RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Comparison of Pain and Functional Outcomes Among Geriatric and Nongeriatric Adults Following Full Endoscopic Spine Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Pathology
JF International Journal of Spine Surgery
JO Int J Spine Surg
FD International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery
SP 8693
DO 10.14444/8693
A1 Chernysh, Alexander A.
A1 Leyendecker, Jannik
A1 Leary, Owen P.
A1 Sastry, Rahul A.
A1 Gokaslan, Ziya L.
A1 Fridley, Jared S.
A1 Derman, Peter
A1 Kashlan, Osama
A1 Konakondla, Sanjay
A1 Ogunlade, John
A1 Hofstetter, Christoph P.
A1 Telfeian, Albert E.
YR 2024
UL https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2024/12/15/8693.abstract
AB Background Full endoscopic spine surgery (FESS) champions a rapid recovery and a low rate of overall complications. However, its efficacy in geriatric patients that might yield additional benefits from minimized invasiveness remains underexplored.Methods A multi-institutional prospective cohort study was conducted involving patients undergoing elective lumbar FESS. Participants were categorized into nongeriatric (18–69 years old) and geriatric (≥70 years old) groups. Studied variables included demographics, medical comorbidities, operative details, visual analog scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). A mobile application was leveraged to collect real-time data pre- and postoperatively.Results One hundred and sixty-four patients were included and divided into nongeriatric (N = 125) and geriatric (N = 39) cohorts. No group differences were observed between sex (P = 0.404), body mass index (P = 0.372), procedure duration (P = 0.350), or blood loss (P = 0.384). Nongeriatric patients received discectomy more frequently (P < 0.001), while older patients underwent more decompressive procedures (P < 0.001). Characterization of pain and functional outcome revealed that nongeriatric and geriatric patients follow a similar recovery trajectory and both appreciate significant improvements from baseline to 3 months postoperatively (P < 0.001 for VAS back, VAS leg, and ODI). There were no differences in the rate of improvement between age groups at any time point (P > 0.05 for VAS back, VAS leg, and ODI).Conclusions FESS significantly improves pain and function in both geriatric and nongeriatric adults with degenerative lumbar conditions, with no difference in the degree of improvement between groups.Clinical Relevance These findings underscore the efficacy of FESS as a minimally invasive surgical option for elderly patients. Mobile application technology is useful for collecting patient-reported data in spine surgery clinical research.Level of Evidence 3.