[Incidence and risk factors of postoperative epidural hematoma following anterior cervical spine surgery].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the incidence and potential risk factors associated with postoperative spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) following anterior cervical spine surgery (ACSS).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients who underwent ACSS for cervical spondylosis at Peking University Third Hospital between March 2013 and February 2022. Patients who developed postoperative SEH were categorized as the SEH group, while those in the cohort without SEH were randomly selected as the non-SEH group by individually matching with the same operator, same gender, same surgery year, and similar age (±5 years) at a ratio of 4 ∶ 1. The general condition, preoperative comorbidities, anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy, preoperative coagulation and platelet counts, American society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, cervical spondylosis classification, preoperative modified Japanese Orthopaedic Society score and cervical disability index score, surgical modality, surgical segment levels, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament among the surgical level, surgery duration, estimated blood loss, postoperative drainage volume, preoperative mean arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure during postoperative awakening periods, hospital stay and hospitalization cost were compared between the two groups. A bivariate Logistic regression model was applied to screen out the independent risk factors and calculate the odds ratios of indicators associated with SEH. Receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to describe the discrimination ability of the indicators.

RESULTS

A total of 85 patients were enrolled in the study, including 17 patients in the SEH group and 68 patients in the non-SEH group. Seventeen patients with SEH underwent hematoma evacuation, and all of them were successfully treated and discharged from the hospital. Corpectomy (=7.247; 95%: 1.962-26.766; =0.003) and the highest mean arterial pressure during awakening (=1.056; 95%: 1.002-1.113; =0.043) were independent risk factors for SEH. The AUC values were 0.713 (95%: 0.578-0.848) and 0.665 (95%: 0.51-0.82) respectively. The patients with SEH had longer hospital stays ( < 0.001) and greater hospitalization costs (=0.035).

CONCLUSION

Corpectomy and elevated maximum mean arterial pressure during awakening are independent risk factors for the development of postoperative SEH following ACSS. High-risk patients should be closely monitored during the perioperative period.