The landmark Scoli-RISK-1 study evaluating the neurologic complications associated with surgical correction of adult spinal deformity recently published its two-year results in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). Scoli-RISK-1 is an example of successful academic collaboration between two leading societies—the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) and AOSpine.
"Even for someone who has practiced spinal deformity surgery for 27 years, one of the biggest fears is that the patient has neurologic complications during these complex operations," principal investigator (PI) Lawrence Lenke explains. Co-PI Michael Fehlings agrees that even with the many advances in adult spinal deformity (ASD) techniques, the risk of peri-operative injury remains high.
For the first time, the prospective multicenter observational study Scoli-RISK-1 did a formal neurologic assessment of patients undergoing complex ASD surgery. The 15 participating clinics from North America, Europe, and Asia collected information on all complications and patient reported outcomes from 272 patients. Data was collected before surgery and at various timepoints after surgery up to 2-year postoperative.