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Perioperative Aspects of Endoscopic Anterior Scoliosis Surgery: the learning curve for a consecutive series of 100 patients

Izatt, Maree T. and Gatehouse, Simon C. and Adam, Clayton J. and Harvey, Jason R. and Labrom, Robert D. and Askin, Geoffrey N. (2007) Perioperative Aspects of Endoscopic Anterior Scoliosis Surgery: the learning curve for a consecutive series of 100 patients. Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques 20(4):pp. 317-323.

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Abstract

The reported benefits of endoscopic versus open scoliosis surgery include improved visualization, a muscle sparing approach, reduced pulmonary morbidity, reduced pain and improved cosmesis. Some aspects of the surgical learning curve for this technically demanding method have been previously reported, however improvements in other factors with increasing experience have not been quantified. This paper presents a series of 100 consecutive endoscopic anterior scoliosis corrections performed between April 2000 and February 2006. We report changes in the following perioperative factors with increasing experience; operative set-up time, operative time, x-ray irradiation time, number of instrumented levels, blood loss, intercostal catheter drainage, chest drain removal time, days in intensive care, days to mobilize, days in hospital, and early complications. Statistical comparisons were made between the first twenty (1-20), middle twenty (41-60) and last twenty (81-100) cases. Results showed statistically significant improvements and increased consistency in operative time, operative set-up time, x-ray irradiation time, blood loss, hospital stay, and mobilization time with experience. The complication rate was comparable to other recently published endoscopic studies. In the last twenty cases of the series, operative times had reduced to 35 minutes per level, x-ray irradiation times to 15 seconds per level, and blood loss to 38 milliliters per level. Most perioperative surgical factors therefore improve significantly with increasing experience in endoscopic anterior scoliosis correction.

Item Type:Journal Article
Status:Published
Keywords:scoliosis, endoscopic anterior surgery, perioperative aspects, learning curve, blood loss, surgery time, hospital stay
Subjects:320000 Medical and Health Sciences > 321000 Clinical Sciences > 321017 Orthopaedics
ID Code:8136
Deposited By:Izatt, Maree T
Deposited On:19 June 2007
Alternative Locations:http://www.jspinaldisorders.com/pt/re/jsdt/issuelist.htm
Copyright Owner:Copyright 2007 Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Additional Information:Self-archiving of the author-version is not yet supported by this publisher. For more information, please refer to the journal's website (see hypertext link) or contact the author. Author contact details: m.izatt@qut.edu.au