Perioperative complications and cost of posterior decompression with fusion in thoracic spine for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and ossification of the ligamentum flavum -a comparative study using a national inpatient database

Background Although posterior decompression with fusion (PDF) are effective for treating thoracic myelopathy, surgical treatment has a high risk of various complications. There is currently no information available on the perioperative complications in thoracic ossification of the longitudinal ligament (T-OPLL) and thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum (T-OLF). We evaluate the perioperative complication rate and cost between T-OPLL and T-OLF for patients underwent PDF. Methods Patients undergoing PDF for T-OPLL and T-OLF from 2012 to 2018 were detected in Japanese nationwide inpatient database. One-to-one propensity score matching between T-OPLL and T-OLF was performed based on patient characteristics and preoperative comorbidities. We examined systemic and local complication rate, reoperation rate, length of hospital stays, costs, discharge destination, and mortality after matching. Results In a total of 2,660 patients, 828 pairs of T-OPLL and T-OLF patients were included after matching. The incidence of systemic complications did not differ significantly between the T-OPLL and OLF groups. However, local complications were more frequently occurred in T-OPLL than in T-OLF groups (11.4% vs. 7.7% P = 0.012). Transfusion rates was also significantly higher in the T-OPLL group (14.1% vs. 9.4%, P = 0.003). T-OPLL group had longer hospital stay (42.2 days vs. 36.2 days, P = 0.004) and higher medical costs (USD 32,805 vs. USD 25,134, P < 0.001). In both T-OPLL and T-OLF, the occurrence of perioperative complications led to longer hospital stay and higher medical costs. While fewer patients in T-OPLL were discharged home (51.6% vs. 65.1%, P < 0.001), patients were transferred to other hospitals more frequently (47.5% vs. 33.5%, P = 0.001). Conclusion This research identified the perioperative complications of T-OPLL and T-OLF in PDF using a large national database, which revealed that the incidence of local complications was higher in the T-OPLL patients. Perioperative complications resulted in longer hospital stays and higher medical costs.