Postoperative Complications for Elderly Patients After Single-Level Lumbar Fusions for Spondylolisthesis

ObjectiveA large-scale study on postoperative complications of lumbar fusion surgery for spondylolisthesis comparing patients >80 years old with younger patients has not been performed. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of extreme age (>80 years old) on early postoperative outcomes after single-level lumbar fusions for spondylolisthesis.MethodsFrom a validated multicenter surgical database, 2475 patients who underwent a single-level lumbar fusion procedure for spondylolisthesis were selected retrospectively. An extreme age cohort with 227 patients >80 years old was compared with a typical age cohort with 2248 patients 45–65 years old.ResultsThe preoperative characteristics and comorbidities were different between the typical age cohort and the extreme age cohort, with older patients having more preoperative comorbidities, including a lack of independent functional health status before surgery (P < 0.001), severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P <0.020), and hypertension requiring medication (P < 0.001). There was significantly greater morbidity among the >80 cohort regarding urinary tract infection (P = 0.008; odds ratio = 3.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.47–7.40) and intraoperative and postoperative transfusions (P < 0.001; odds ratio = 2.186; 95% confidence interval, 1.54–3.11). There was significantly greater morbidity among the younger cohort regarding cardiac arrest requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (P = 0.043; odds ratio = 0.099; 95% confidence interval, 0.014–0.704).ConclusionsThis is the first large study comparing the rates of postoperative complications of lumbar fusion surgery for spondylolisthesis in patients >80 years old versus younger patients. The data support that age alone should not exclude a patient for this procedure. However, extra caution is warranted given the slightly increased morbidity.