PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ahmad Assi
AU  - Mohammad Daher
AU  - Ziad Zalaquett
AU  - Marven Aoun
AU  - Bryan Youssef
AU  - Gaby Kreichati
AU  - Khalil Kharrat
AU  - Amer Sebaaly
TI  - Intensive Care Unit Admission After Spine Surgery: A Narrative Review
AID  - 10.14444/8593
DP  - 2024 Apr 03
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8593
4099  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/early/2024/04/03/8593.short
4100  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/early/2024/04/03/8593.full
AB  - Introduction Intensive care unit (ICU) admissions constitute a substantial financial challenge for health care systems and patients and are linked to various potentially life-altering complications. A wide range of patient-related, surgical, and medical factors are associated with an increased risk of ICU admission following spine surgery.Discussion The most notable examples include lung, heart, and kidney disease, as well as estimated blood loss and length of surgery. Various scores that include the most significant patient- and procedure-related factors have been described to assess the risk associated with surgery for individual patients. To date, the fusion risk score and the American Society of Anesthesiologists score have been the most useful in predicting postoperative complications and admission to the ICU. However, other risk factors have also been implicated in ICU admission and length of stay. The current scores must further adapt by using the available evidence to fulfill their intended purpose. Moreover, a handful of measures have shown efficacy in decreasing ICU admission and length of stay, with their benefits still to be demonstrated by future research.Conclusion This review underscores the risk factors predictive of ICU admission following spine surgery and will help surgeons and clinicians in patient stratification. However, future studies are needed to validate the role of protective measures in preventing ICU admissions and the significance of certain risk factors.