A study conducted by orthopedic surgeon Rex Marco, MD, and colleagues showed that sarcopenia predicts higher perioperative adverse events (AEs), increased readmission and reoperation rates, and longer length of stay (LOS) in patients having complex revision thoracolumbar spine surgery.

A retrospective analysis of 144 patients showed that patients with sarcopenia had significantly higher overall perioperative AEs compared to patients without sarcopenia (75.5 percent vs 27.7 percent). A breakdown of specific AEs showed that the group with sarcopenia experienced higher levels of anemia, wound complication, delirium, acute kidney injury, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and deep vein thrombosis.

Sarcopenia was measured by psoas muscle index (PMI). A PMI of <500 mm²/m² for males and <412 mm²/m² for females predicted perioperative AEs.

See the study for more detailed analysis and discussion of the findings in The Spine Journal, February 2021.