BACKGROUND With an aging population, elderly patients with multiple comorbidities are more frequently undergoing spine surgery and may be at increased risk for complications. Objective measurement of frailty may predict the incidence of postoperative adverse events. OBJECTIVE To investigate the associations between preoperative frailty and postoperative spine surgery outcomes including mortality, length of stay, readmission, surgical site infection, and venous thromboembolic disease. METHODS As part of a system-wide quality improvement initiative, frailty assessment was added to the routine assessment of patients considering spine surgery beginning in July 2016. Frailty was assessed with the Risk Analysis Index (RAI), and patients were categorized as nonfrail (RAI 0-29) or prefrail/frail (RAI ≥ 30). Comparisons between nonfrail and prefrail/frail patients were analyzed using Fisher's exact test for categorical data or by Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous data. RESULTS From August 2016 through September 2018, 668 patients (age of 59.5 ± 13.3 yr) had a preoperative RAI score recorded and underwent scheduled spine surgery. Prefrail and frail patients suffered comparatively higher rates of mortality at 90 d (1.9% vs 0.2%, P < .05) and 1 yr (5.1% vs 1.2%, P < .01) from the procedure date. They also had longer in-hospital length of stay (LOS) (3.9 d ± 3.6 vs 3.1 d ± 2.8, P < .001) and higher rates of 60 d (14.6% vs 8.2%, P < .05) and 90 d (15.8% vs 9.8%, P < .05) readmissions. CONCLUSION Preoperative frailty, as measured by the RAI, was associated with an increased risk of readmission and 90-d and 1-yr mortality following spine surgery. The RAI can be used to stratify spine patients and inform preoperative surgical decision making.

Immunosuppression, hematogenous spread and advanced age were predictors of poor prognosis. Most of the complications following brain abscess management were not directly related to surgery or surgical technique.

's institution has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Z. Li and W. Zhang's institution has received funding from the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.

OBJECTIVENutritional deficiency negatively affects outcomes in many health conditions. In spine surgery, evidence linking preoperative nutritional deficiency to postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) has been limited to small retrospective studies. Authors of the current study analyzed a large consecutive cohort of patients who had undergone elective spine surgery to determine the relationship between a serum biomarker of nutritional status (preoperative prealbumin levels) and SSI.METHODSThe authors conducted a retrospective review of the electronic medical charts of patients who had undergone posterior spinal surgeries and whose preoperative prealbumin level was available. Additional data pertinent to the risk of SSI were also collected. Patients who developed a postoperative SSI were identified, and risk factors for postoperative SSI were analyzed. Nutritional deficiency was defined as a preoperative serum prealbumin level ≤ 20 mg/dl.RESULTSAmong a consecutive series of 387 patients who met the study criteria for inclusion, the infection rate for those with preoperative prealbumin ≤ 20 mg/dl was 17.8% (13/73), versus 4.8% (15/314) for those with preoperative prealbumin > 20 mg/dl. On univariate and multivariate analysis a low preoperative prealbumin level was a risk factor for postoperative SSI with a crude OR of 4.29 (p < 0.01) and an adjusted OR of 3.28 (p = 0.02). In addition, several previously known risk factors for infection, including diabetes, spinal fusion, and number of operative levels, were significant for the development of an SSI.CONCLUSIONSIn this consecutive series, preoperative prealbumin levels, a serum biomarker of nutritional status, correlated with the risk of SSI in elective spine surgery. Prehabilitation before spine surgery, including strategies to improve nutritional status in patients with nutritional deficiencies, may increase value and improve spine care.