Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39191944›Full record

ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2025

A retrospective cohort review of BMI on SI joint fusion outcomes: examining the evidence to improve insurance guidelines.

Michael Beckmann, Kari Odland, David W Polly

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Article 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, 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
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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.

  1. Article
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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

3 authors.

Michael BeckmannThe Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, Suite R200, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
Kari OdlandThe Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, Suite R200, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA. kodland@umn.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1244-2685
David W PollyThe Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, Suite R200, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7572-6584

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe demand for SIJ fusion among obese patients has grown substantially. However, the clinical relevance of obesity in the context of SI joint fusion has not been well investigated specifically, whether there is a BMI cutoff above which the benefit-risk ratio is low.

methodsAdult patients ≥ 21 years of age who underwent minimally invasive SIJ fusion between 2020 and 2023. Participants were classified using the National Institutes for Health body mass index (BMI). Patients with a BMI of 30 to 39 with no significant comorbidity are considered obese, patients with a BMI of 35 to 39 with a significant comorbidity or a BMI of 40 or greater are considered morbidly obese. All subjects completed the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at baseline and 12 months. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine the impact of BMI category on score changes.

resultsOverall, mean VAS improved at 12 months by 2.5 points (p < .006). Over the 12-month follow-up period, BMI category did not impact mean improvement in VAS (ANOVA p = .08). Mean ODI at 12 months improved by 23.2 points (p < .001). BMI category did impact mean improvement in ODI (ANOVA p = .03).

conclusionThis study demonstrates similar benefits across all BMI categories. This data suggests that obese patients do benefit from minimally invasive SIJ fusion, specifically the 35-40 BMI cohort of patients, and should not be denied this procedure based on arbitrary healthcare organizations BMI criteria.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexObesitySpinal FusionZygapophyseal JointAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesTreatment OutcomeBody Mass IndexDisabilityInsurance GuidelinesObesityPainSIJ fusion

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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.