PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Srikanth N. Divi
AU  - Dhruv K.C. Goyal
AU  - Eve Hoffman
AU  - William K. Conaway
AU  - Matthew S. Galetta
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
TI  - How Does the Presence of a Surgical Trainee Impact Patient Outcomes in Lumbar Fusion Surgery?
AID  - 10.14444/8033
DP  - 2021 Jun 01
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 471--477
VI  - 15
IP  - 3
4099  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/15/3/471.short
4100  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/15/3/471.full
SO  - Int J Spine Surg2021 Jun 01; 15
AB  - 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.