Patients with achondroplasia have increased risk of 90-day adverse events following laminectomy: A matched comparison using a national database.

purposePerforming laminectomies in patients with achondroplasia-a common skeletal dysplasia-can present unique challenges. There are a limited number of studies that have reported on the adverse effects of laminectomies in patients with achondroplasia. To compare the 90-day postoperative adverse events following laminectomy in patients with and without achondroplasia.

methodsRetrospective cohort study using the 2010-2020 PearlDiver Mariner 91 administrative database was used to identify patients who underwent thoracic, thoracolumbar, or lumbar laminectomy. Patients with achondroplasia were matched 1:4 to patients without achondroplasia based on age, sex, insurance, and ECI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed and compared 90-day adverse events. Odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), and p-values were reported with significance set at p < 0.05.

resultsA multivariate analysis revealed that when laminectomy was performed, patients with achondroplasia were 2.82 times more likely to have 90-day AE compared to those without achondroplasia (p < 0.001). When comparing individual subtypes of adverse events, patients with achondroplasia were found to have significantly greater odds of a transfusion (OR 6.40, p < 0.001), UTI (OR 3.79, p < 0.001), disruption of wound (OR 3.71, p < 0.001), and hematoma (OR 2.94, p = 0.032). Pneumonia, cardiac arrest, AKI, other perioperative events, durotomy, and VTE were not significantly different between the two cohorts.

conclusionThis study uses one of the largest cohorts to compare patients with and without achondroplasia undergoing laminectomy. Patients with achondroplasia were found to have a significantly greater risk of 90-day adverse events following laminectomy compared to their matched cohort of patients without achondroplasia.