Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33789415›Full record

ArticleAsian spine journal2022

Variability in Management Practices and Surgical Decision Making in Spinal Tuberculosis: An Expert Survey-Based Study.

Kaustubh Ahuja, Tushar Gupta, Syed Ifthekar, Samarth Mittal, Gagandeep Yadav, Pankaj Kandwal

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Article in Asian spine journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution.

Kaustubh AhujaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
Tushar GuptaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
Syed IfthekarDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
Samarth MittalDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
Gagandeep YadavDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
Pankaj KandwalDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designElectronic survey-based study. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to objectively review the variability in the prevailing treatment protocols and surgical decision making in the management of patients with spinal tuberculosis (TB) among spine surgeons with expertise in spinal TB across the country. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: A lack of good-quality evidence, ambiguities in the national spinal TB guidelines, and the demand for early rehabilitation and a better quality of life in patients with spinal TB has led to the emergence of various gray zones in the management of spinal TB.

methodsSeventeen fellowship-trained spinal TB experts representing different geographical regions of India completed an online survey consisting of questions pertaining to the conservative management of spinal TB (antitubercular therapy) and 30 clinical case vignettes including a wide spectrum of presentations of spinal TB with no or minimal neurological deficit. The variability in the responses for questions and case wise variability with respect to surgical decision making was assessed using the index of qualitative variation (IQV). The average tendency to operate (TTO) was calculated for various groups of respondents.

resultsHigh variability was observed in all questions regarding conservative spinal TB management (IQV > 0.8). Among the 30 case vignettes, 14 were found to have high variability with respect to surgical decision making (IQV > 0.8). With respect to levels of fixation, all but two cases had poor or slight agreement. Younger age and practice in a government or tertiary care teaching hospital were factors associated with a higher TTO.

conclusionsSignificant variability was detected in treatment practices for the management of spinal TB among experts. Most of the case vignettes were found to have significant heterogeneity with respect to surgical decision making, which reflects a significant lack of consensus and lacunae in literature.

Indexed as

ConsensusHealth care surveysSpinal fusionSpinal tuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID33789415
PMCPMC8874003
OpenAlexW3139716657

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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.