Risk factors for pulmonary complications after posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion in the treatment of congenital scoliosis: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: Although surgery prevents the progression of deformity and maintains the overall balance of the spine in congenital scoliosis (CS) patients, it is associated with a high risk of perioperative complications. Pulmonary complication is one of the most common complications. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the risk factors for pulmonary complications in CS patients after posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion. METHODS: Analysis of consecutive patients who underwent posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion for congenital scoliosis was performed. Preoperative clinical data, intraoperative variables, and perioperative radiographic parameters were collected to analyze the risk factors for pulmonary complications. Patients were separated into groups with and without postoperative pulmonary complications. Potential risk factors were identified by univariate testing. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate independent predictors of pulmonary complications. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty-three CS patients were included. Forty-five (13.9%) patients developed postoperative pulmonary complications, which included pleural effusion in 34 (75.6%) cases, pneumonia in 24 (53.3%) cases, pneumothorax in 3 (6.7%) cases, atelectasis in 4 (8.9%) cases, pulmonary edema in 2 (4.4%) cases, respiratory failure in 2 (4.4%) cases, and prolonged mechanical ventilation in 4 (8.9%) cases. The independent risk factors for development of pulmonary complications included age (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.088, P = 0.038), reoperation (OR = 5.150, P = 0.012), preoperative pulmonary disease (OR = 10.504, P = 0.004), correction rate (OR = 1.088, P = 0.001), middle thoracic screw-setting (OR = 12.690, P = 0.043), and thoracoplasty (OR = 5.802, P = 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve based on predicted probability of the logistic regression was 0.903. CONCLUSIONS: Age, reoperation, preoperative pulmonary disease, correction rate, middle thoracic screw-setting, and thoracoplasty were independent risk factors for pulmonary complications after posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion in CS patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12891-019-2708-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.