Risk Factors for Postoperative Spinal Infections Following Instrumented Spine Surgery: A Case-Control Study of 500 Cases
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36552/pjns.v29i3.1064Keywords:
Post-operative infection, Spine Surgery, Risk factors, obesity, diabetes mellitus, prophylactic antibiotics, prolonged surgery, surgical site infectionsAbstract
Objective: Postoperative spinal infections are a significant complication of instrumented spine surgery, contributing to increased morbidity and healthcare costs. This case-control study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with postoperative infections in patients undergoing instrumented spine surgery.
Materials and Methods: We carried out a retrospective case-control study involving 500 patients who underwent instrumented spine surgery at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, between January 2019 and December 2023. Among them, 50 patients (10%) developed postoperative infections and were categorized as the case group, while the remaining 450 patients without infections formed the control group. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, surgical factors, and postoperative care. To identify independent predictors of disease, we applied multivariate logistic regression analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Diabetes mellitus (OR 3.5, p = 0.01), prolonged surgical time (>3 hours) (OR 3.1, p = 0.02), obesity (OR 2.9, p = 0.03), and insufficient antibiotic prophylaxis (OR 2.6, p = 0.04) were significantly associated with postoperative infections. Extended hospital stay was recorded in patients having post-operative infection or multiple readmissions, and reoperation was high.
Conclusion: Factors like diabetes mellitus, extended duration of surgery, obesity, and Failure to appropriately use prophylactic antibiotics may contribute to an elevated risk of infections following surgery. Recognizing these risk factors early and modifying them can reduce the burden of postoperative infection.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Nawaz Khan, Muhammad Sohaib Khan, Adnan Khan, Ijaz ul Haque, Syed Shayan ShahThe work published by PJNS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Copyrights on any open access article published by Pakistan Journal of Neurological Surgery are retained by the author(s).
