Patient characteristics by treatment group.
| Variable | Nonoperative (n = 117) | Single Fusion (n = 4) | Multilevel Fusion (n = 28) | Corpectomy (n = 12) | Delayed Surgery (n = 5) | P Value |
| Age, y, mean (SD) | 57.2 (20) | 47 (10.4) | 44 (18.4) | 46.5 (15.6) | 48.6 (6.9) | 0.010 |
| Sex | ||||||
| Men | 57 (48.7%) | 2 (50%) | 19 (67.9%) | 8 (66.7%) | 1 (20%) | 0.170 |
| Women | 60 (51.3%) | 2 (50%) | 9 (32.1%) | 4 (33.3%) | 4 (80%) | |
| Body mass index, mean (SD) | 26.6 (6.9) | 28.5 (3.1) | 27.5 (4.9) | 26.4 (3.6) | 27 (6.1) | 0.947 |
| Level | ||||||
| T11 | 6 (5.1%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (10.7%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20%) | 0.150 |
| T12 | 24 (20.5%) | 2 (50%) | 8 (28.6%) | 3 (25%) | 3 (60%) | |
| L1 | 66 (56.4%) | 0 (0%) | 10 (35.7%) | 6 (50%) | 1 (20%) | |
| L2 | 21 (17.9%) | 2 (50%) | 7 (25%) | 3 (25%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Smoker | ||||||
| Never | 75 (64.1%) | 3 (75%) | 17 (60.7%) | 7 (58.3%) | 4 (80%) | 0.978 |
| Former | 14 (12%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (7.1%) | 2 (16.7%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Current | 28 (23.9%) | 1 (25%) | 9 (32.1%) | 3 (25%) | 1 (20%) | |
| Placement | ||||||
| Home | 73 (62.4%) | 3 (75%) | 20 (71.4%) | 9 (75%) | 3 (60%) | 0.834 |
| Rehabilitation | 44 (37.6%) | 1 (25%) | 8 (28.6%) | 3 (25%) | 2 (40%) | |
| Neurologic deficit | ||||||
| Intact | 117 (100%) | 4 (100%) | 26 (92.9%) | 9 (75%) | 5 (100%) | 0.001 |
| Deficit | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (7.1%) | 3 (25%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Osteopenia/osteoporosis | ||||||
| None | 73 (62.4%) | 4 (100%) | 22 (78.6%) | 9 (75%) | 5 (100%) | 0.729 |
| Osteopenia | 19 (16.2%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (7.1%) | 1 (8.3%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Osteoporosis | 25 (21.4%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (14.3%) | 2 (16.7%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Corticosteroid use | ||||||
| No | 108 (92.3%) | 4 (100%) | 26 (92.9%) | 12 (100%) | 5 (100%) | >0.99 |
| Yes | 9 (7.7%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (7.1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
Note: Data presented as n (%) unless otherwise indicated. Analysis of variance test conducted on all patient treatment groups with a significance threshold of P = 0.05 demonstrating when there is a significant difference in the mean between the groups.