Instrumented fusion surgery in elderly patients (over 75 years old): clinical and radiological results in a series of 53 patients

Francesco Costa, Alessandro Ortolina, Massimo Tomei, Andrea Cardia, Edwin Zekay, Maurizio Fornari

November 2013, Volume 22, Issue 6, pp 910 - 913 Original Article Read Full Article

First Online: 20 September 2013

Objective

To evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of elderly (>75 years old) patients who underwent spinal instrumented fusion surgery.

Methods

Patients underwent lumbar pedicle screw fixation and fusion for degenerative spondylolisthesis. Clinical and radiological outcomes were assessed.

Results

53 patients were studied. Pre-operative VAS was 7.8, ODI was 47.6 %. 254 screws were placed (36 single level; 13 double levels and 4 cases three-levels). No mortality occurred. At 18 months follow-up VAS was 4.1, ODI was 21.8 %. A stable fusion was observed in 41 patients (78.8 %); in four cases there was minimal sign of instability and seven patients underwent a second surgery due to screw mobilization.

Conclusion

Spinal fixation and fusion in patients older than 75 years old grants good results in terms of quality of life but the rate of morbidity is higher than standard spine surgery. Rate of fusion especially is still a critical point.

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