Trends, Major Medical Complications, and Charges Associated with Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis in Older Adults

Richard A. Deyo; Sohail K. Mirza; Brook I. Martin; William Kreuter; David C. Goodman; Jeffrey G. Jarvik

doi:10.1001/jama.2010.338

Table1

Type of surgical procedure performed according to combinations of diagnoses. In all cases, spinal stenosis was coded as the primary diagnosis.

Diagnoses n Decompression
alone Simple
fusion Complex fusion All fusions
Stenosis alone (no
spondylolisthesis or
scoliosis) 25,060 19,699 3,027 2,335 (44% of
fusions for this
diagnosis) 5,362 (21% of
all operations for
this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus
spondylolisthesis 5,915 1,216 2,793 1,906 (41% of
fusions for this
diagnosis) 4,699 (79% of
all operations for
this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus
scoliosis 1,652 678 441 533 (55% of
fusions for this
diagnosis) 974 (59% of all
operations for
this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus either
spondylolisthesis or
scoliosis (or both) 7,092^* 1,775 3,056 2,261 (43% of
fusions for this
diagnosis) 5,317 (75% of
all operations for
this diagnosis)

^*This total is less than the sum of patients with spondylolisthesis and patients with scoliosis, because these diagnoses are not mutually exclusive, and some patients had both secondary diagnoses

Diagnoses	n	Decompression alone	Simple fusion	Complex fusion	All fusions
Stenosis alone (no spondylolisthesis or scoliosis)	25,060	19,699	3,027	2,335 (44% of fusions for this diagnosis)	5,362 (21% of all operations for this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus spondylolisthesis	5,915	1,216	2,793	1,906 (41% of fusions for this diagnosis)	4,699 (79% of all operations for this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus scoliosis	1,652	678	441	533 (55% of fusions for this diagnosis)	974 (59% of all operations for this diagnosis)
Stenosis plus either spondylolisthesis or scoliosis (or both)	7,092^*	1,775	3,056	2,261 (43% of fusions for this diagnosis)	5,317 (75% of all operations for this diagnosis)