The Value of Plastic Surgery Spinal Closures: A Review of 782 Spine Cases

Background The role of the plastic surgeon in wound management after complications from previous spinal surgeries is well established. Purpose The present study evaluates wound complications after plastic surgeon closure of the primary spinal surgery in a large patient population. Study Design and Setting This is a retrospective review of spine surgery patients undergoing plastic surgeon closure of spine surgeries at a single tertiary care center. Patient Sample Spine surgery patients included those who were referred for plastic surgeon closure due to (a) concerns about patient healing potential, (b) concerns about difficulty of closure, (c) patient request, or (d) difficulties with closure intraoperatively. Outcome Measures The outcomes are physiologic measures, including intraoperative and postoperative complications, hospital length of stay, and 30-day readmissions and reoperations. Methods Outcomes in this sample were compared with previously published outcomes using 2-sample z tests. The authors have no conflicts of interest. Results Nine hundred twenty-eight surgeries were reviewed, of which 782 were included. Fourteen patients (1.8%) required readmission with 30 days. This compares favorably to a pooled analysis of 488,049 patients, in which the 30-day readmission rate was found to be 5.5% (z = 4.5, P
Source: Annals of Plastic Surgery - Category: Cosmetic Surgery Tags: Reconstructive Surgery Source Type: research