ArticleGlobal spine journal2021
Anterior Versus Posterior Decompression for Degenerative Thoracic Spine Diseases: A Comparison of Complications.
Article in Global spine journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A rare symptomatic L5-S1 anterior retroperitoneal lumbar disc herniation causing foot drop and mimicking a peripheral nerve sheath tumor: illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2026Article
- A modified minimally invasive surgery for thoracic pyogenic spondylitis: Percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in combination with a vertebral debridement in a separate posterolateral approach-A case report.Clinical case reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designRetrospective database.
objectivesAlthough posterior decompression is the most common approach for surgical treatment of degenerative thoracic spine disease, anterior approach is gaining interest due to its advantage in disc visualization. The objective of this study was to compare the intra- and postoperative medical complication rates between anterior and posterior decompression for degenerative thoracic spine pathologies.
methodsA national US insurance database was queried for patients with degenerative diagnoses who had undergone anterior or posterior thoracic decompression. Incidence of intra- and postoperative complications were evaluated on the day of surgery and within 1 and 3 months. Two subgroups were matched based on age, gender, and comorbidity. The association of decompression approach and complications was assessed using logistic regression.
resultsA total of 1459 patients were included, consisting of 1004 patients in posterior and 455 patients in anterior group. Respiratory complications were the most common complications on the day of surgery (8.57%) and within 30 days (17.75%). Matched analysis showed that anterior approach was associated with organ failure, gastrointestinal, and device-/implant-/graft-related complications in all follow-up periods; and with cardiovascular, deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism, and respiratory complications in at least 1 follow-up period. Among respiratory complications, anterior decompression was significantly associated with noninfectious etiologies on the day of surgery (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72), within 30 days (OR = 2.05), and within 90 days (OR = 1.92).
conclusionsAnterior approach was associated with increased rates of several complications. High rates of respiratory complications necessitate comprehensive preoperative risk stratification to identify those who may benefit more from posterior approach.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.