Lumbar Fusion Data

Study Population Patients were adults (≥ 18 years) who underwent lumbar fusion for degenerative pathologies, including spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, spinal stenosis, and disc disease. Non-instrumented procedures were defined as posterior in situ fusions. Instrumented procedures were limited to posterolateral lumbar fusions, posterior lumbar interbody fusions (PLIF), and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) allowing for comparison of reoperation rates between instrumented and non-instrumented strategies. Data Collection and Cleaning 3,262 patient encounters from January 1, 2009 to November 30, 2024 involving the lumbar spine were initially identified from the institutional operative database. A systematic cleaning process was then applied: 1. Encounters prior to 2012 were excluded due to inconsistent ASA score recording. 2. Cases were restricted to those performed by the two primary spine surgeons. 3. Anterior, lateral, or oblique approaches were excluded, as well as cervical, thoracic, or thoracolumbar fusions, restricting the population to posterior lumbar procedures. 4. Cases without fusion related keywords (“fusion”, “instrumentation”, “hardware”, “in situ”) and containing only decompression-related terms (laminectomy, foraminotomy, discectomy, kyphoplasty, coccygectomy) were removed. Subsequent encounters for these patients were excluded to limit analysis to primary lumbar fusion cases. 5. Iliac or pelvic fixation were excluded to restrict the sample to procedures with S1 as the most caudal level, 6. Initial encounters consisting of wound washouts, CSF leak repairs, or incision and drainage were excluded, along with their subsequent encounters. 7. Index procedures with hardware removal or fusion mass exploration without documentation of the original fusion were excluded. 8. Index procedures performed in 2022 or later were excluded; retaining only follow-up visits through November 30st, 2024. 515 cases remained, including both primary fusions (393) and subsequent reoperations.