Sagittal imbalance syndrome, a new concept, helps determining a long fusion for patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis and severe global sagittal imbalance

Table 2 Comparisons of demographic baselines and surgical data between Groups A and B and between Groups B and C

Variables	Group A (n = 18)	Group B (n = 20)	Group C (n = 30)	P value
Variables	Group A (n = 18)	Group B (n = 20)	Group C (n = 30)	P_AB	P_BC
Age (year)	70.4 ± 4.2	68.0 ± 4.8	67.1 ± 5.9	0.302	0.486
Gender	Female: 15; Male: 3	Female: 16; Male: 4	Female: 17; Male: 13	0.791^†	0.088^†
Body mass index (kg/m²)	24.6 ± 3.2	25.2 ± 3.1	26.7 ± 1.9	0.681	0.442
Bone mineral density (g/cm2)	1.081 ± 0.087	1.103 ± 0.101	1.122 ± 0.099	0.612	0.585
Operation time (min)	342.5 ± 47.2	278.1 ± 63.3	214.6 ± 50.8	0.010	0.141
Estimated blood loss (ml)	746.4 ± 150.6	407.2 ± 84.5	332.9 ± 44.3	0.002	0.372
Fusion levels	9.0 ± 0.6	3.2 ± 0.2	2.7 ± 0.3	< 0.001	0.116
Follow-up (months)	26.4 ± 1.8	27.7 ± 2.3	28.2 ± 1.5	0.149	0.664
Disk degeneration	3.01 ± 0.19	2.90 ± 0.26	3.12 ± 0.23	0.462	0.315
Facet degeneration	2.13 ± 0.15	2.17 ± 0.18	2.38 ± 0.14	0.504	0.261
Paravertebral muscle degeneration
Muscle/disk ratio	1.36 ± 0.15	1.33 ± 0.13	1.37 ± 0.11	0.456	0.363
Fat infiltration (%)	32.2 ± 4.1	36.6 ± 5.2	20.9 ± 4.2	0.340	< 0.001

Group A includes the patients with DLSS and sagittal imbalance syndrome who underwent a thoracolumbar fusion including lumbar decompression and global sagittal restoration, Group B includes the patients with DLSS and sagittal imbalance syndrome who underwent lumbar decompression and fusion, and Group C includes patients with DLSS and severe sagittal deformity without sagittal imbalance syndrome who underwent lumbar decompression and fusion
^†Calculated by Chi-square analysis

ISSN: 1749-799X