ReviewCureus2025
Assessing Morbidity and Outcomes of Posterior Lumbar Fusion in Elderly Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review aims to evaluate the morbidity, mortality, and functional outcomes associated with instrumented posterior lumbar arthrodesis in elderly patients aged 65 years and above. A systematic review and meta-analysis adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), Cochrane, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) databases. Relevant studies were identified based on inclusion criteria, with data extraction focusing on mortality rates, operative duration, blood loss, length of hospital stay, complication rates, and clinical and functional outcomes. Functional assessments included the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain intensity. Out of 6,241 studies, 45 met the inclusion criteria. The pooled mortality rate was 0.7% (95%CI: 0.2-1.3%), with a mean operative duration of 181.6 minutes (95%CI: 138.8-224.5 minutes) and an average blood loss of 337.8 ml. Complication rates included dural tears (4.3%), neurological deficits (2.2%), metalwork failure (7.06%), and wound dehiscence (3.29%). Significant postoperative functional improvements were observed, with reductions in ODI by 3.47 points, leg pain intensity by 4.29 points on the VAS, back pain intensity by 4.95 points on the VAS, and an increase in JOA scores by 9.9 points. Despite concerns regarding morbidity and mortality, this meta-analysis highlights that instrumented posterior lumbar arthrodesis in elderly patients is associated with considerable improvements in clinical and functional outcomes, supporting its role in the management of degenerative spinal conditions in this population.
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Registered trials
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.