Analysis of sagittal balance using spinopelvic parameters in ankylosing spondylitis patients treated with vertebral column decancellation surgery

This study was designed to explore the change of spinopelvic parameters after vertebral column decancellation (VCD) for the management of thoracolumbar kyphosis secondary to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Forty-two AS patients including thirty-six males and six females with thoracolumbar kyphosis, who underwent VCD from April 2005 to June 2012 in our hospital, were retrospectively reviewed. A series of spinopelvic parameters including thoracic kyphosis (TK), lumbar lordosis (LL), sacral slope (SS), pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT) and sagittal vertical axis (SVA) measured on preoperative and postoperative free-standing radiographs were obtained and analyzed. Also clinical assessments were performed with the Oswestry disability index (ODI) and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Activity and Function Index (BASDAI and BASFI) so as to seek correlations between radiological parameters and symptoms. Except for pelvic incidence (PI), significant difference was found in all radiological spinopelvic parameters between the preoperative and follow-up values. Furthermore, there was significant improvement in the clinical assessment parameters ODI, BASDAI and BASFI, which all correlated significantly with the postoperative pelvic tilt (PT). The results of this study show that posterior VCD is an effective option to manage sagittal imbalance in AS. In the current series, patients improving LL and PT were found to achieve good clinical outcomes. Overall, our findings show that it is important to quantify sagittal spinopelvic parameters and promote sagittal balance in the surgery for AS.