PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Divi, Srikanth N.
AU  - Goyal, Dhruv Kc
AU  - Hoffman, Eve
AU  - Conaway, William K.
AU  - Galtta, Matt
AU  - Bowles, Daniel R.
AU  - Houlihan, Nathan V.
AU  - Bechay, Joseph F.
AU  - McEntee, Richard M.
AU  - Kaye, I. David
AU  - Kurd, Mark F.
AU  - Woods, Barrett I.
AU  - Radcliff, Kris E.
AU  - Rihn, Jeffery A.
AU  - Anderson, D. Greg
AU  - Hilibrand, Alan S.
AU  - Kepler, Christopher K.
AU  - Vaccaro, Alexander R.
AU  - Schroeder, Gregory D.
TI  - How Does the Presence of a Surgical Trainee Impact Patient Outcomes in Lumbar Fusion Surgery?
AID  - 10.14444/8033
DP  - 2021 Mar 31
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8033
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2021/03/30/8033.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2021/03/30/8033.full
AB  - Background While the impact of trainee involvement in other surgical fields is well established, there is a paucity of literature assessing this relationship in orthopaedic spine surgery. The goal of this study was to further elucidate this relationship.Methods A retrospective cohort study was initiated on patients undergoing 1–3 level lumbar spine fusion at a single academic center. Operative reports from cases were examined, and patients were divided into 2 groups depending on whether a fellow or resident (F/R) or a physician's assistant (PA) was used as the primary assist. Patients with less than 1-year follow-up were excluded. Multiple linear regression was used to assess change in each patient-reported outcome, and multiple binary logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of revision, infection, and 30- or 90-day readmission.Results One hundred and seventy-two patients were included in the F/R group compared with 178 patients in the PA group. No differences existed between groups for total surgery time, length of stay, 30- or 90-day readmissions, infection, or revision rates. No differences existed between groups in terms of patient-reported outcomes preoperatively or postoperatively. In addition, presence of a surgical trainee was not a significant predictor of patient outcomes or rates of infection, overall revision, or 30- and 90-day readmission rates.Conclusions The results of this study indicate the presence of an orthopaedic spine F/R does not increase complication rates and does not affect short-term patient-reported outcomes in lumbar decompression and fusion surgery.Level of Evidence 3.