Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37950628›Full record

ArticleGlobal spine journal2025

Longer Screws Decrease the Risk of Radiographic Pseudarthrosis Following Elective Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

Hani Chanbour, Gabriel A Bendfeldt, Graham W Johnson, Keyan Peterson, Ranbir Ahluwalia, Iyan Younus, Michael Longo, Amir M Abtahi, Byron F Stephens, Scott L Zuckerman

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global spine journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 25% 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

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Hani ChanbourDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2409-8623
Gabriel A BendfeldtSchool of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Graham W JohnsonBiomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9154-4315
Keyan PetersonDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Ranbir AhluwaliaDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Iyan YounusDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Michael LongoDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Amir M AbtahiDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Byron F StephensDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5397-5344
Scott L ZuckermanDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2951-2942
Neurological Surgery · USVanderbilt University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designRetrospective cohort study.

objectivesIn patients undergoing elective anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), we sought to determine the impact of screw length on: (1) radiographic pseudarthrosis, (2) pseudarthrosis requiring reoperation, and (3) patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

methodsA single-institution, retrospective cohort study was undertaken from 2010-21. The primary independent variables were: screw length (mm), screw length divided by the anterior-posterior vertebral body diameter (VB%), and the presence of any screw with VB% < 75% vs all screws with VB% ≥ 75%. Multivariable logistic regression controlled for age, BMI, gender, smoking, American Society of Anesthesiology grade, number of levels fused, and whether a corpectomy was performed.

resultsOf 406 patients undergoing ACDF, levels fused were: 1-level (39.4%), 2-level (42.9%), 3-level (16.7%), and 4-level (1.0%). Mean screw length was 14.3 ± 2.3 mm, and mean VB% was 74.4 ± 11.2. A total of 293 (72.1%) had at least one screw with VB% < 75%, 113 (27.8%) had all screws with VB% ≥ 75%, and 141 (34.7%) patients had radiographic pseudarthrosis at 1-year. Patients who had any screw with VB% < 75% had a higher rate of radiographic pseudarthrosis compared to those had all screws with VB% ≥ 75% (39.6% vs 22.1%,

conclusionLonger screws taking up ≥75% of the vertebral body protected against radiographic pseudarthrosis at 1-year. Maximizing screw length in ACDF is an easily modifiable factor directly under the surgeon's control that may mitigate the risk of pseudarthrosis.

Indexed as

anterior cervical fusioncorpectomypatient-reported outcome measurespseudarthrosisreoperationscrew lengthvertebral body

Identifiers

PMID37950628
PMCPMC11877588
OpenAlexW4388594065

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.