Page 40 - Predicting survival in patients with spinal bone metastasesL

CHAPTER III
Complications
Within 30 days after surgery, 35 patients (33%) had one or more complication with a total of 53 recorded complications. Nine patients had multiple complications. The most common were wound infection (n=8), new minor neurologic deficits such as radicular pain or reduced sensibility (n=8), cerebrospinal fluid leak (n=6), and pneumonia (n=4) (see table 5). Three patients had to be re-operated due to instrumentation failure or acute neurologic decline. Ten patients died within 30 days, mostly due to systemic complications such as sepsis and respiratory failure. The complication rate in this group was 70%.
Table 5. 30-day complications. *Death occurred during surgery.
Cardiac
Myocardial infarction* Arrhythmia
Extensive blood loss
Gastrointestinal Ileus
Bleed
Infection Pneumonia Sepsis
Neurologic
New minor deficits New major deficits Delirium
Pulmonary Respiratory failure Pleural empyema
Renal
Acute renal failure
Metabolic Hyponatremia Metabolic acidosis
Skeletal
Pathologic fracture
Surgical site
Wound infection Wound dehiscence Wound leakage Hematoma Cerebrospinal fluid leak Instrumentation failure
1 (2) 2 (4) 1 (2)
1 (2) 1 (2)
4 (8) 2 (4)
8 (15) 2 (4) 3 (6)
2 (4) 1 (2)
1 (2)
1 (2) 1 (2)
1 (2)
8 (15) 1 (2) 1 (2) 2 (4) 6 (11) 3 (6)
Complication
Number (%)
38