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EDITORIAL STAFF PERSPECTIVES
This study touches upon a type of complication frequently overlooked in spine surgery.
Cardiac and other internal medical complications are commonly assumed to be covered
by other specialties, such as Anesthesia or Medical specialties and are therefore
overlooked by surgical specialties such as ours. However, as this study shows, subspecialties
such as Spine have very specific concerns, which are not specifically addressed by
anyone but us.
Possible short comings of this study concern lack of control of variables typical
for a retrospective study such as this. For cardiac conditions this may include perioperative
beta-blockade or absence thereof, use of chemical thrombembolism prophylaxis and utilization
of Intensive Care facilities for at-risk patients. The value of this study however
lies in this cohort size and diversity of conditions treated. It may direct us to
utilize preoperative medicine consult services to optimize preoperative preparations
for at-risk patients and may help us counsel patients more honestly.
