Risk and Cost of Reoperation After Single-Level Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy: A Large Database Study

Study design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To examine the risk of undergoing another cervical spine surgery after single-level posterior cervical foraminotomy (PCF) and analyze the costs of such reoperations.

Methods: Using the PearlDiver database, we created database algorithms to identify cohorts of patients who underwent single-level PCF and also had various reoperations of interest, within 1, 2, and 4 years of follow-up. We also identified the per-patient average charge (PPAC) for each reoperation cohort.

Results: In the Medicare cohort, the incidence of any reoperation was 8.3%, 9.8%, and 10.5% within 1, 2, and 4 years of follow-up, respectively. The PPAC was $8520 for the initial PCF procedure. When a second cervical surgery was performed, the PPAC was $70 349 for anterior fusion, $15 760 for posterior decompression alone, and $77 976 for posterior decompression and fusion. In the UnitedHealth cohort, the incidence of any reoperation was 13.6%, 16.7%, and 17.0% within 1, 2, and 4 years of follow-up, respectively.

Conclusions: The overall incidence of another cervical spine operation was slightly higher in the Medicare population to that in previous literature, but much higher in the UnitedHealth population. The most common reoperation after PCF varied between the Medicare and UnitedHealth datasets, and costs varied widely based on the procedure performed. This study provides pertinent information that surgeons can use to discuss the risk of reoperation with their patients.