APP Master Sessions-Impact of Bracing after Thoracolumbar Spinal Fusion: A Systematic Review

Impact of Bracing after Thoracolumbar Spinal Fusion: A Systematic Review

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In this video, Elizabeth, a third year medical student at Duke, presents a systematic review on the impact of thoracolumbar bracing following spinal procedures. The decision to brace a patient with an external orthosis involves a risk-benefit analysis, but no prior systematic review has been conducted on its efficacy specifically for the thoracolumbar spine. The objective of the review is to answer two important clinical questions: the impact on clinically relevant outcomes and patient-reported outcomes. The review included six studies with about 5,000 patients. Results show no significant effect of post-operative bracing on clinical or health-related quality of life outcomes. The study has limitations due to a lack of studies with relevant metrics and heterogeneity in the included studies. A cost-effectiveness analysis and prospective trial are planned to further investigate this topic.

Keywords

systematic review

thoracolumbar bracing

clinical outcomes

patient-reported outcomes

cost-effectiveness analysis