Abstract
Study design
Retrospective descriptive, multi-center study.
Objectives
We hypothesize that a post-operative weight gain will result in patients who are underweight prior to surgery.
Summary of background data
Cachexia and low body mass index is common among children with cerebral palsy (CP). Many interventions are undertaken to assist the child in nourishment and to obtain a more normal body mass. Additionally, scoliosis is common among children with CP. In our practice we have noted weight gain post operatively in severely underweight children after spinal fusion.
Methods
We underwent a retrospective review of a CP cohort from a multicenter prospective registry. Percentiles on the CP specific growth chart for which each child belonged were plotted based on the patients’ age, weight, gender, GMFCS level, and tube feeding status. We then assessed percentile change in patients between pre-op visit, 1 year, 2 years and for those with available data, 5 years follow up visits. Patients with under two years of follow up, patients with GMFCS III and below, and patients without weight data were excluded.
Results
We identified a total of 211 potentially eligible patients from a multicenter prospective registry. 109 had complete 2 years data to analyze and 37 patients had full 5 years data to analyze. We found that patients under the 50th percentile pre-operatively increased their percentile on the CP growth chart for weight 12.1 percentiles (95% CI 6.7, 17.5 p value < 0.001) whereas patients that began at the 50th percentile or above on average lost 2.2 percentiles (95% CI −6.8, 2.3) though the change was not statistically significant (p value 0.330). These changes appeared stable at 5 years. Although regression analysis showed that Cobb correction and pelvic obliquity correction, and hyperlordosis were not independent predictors of the change, we noted that patients with residual curves after surgery of 40° or more experienced 13.3 percentile less weight gain than those with better corrections.
Conclusions
Patients with CP are at risk for cachexia, malnutrition, reflux and other GI disorders. Data presented here suggests that corrective spinal surgery may improve weight percentile in patients who start out at 50th percentile and lower. Patients with 40° or greater of residual scoliosis may benefit less from spinal fusion than those with a better correction.
Level of evidence
II; Prognostic retrospective cohort study.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Alay Shah for his help with data analysis. On behalf of, Harms Study Group Investigators: Aaron Buckland, MD; New York University. Amer Samdani, MD; Shriners Hospitals for Children—Philadelphia. Amit Jain, MD; Johns Hopkins Hospital. Baron Lonner, MD; Mount Sinai Hospital. Benjamin Roye, MD; Columbia University. Burt Yaszay, MD; Rady Children’s Hospital. Chris Reilly, MD; BC Children’s Hospital. Daniel Hedequist, MD; Boston Children’s Hospital. Daniel Sucato, MD; Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. David Clements, MD; Cooper Bone & Joint Institute New Jersey. Firoz Miyanji, MD; BC Children’s Hospital. Harry Shufflebarger, MD; Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Jack Flynn, MD; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Jahangir Asghar, MD; Cantor Spine Institute. Jean Marc Mac Thiong, MD; CHU Sainte-Justine. Joshua Pahys, MD; Shriners Hospitals for Children—Philadelphia. Juergen Harms, MD; Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Karlsbad. Keith Bachmann, MD; University of Virginia. Larry Lenke, MD; Columbia University. Mark Abel, MD; University of Virginia. Michael Glotzbecker, MD; Boston Children’s Hospital. Michael Kelly, MD; Washington University. Michael Vitale, MD; Columbia University. Michelle Marks, PT, MA; Setting Scoliosis Straight Foundation. Munish Gupta, MD; Washington University. Nicholas Fletcher, MD; Emory University. Patrick Cahill, MD; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Paul Sponseller, MD; Johns Hopkins Hospital. Peter Gabos, MD: Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. Peter Newton, MD; Rady Children’s Hospital. Peter Sturm, MD; Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Randal Betz, MD; Institute for Spine & Scoliosis. Ron Lehman, MD; Columbia University. Stefan Parent, MD: CHU Sainte-Justine. Stephen George, MD; Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Steven Hwang, MD; Shriners Hospitals for Children—Philadelphia. Suken Shah, MD; Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. Tom Errico, MD; Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Vidyadhar Upasani, MD; Rady Children’s Hospital
Funding
This study was supported by funding from the Setting Scoliosis Straight Foundation in support of Harms Study Group research from DePuy Synthes Spine, EOS imaging, K2M, Medtronic, NuVasive and Zimmer Biomet.
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KDB, PJC, JMP: conception or design of work. KDB, PJC, PDS, MFA, DAS, JMF, JMP: acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work. KDB, PJC, PDS, MFA, DAS, JMF, JMP: drafting of work or revising it critically for important intellectual content. KDB, PJC, PDS, MFA, DAS, JMF, JMP: final approval of version to be published.
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Baldwin, K.D., Cahill, P.J., Sponseller, P.D. et al. BMI change following spinal fusion for neuromuscular scoliosis surgery. Spine Deform 8, 1081–1087 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-020-00109-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-020-00109-1