ArticleGlobal spine journal2025
Determining the Magnitude of Surgery in Patients With Adult Scoliosis: A Systematic Review of the Role of Limited Fusions.
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.
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.
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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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Long-Term Management of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis in Adulthood: Clinical Challenges and Progress During the Critical Period of Pregnancy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Cost and Utilization Trends of Lumbar Fusion.JAMA network open · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Study DesignSystematic reviewObjectiveThe role of limited fusions compared with extensive reconstructions of the spine has not been well defined. The objective of this study is to review the current literature and provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the magnitude of surgery for patients with adult scoliosis, including indications and limitations of short-segment (≤3 levels) fusions.MethodsA systematic review of the literature was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Ovid and Google-Scholar using the following terms: "adult spinal deformity", "adult scoliosis", "degenerative scoliosis", "scoliosis" together with "spinal fusion", "spinal instrumentation" and "fusion". Inclusion criteria were comparative studies comprised of thoraco-lumbar or lumbo-sacral adult scoliosis treated with short- or long-segment fusion. Other types of deformities were excluded.ResultsOf the 1736 articles identified from initial query, 9 studies comprised of 660 patients with adult scoliosis who underwent a short-segment fusion (SSF, n = 366) or a long-segment fusion (LSF, n = 294) were included and analyzed for clinical and radiographic outcomes. Summative results indicate that patients undergoing SSF have lower complication rates (.21 vs .36 complications/patient), lower revision rates (9% vs 28%), and though LSF patients had greater scoliotic curvatures and sagittal imbalance at baseline, both groups had significant clinical improvement after surgery. However, the heterogeneous nature of the published data calls into question the reliability of these summative results.ConclusionsJudicious use of SSF can achieve satisfactory clinical outcomes in carefully-selected patients with adult scoliosis. Factors to consider when selecting patients for SSF include predominant symptoms, patient expectations, comorbidities and spino-pelvic parameters.
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