SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2017
The current state of the evidence for the use of drains in spinal surgery: systematic review.
Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06820736 (A Prospective, Randomized Comparison Of Drainage Techniques After One- Or Two-Level Open Posterior Lumbar Decompression Or Decompression And Fusion), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Prospective, Randomized Comparison Of Drainage Techniques After One- Or Two-Level Open Posterior Lumbar Decompression Or Decompression And Fusion
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk-benefit analysis of wound drain usage in spine surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis with evidence summary.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2020Pooled it
- Role of closed drain after multi-level posterior spinal surgery in adults: a randomised open-label superiority trial.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Trial
- Review
- Surgical site infections and the discharge care of surgical drains following spinal fusions: a qualitative inquiry.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025Article
- Article
- Similar Short-Term Outcomes of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Surgery with or without Drainage: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Negative versus natural drainage after single-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion. A prospective randomized study.Brain & spine · 2023Article
- Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol in spine surgery.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2022Article
- Lumbar surgical drains do not increase the risk of infections in patients undergoing spine surgery.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Article
- Surgical Site Infection Prophylaxis and Wound Management in Spine Surgery.Asian spine journal · 2022Article
- Drains in Spine Surgery for Degenerative Disc Diseases: A Literature Review to Determine Its Usage.Cureus · 2022Review
- Delayed postoperative spinal epidural hematoma after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A case report.Frontiers in surgery · 2022Article
- Neuromuscular Scoliosis: Comorbidities and Complications.Asian spine journal · 2021Article
- Observational
- Post-operative drain use in patients undergoing decompression and fusion: incidence of complications and symptomatic hematoma.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2018Article
- The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European Spine Journal Review: a survey of the "surgical and research" articles in the European Spine Journal, 2017.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeSearch for evidence pertaining to the effectiveness of drains used in spinal surgeries.
methodPubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for articles pertaining to the use of drains in all types of spinal surgery. The bibliographies of relevant studies were searched for additional papers that met the initial inclusion criteria. Level I and II studies were scored according to guidelines in the Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group. We utilised the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes and Study design (PICOS) method to define our study eligibility criteria.
resultsNineteen papers were identified: four level I studies, eight level III studies and seven level IV studies. The four level I, involving the randomization of patients into 'drain' and 'non-drain' groups, identified a total of 363 patients. Seven of the eight level III retrospective studies concluded that the use of drains did not reduce complications. Two of the seven level IV studies agreed with this conclusion. The remaining five level IV studies reported the benefits of lumbar drainage following dural tears.
conclusionsThere is a paucity of published literature on the use of drains following spinal surgery. This is the first study to assess the evidence for the benefits of drains post-operatively in spinal surgery. The identified studies have shown that drains do not reduce the incidence of complications in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, one and two level posterior cervical fusions, lumbar laminectomies, lumbar decompressions or discectomies and posterior spinal fusion for adolescent scoliosis. Further level I and II studies are needed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.