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Surgeons’ experience, surgical outcomes for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis significantly correlated
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Researchers found that surgeons with more experience provided better health-related quality-of-life and operative results for surgical procedures relating to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
In a multicenter, prospective study, researchers analyzed the work of nine surgeons (four young, five experienced) who operated on a total of 165 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Surgeons’ level of experience ranged from less than 1 year to 36 years; surgeons in the “young” category had 5 years of experience or less, and those in the “experienced” category had more than 5 years.
Although preoperative curve-magnitude measurements were similar between groups, significant operative and postoperative differences were noted, according to the researchers.
On average, young surgeons fused 1.2 levels more than the experienced surgeons, and the mean intraoperative estimated blood loss in the younger surgeon group was more than double that of the experienced surgeon group at 2,042 mL vs. 1,013 mL, respectively.
SRS-22 scores were significantly worse in the young surgeons’ patient group, as well, according to the researchers. Additionally, surgery duration was 458 minutes in the younger surgeon group compared with 265 minutes in the experienced surgeon group.
Between-group differences for the domains of pain, self-image and function were significant; however, there were no significant differences in complication rates between the groups, according to the researchers.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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