Risk-benefit assessment of major versus minor osteotomies for flexible and rigid cervical deformity correction.

INTRODUCTION

Osteotomies are commonly performed to correct sagittal malalignment in cervical deformity (CD). However, the risks and benefits of performing a major osteotomy for cervical deformity correction have been understudied. The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the risks and benefits of performing a major osteotomy for CD correction.

METHODS

Patients stratified based on major osteotomy (MAJ) or minor (MIN). Independent -tests and Chi-squared tests were used to assess differences between MAJ and MIN. A sub-analysis compared patients with flexible versus rigid CL.

RESULTS

137 CD patients were included (62 years, 65% F). 19.0% CD patients underwent a MAJ osteotomy. After propensity score matching for cSVA, 52 patients were included. About 19.0% CD patients underwent a MAJ osteotomy. MAJ patients had more minor complications ( = 0.045), despite similar surgical outcomes as MIN. At 3M, MAJ and MIN patients had similar NDI, mJOA, and EQ5D scores, however by 1 year, MAJ patients reached MCID for NDI less than MIN patients ( = 0.003). MAJ patients with rigid deformities had higher rates of complications (79% vs. 29%, = 0.056) and were less likely to show improvement in NDI at 1 year (0.95 vs. 0.54, = 0.027). Both groups had similar sagittal realignment at 1 year (all > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Cervical deformity patients who underwent a major osteotomy had similar clinical outcomes at 3-months but worse outcomes at 1-year as compared to minor osteotomies, likely due to differences in baseline deformity. Patients with rigid deformities who underwent a major osteotomy had higher complication rates and worse clinical improvement despite similar realignment at 1 year.