Complications of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Surgery and Their Effects on Outcome: A National FinSpine Registry Study.

Spine (Phila Pa 1976) · Aug 27 2026 · Recent

Hatakka J, Laaksonen I, Kostensalo J, Mäkelä KT, Salo H, Pernaa K

Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Spine

SUMMARY — THE REDUCTIONIn a Finnish registry of lumbar stenosis surgery, complications occurred in 16.8% of patients and were linked to older age, higher ASA grade, and multilevel/fusion surgery, substantially raising reoperation risk (especially with hematoma or infection).
Abstract, as published

OBJECTIVE: To investigate complications of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) surgery in Finland, clinically linked to complications, and their effects on functional outcomes, patient satisfaction, and risk of reoperation.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: LSS surgeries continue to increase. Complication rates in previous studies vary greatly due to methodological differences, data quality, and the definition of complications.

METHODS: Patients with a primary diagnosis of LSS identified from the Finnish Spine Register (FinSpine) were included in this study. Complications within 30 days of index operation were identified from FinSpine, the Finnish Care Register for Health Care (HILMO), and the Register of Primary Health Care Visits (AvoHILMO). The effect of complications on functional outcome was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and by measuring patient satisfaction. Various factors including ASA grade and fusion surgery were analyzed as potential factors clinically linked to complications. The risk of reoperation at 1 year after the index operation was also assessed.

RESULTS: The overall complication rate in LSS surgery was 16.8% (7.8% intraoperative, 4.6% in-hospital, and 4.4% later). The most common complications by group were dural tear, urinary retention, and wound infection. Older age, higher ASA grade, longer operative time, multilevel decompression, and fusion surgery increased complication risk. At 1-year follow-up, mean ODI was 28.1 and 24.3 with and without complications. Patients with complications of any type had significantly higher risk of reoperation 13.9% than patients without complications, which was further elevated by specific complications, spinal hematoma at 57.8% and wound infection 53.8%.

CONCLUSION: By combining three national registries, a comprehensive overview of LSS surgery complications was obtained. Older age, higher ASA grade and multilevel decompression were identified as factors clinically linked to complications. Patients with and without complications achieved acceptable amelioration of disability. Complications increased the risk for reoperation within 1 month after index operation, and the risk remained higher up to 1 year than without complications.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study with prospectively collected data based on three national registries.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

Read the article: PubMed · Publisher (DOI)

Featured in the 2026-09-05 issue.

← Construction and validation of a risk prediction model for hy…When is Vertebral Body Tethering in a Patient With an Open Tr… →

The Reduction is a free email digest of newly published orthopaedic literature — a handful of new papers in the subspecialties you choose, each summarized like this one. Subscribe free or browse the archive.