Patients Who Have Had Three or More Levels Fused During Lumbar Spinal Fusion Have Worse Functional Outcomes After Total Hip Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND

Lumbar spinal fusion (LSF) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) are commonly performed in patients who have concomitant spine and hip pathology. While patients who have three or more levels fused during LSF have increased postoperative opioid consumption after undergoing THA, it is unknown whether the number of levels fused during LSF affects THA functional outcomes.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary academic center for patients who underwent LSF first and then had a primary THA performed with a minimum of one-year follow-up for the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Joint Replacement (HOOS-JR). Operative notes were reviewed to determine the number of levels fused during LSF. There were 105 patients who underwent one-level LSF, 55 patients underwent two-level LSF, and 48 patients underwent three-or-more-level LSF. No significant differences existed in age, race, body mass index, and comorbidities between the cohorts.

RESULTS

While preoperative HOOS-JR was similar among the three cohorts, patients who had three-or-more-level LSF had significantly lower HOOS-JR scores than patients who had two-level or one-level LSF (71.4 versus 82.4 versus 78.2; P = .010) and a lower delta HOOS-JR (27.2 versus 39.4 versus 35.9; P = .014). Patients who had three-or-more-level LSF had a significantly lower rate of achieving minimal clinically important difference (61.7% versus 87.2% versus 78.7%; P = .011) and the patient acceptable symptom state (37.5% versus 69.1% versus 59.0%; P = .004) for the HOOS-JR, compared to patients who had two-level or one-level LSF, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgeons should counsel patients who have had three-or-more-level LSF that they may have a lower rate of hip function improvement and symptom acceptability after THA, compared to patients who have had a less number of levels fused during LSF.