Protocol of a meta-analysis: Clinical efficacy and complications of short versus long fusion for the treatment of degenerative scoliosis

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of long fusion (LF) versus short fusion (SF) for the treatment of degenerative scoliosis (DS). METHODS: We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science to collect the randomized and non-randomized controlled studies that compared LF with SF in the treatment of DS from inception to June 1, 2019. The quality of the included studies will be assessed by 2 evaluation members according to the Cochrane collaboration network standard or the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. The included studies will be analyzed using RevMan 5 (version 5.3.3). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The study will compare the efficacy and safety of LF and SF in the treatment of DS and provide more reliable, evidence-based data for clinical decision making. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019137646.