Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38171309›Full record

ArticleNeurospine2023

Delay of Surgery for Spinal Metastasis due to the COVID-19 Outbreak Affected Patient Outcomes.

Chia-Jung Hsieh, Chun-Yu Wu, Yen-Heng Lin, Yu-Cheng Huang, Wen-Chi Yang, Tom Wei-Wu Chen, Wei-Li Ma, Wei-Hsin Lin, Feng-Ming Hsu, Furen Xiao and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurospine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Diagnostic errors in spinal metastases: a systematic review of contributing clinical and systemic factors.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 · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
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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

15 authors.

Chia-Jung HsiehDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu County, Taiwan.
Chun-Yu WuSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Yen-Heng LinSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Yu-Cheng HuangSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Wen-Chi YangSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Tom Wei-Wu ChenSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Wei-Li MaSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Wei-Hsin LinSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Feng-Ming HsuSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Furen XiaoSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Shih-Hung YangSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Dar-Ming LaiSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chang-Mu ChenSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Shin-Yi ChaoDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Fon-Yih TsuangSpine Tumor Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe present study is to analyze the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 2019) outbreak and the subsequent lockdown on the outcomes of spinal metastasis patients.

methodsThe study was a retrospective analysis of data from a prospective cohort study. All patients underwent surgical intervention for spinal metastases between January 2019 and December 2021 and had at least 3 months of postoperative follow-up. The primary outcome was overall mortality during the 4 different stages (pre-COVID-19 era, COVID-19 pandemic except in Taiwan, national lockdown, lifting of the lockdown). The secondary outcomes were the oncological severity scores, medical/surgical accessibility, and patient functional outcome during the 4 periods as well as survival/mortality.

resultsA total of 233 patients were included. The overall mortality rate was 41.20%. During the Taiwan lockdown, more patients received palliative surgery than other surgical methods, and no total en bloc spondylectomy was performed. The time from surgeon visit to operation was approximately doubled after the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan (75.97, 86.63, 168.79, and 166.91 hours in the 4 periods, respectively). The estimated survival probability was highest after the national lockdown was lifted and lowest during the lockdown. In the multivariate analysis, increased risk of mortality was observed with delay of surgery, with emergency surgery having a higher risk with delays above 33 hours, urgent surgery (below 59 and above 111 hours), and elective surgery (above 332 hours).

conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic and related policies have altered daily clinical practice and negatively impacted the survival of patients with spinal metastases.

Indexed as

COVID-19Metastatic spinal tumorPrognosisSARS-CoV-2Spine metastasesSpine metastatic surgery

Identifiers

PMID38171309
PMCPMC10762398

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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.