Surgery may effectively treat thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament
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Key takeaways:
- Surgical treatment of thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament yielded positive long-term outcomes.
- All patients underwent posterior spine decompression, correction and fixation surgery.
Published results showed posterior spine decompression, correction and fixation surgery may improve neurological function, pain control and quality of life for patients with thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.
Sadayuki Ito, MD, PhD, from the department of orthopedic surgery at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, and colleagues performed a 10-year retrospective review of data from 51 patients (mean age, 50.4 years) who underwent posterior decompression and corrective fusion to treat thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.
Outcomes included Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores, numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores, EuroQol-5D-5L questionnaire for quality of life, as well as radiographic assessment.
Ito and colleagues found mean JOA score improved from 3.7 preoperatively to 7.9 at 2-year follow-up. They noted mean JOA score remained stable at 7.8 at 5-year and 10-year follow-ups. In addition, they found mean EQ-5D-5L score improved from 0.527 preoperatively to 0.682 at 10 years. Mean NRS for back pain improved from 5.4 preoperatively to 3.5 at 10 years, while mean NRS for leg pain improved from 4 preoperatively to 3 at 10 years.
Ito and colleagues noted surgical treatment changed kyphotic angles and ossification areas with no progression after 2 years. They found 14 patients (27.5%) had a postoperative complication, with eight patients (15.7%) requiring reoperation due to cervical and lumbar spinal lesions.
“Our findings indicate improvements in comfort and function,” Ito and colleagues wrote in the study. “It is important to consider how the improvements in the JOA, EQ-5D-5L and NRS scores in this study are positioned relative to other patient groups who have undergone similar surgeries.”
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