TY - JOUR T1 - How Does the Presence of a Surgical Trainee Impact Patient Outcomes in Lumbar Fusion Surgery? JF - International Journal of Spine Surgery JO - Int J Spine Surg DO - 10.14444/8033 SP - 8033 AU - Srikanth N. Divi AU - Dhruv Kc Goyal AU - Eve Hoffman AU - William K. Conaway AU - Matt Galtta AU - Daniel R. Bowles AU - Nathan V. Houlihan AU - Joseph F. Bechay AU - Richard M. McEntee AU - I. David Kaye AU - Mark F. Kurd AU - Barrett I. Woods AU - Kris E. Radcliff AU - Jeffery A. Rihn AU - D. Greg Anderson AU - Alan S. Hilibrand AU - Christopher K. Kepler AU - Alexander R. Vaccaro AU - Gregory D. Schroeder Y1 - 2021/03/31 UR - http://ijssurgery.com//content/early/2021/03/30/8033.abstract N2 - Background While the impact of trainee involvement in other surgical fields is well established, there is a paucity of literature assessing this relationship in orthopaedic spine surgery. The goal of this study was to further elucidate this relationship.Methods A retrospective cohort study was initiated on patients undergoing 1–3 level lumbar spine fusion at a single academic center. Operative reports from cases were examined, and patients were divided into 2 groups depending on whether a fellow or resident (F/R) or a physician's assistant (PA) was used as the primary assist. Patients with less than 1-year follow-up were excluded. Multiple linear regression was used to assess change in each patient-reported outcome, and multiple binary logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of revision, infection, and 30- or 90-day readmission.Results One hundred and seventy-two patients were included in the F/R group compared with 178 patients in the PA group. No differences existed between groups for total surgery time, length of stay, 30- or 90-day readmissions, infection, or revision rates. No differences existed between groups in terms of patient-reported outcomes preoperatively or postoperatively. In addition, presence of a surgical trainee was not a significant predictor of patient outcomes or rates of infection, overall revision, or 30- and 90-day readmission rates.Conclusions The results of this study indicate the presence of an orthopaedic spine F/R does not increase complication rates and does not affect short-term patient-reported outcomes in lumbar decompression and fusion surgery.Level of Evidence 3. ER -