Perioperative Outcome in Posterior Spinal Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective Study Comparing Single Versus Two Attending Surgeons Strategy

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perioperative outcome of posterior spinal fusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients comparing a single attending surgeon strategy (G1) versus a dual attending surgeon strategy (G2).

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The complication rate for surgical correction in AIS is significant. There are no prospective studies that investigate dual attending surgeon strategy for posterior spinal fusion in AIS.

METHODS: A total of 60 patients (30 patients in each arm) were recruited. The patients were comparable for age, gender, Lenke classification, major Cobb angle magnitude, and number of fusion levels. The anesthetic, surgical, and postoperative protocol was standardized. The outcome measures included the operative duration, blood loss, postoperative hemoglobin, need for transfusion, morphine usage, duration of hospital stay, intraoperative lactate levels, and pH. The timing of the operation at six critical stages of the operation was recorded.

RESULTS: The mean operative time for G2 was 173.6 ± 27.0 minutes versus 248.0 ± 49.9 minutes in G1 (P