Surgical management of spinal multiple myeloma: insights from the National Inpatient Sample database

Background: Management of multiple myeloma (MM) of the spine includes a multimodal approach consisting of chemotherapy, bisphosphonates, radiation, and surgical intervention. This study aims to explore the trends in surgical treatment of MM including hospital costs, odds of complications, and the impact of patient comorbidities on the risk of complications using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database.

Methods: The NIS was queried for patients with MM and plasmacytoma of the spine who underwent surgical intervention between 2005 and 2014. Rates of spinal decompression, spinal stabilization with or without decompression, and vertebral augmentation were analyzed. The effect of various patient characteristics on outcome was analyzed by multivariate analysis and stratified by surgical procedure.

Results: Vertebral augmentation (9,643, 65.7%) was the most commonly performed procedure, followed by spinal stabilization with or without decompression (4,176, 28.4%) and then decompression alone (868, 5.9%). The total population-adjusted rate of surgical management for MM remained stable during the study period, while the rate of spinal stabilization increased (P<0.001) and the rate of vertebral augmentation decreased (P=0.01). Vertebral augmentation was associated with shorter inpatient hospital stay, lower total cost, and higher likelihood of discharging to home. The complication rate increased over time for vertebral augmentation procedures (P<0.001) while spinal stabilization and decompression complication rates remained stable. The complication rate for all procedures was higher in male patients (P<0.001) and increased with the number of patient comorbidities (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Spinal surgery seems to be increasing for the management of spinal MM in the inpatient setting, while the rate of vertebral augmentation is decreasing. Vertebroplasty and similar palliative procedures may continue to decrease as advancements in surgical technology and technique allow for safer surgical intervention. The decision to employ aggressive surgical intervention, however, must always take into account the patient's comorbidities, overall systemic disease burden, and the potential for significant enhancement in meaningful clinical outcome.