Durability of Suppl. Rod Constructs-SuppleMentAry Rod Technique for Long-segment Posterior Instrumented Spinal Fusions

Durability of Supplementary Rod Constructs-SuppleMentAry Rod Technique (SMART)-for Long-segment Posterior Instrumented Spinal Fusion Procedures: A Multicenter Retrospective Comparative Study With Dual-rod Constructs

This is a multicenter retrospective comparative cohort study. The index surgery for this study is primary or revision long-segment posterior thoracolumbar (TL) instrumented fusion using either a supplementary rod construct or a dual-rod construct. Eligible patients who already had index surgery, will be identified for enrollment through a review of medical records of the participating surgeons at the study sites.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Spinal Fusion
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion

Detailed Description

This multicenter retrospective comparative cohort study will enroll 1244 patients, who underwent primary or revision long-segment posterior thoracolumbar (TL) instrumented fusion using either a supplementary rod construct or a dual-rod construct. By comparing two groups of patients, ie, patients treated with supplementary rod constructs vs dual-rod constructs, in the setting of long-segment posterior instrumented spinal fusion, this study aims to provide quality evidence regarding the benefits of supplementary rod constructs in reducing the risk of RFs and other mechanical complications. This study shall provide the first long-term clinical evidence on clinical outcome and benefit of supplementary rod constructs.

All participating surgeons will be asked to identify a time point, denoted as X, when they started using predominantly either supplementary rod constructs or dual-rod constructs for long-segment posterior TL instrumented spinal fusion. This time point X must be on or before December 31, 2020 (the last eligible date for the index surgery). Participating surgeons will be instructed to select the time point X to be as early within the collection window as feasible to maximize the available FU period.

Once the time point X is identified for a participating surgeon, medical records of patients treated by this surgeon will be reviewed to identify consecutive eligible patients with the index surgery done between the time point X and December 31, 2020, inclusive. In the case that an eligible patient had undergone several surgeries during this period, the first primary or revision of long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion using either a supplementary rod construct or a dual-rod construct is defined as the index surgery.

Patients will then be grouped based on the rod constructs into either the supplementary rod construct group or dual-rod construct group.

The study has two FU periods:

• The first FU period is the first 2 years after the index surgery. The primary analysis will be done using data from the first 2 years of FU.
• The second FU period ends on December March 31, 20232024. The duration of this FU therefore ranges from 3 years and 3 months to 10 years and 3 months.

The primary study endpoint is the occurrence of the first RF within 2 years after the index surgery.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1244

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Viola Grünenfelder; Phone Number: +41 79 696 33 97; Email: viola.gruenenfelder@aofoundation.org
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Alix Frischknecht; Phone Number: +41 79 606 41 48; Email: alix.frischknecht@aofoundation.org

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Calgary, Canada, T2N 2T9
    • Recruiting
    • University of Calgary Spine
    • Contact: Ganesh Swamy
  • Toronto, Canada, M5T 2S8
    • Recruiting
    • University of Toronto
    • Contact: Stephen Lewis
    • Contact: Christopher Nielsen
• China
  • Hong Kong, China
    • Recruiting
    • Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital
    • Contact: Kenny Kwan
• India
  • Kolkata, India
    • Recruiting
    • Kothari Medical Centre
    • Contact: Saumayajit Basu, MD; Email: saumyajitbasu@hotmail.com
• Japan
  • Hamamatsu, Japan, 431-3192
    • Recruiting
    • Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
    • Contact: Shin Oe
  • Tokyo, Japan, 113-8654
    • Recruiting
    • University of Tokyo
    • Contact: So Kato, Prof
• Spain
  • Barcelona, Spain, 08035
    • Recruiting
    • Hospital Vall D´Hebron
    • Contact: Ferran Pellisé, MD; Email: 24361fpu@comb.es
• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Not yet recruiting
    • Acibadem Maslak Hospital
    • Contact: Caglar Yilgor, MD; Email: caglaryilgor@gmail.com
    • Contact: Ahmet Alanay; Email: aalanay@gmail.com
• United States
  • California
    • Redwood City, California, United States, 94588
      • Recruiting
      • Stanford Spine Clinic
      • Contact: Serena Hu, MD; Email: shu3@stanford.edu
    • Sacramento, California, United States, 95819
      • Recruiting
      • University of California
      • Contact: Yashar Javidan; Email: yjavidan@ucdavis.edu
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94144
      • Recruiting
      • UCSF Spine Center
      • Contact: Christopher Ames
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
      • Recruiting
      • John Hopkis Hospital
      • Contact: Khaled Kebaish
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55454
      • Recruiting
      • University of Minnesota Medical Center
      • Contact: David Polly, MD; Email: pollydw@umn.edu
  • Missouri
    • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Recruiting
      • Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine
      • Contact: Brian Neuman
    • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63310
      • Recruiting
      • Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110
      • Contact: Munish Gupta
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Recruiting
      • Columbia University / NYP Och Spine Hospital
      • Contact: Zeeshan Sardar
  • Virginia
    • Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22908
      • Recruiting
      • University of Virginia
      • Contact: Justin S Smith, MD, PhD; Phone Number: 434-243-6339; Email: jss7f@virginia.edu
      • Contact: Judith G Beenhakker; Email: JGB3P@uvahealth.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients who underwent long-segment posterior thoracolumbar (TL) instrumented fusion

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 45 years and older.

• Patients receiving long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion using either supplementary rod constructs or dual-rod constructs (the index surgery).

  • Long-segment is defined as the UIV at a thoracic level and the LIV at the sacrum/ilium.
  • Supplementary rod constructs are defined as: in addition to the traditional two primary rods, at least one supplementary rod (eg, accessory rods or satellite rods) is used, and at least one supplementary rod and one primary rod (ie, at least two rods) together must span multiple (≥ 2) vertebral levels. The supplementary rod constructs do not include rods connected end-to-end or side-to-side that do not bridge multiple vertebral levels.
  • The index surgery can be a primary surgery or a revision surgery.
  • The index surgery, staged or non-staged, must use posterior spinal fusion but can be in combination with other approaches such as an anterior procedure.

• If the index surgery is a revision surgery, the primary rods must be replaced in the revision surgery, with the exception of Harrington or Luque rods which can remain in place.

  o If the Harrington or Luque rods remain in situ, they must already have the UIV at the thoracic level and the LIV at the sacrum/ilium, or an extension of the existing Harrington or Luque is performed such that the UIV is at the thoracic level and the LIV at the sacrum/ilium.

• The index surgery was performed between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020, inclusive.
• Minimum 3 months of FU after the index surgery.
• Ability to provide informed consent according to the IRB/EC defined and approved procedures if applicable for retrospective data analysis.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Spinal fusion performed for acute trauma (ie, ≤ 1 year of trauma).
• Spinal fusion performed for tumor.
• Spinal fusion performed for infection.
• Patients with Parkinson's Disease.
• Patients with neuromuscular disorders.
• Patients with spine malignancies requiring chemo- or radiation therapy.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
primary/revision long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion with dual-rod constructs; The index surgery for this study is the primary or revision of long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion using dual-rod construct.	Procedure: long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion; long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion with either supplementary rod constructs or dual-rod constructs.
primary/revision long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion with supplementary rod constructs; The index surgery for this study is the primary or revision of long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion using either a supplementary rod construct.	Procedure: long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion; long-segment posterior TL instrumented fusion with either supplementary rod constructs or dual-rod constructs.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rod fracture (RF)	Incidence of rod fracture(s)	2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time to rod fracture	Time to the first rod fracture after index surgery	2 years
Time to rod fracture	Time to the first rod fracture after index surgery	10 years and 3 months
Configurations of supplementary rod constructs	Descriptions of configurations of supplementary rod constructs	Baseline
Treatment for rod fracture	Descriptions of different treatment strategies for rod fractures	10 years and 3 months
Recurrent RFs	Incidence of recurrent rod fractures	10 years and 3 months
Other mechanical failures	Other mechanical failures other than rod fractures	10 years and 3 months
Surgical complications	Selective surgical complications	10 years and 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: AO Foundation, AO Spine
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Justin S Smith, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurosurgery Chief of Spine Division, Fellowship Director University of Virginia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 24, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 15, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 20, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 11, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): April 16, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: SMART

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No