/reports9010079

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