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Preoperative Karnofsky scores may best predict quality of life after surgery for spinal metastases
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Data from this recently published prospective study showed preoperative Karnofsky scores for patients with symptomatic spinal metastases may be the best predictor of quality of life and survival after surgery.
In an attempt to determine preoperative patient characteristics to predict postoperative quality of life and survival, researchers conducted a prospective, longitudinal study that included 922 patients with spinal metastases who underwent surgery at 17 international centers. Researchers noted preoperative and postoperative EuroQol EQ-5D scores, VAS scores for pain, Karnofsky physical functioning scores, complication rates and survival in the patient cohort.
Researchers found about half of the participants in the study survived longer than 1 year after surgery. The greatest predictors of quality of life after surgery included preoperative EQ-5D and preoperative Karnofsky performance status. A multivariate analysis found the number of vertebral levels involved, metastatic tumor type, number of visceral metastases and an associated trend with the Karnofsky performance status were the greatest predictors of survival after surgery.
“Our results show that preoperative EQ-5D score, Frankel grade, and Karnofsky score are predictive of good [quality of life] QoL after surgery and that, from a practical point of view, the Karnofsky score is perhaps the most useful indicator of postoperative QoL,” the researchers wrote in the study. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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